September 9th 2023.
Jesse Johnson, a Black man in Oregon, recently experienced a long-awaited victory after being wrongfully convicted of killing a woman in 2004. After 25 years of proclaiming his innocence, the Oregon Innocence Project was able to overturn the conviction, finally granting Johnson the satisfaction of being a free man.
On Tuesday, the Marion County District Attorney’s office asked the Marion County Circuit Court to dismiss the case against Johnson, citing that “based upon the amount of time that has passed and the unavailability of critical evidence in this case, the state no longer believes that it can prove the defendant’s guilt.” The court agreed and allowed Johnson to walk out of jail with the case against him dismissed.
The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned Johnson’s conviction in 2021, stating that his original defense attorney did not provide adequate legal representation. In addition, a key witness was not interviewed who had claimed that Johnson was not the murderer. This same witness was reportedly told by police officers that “a n**ger got murdered, and a n**ger is going to pay for it.”
The Oregon Innocence Project worked on DNA testing related to the case in 2014 and was able to prove Johnson’s innocence through various pieces of evidence left at the crime scene. In a statement, legal director Steve Wax accused the Marion County District Attorney’s Office of being more interested in “protecting its own reputation than with uncovering the truth.”
Unfortunately, Johnson did not receive any resources or support from the state and even lacked the small amount of “gate money” that is typically given to people leaving prison after they have the case dismissed. In response, a GoFundMe account has been set up to help Johnson out, with nearly half of the $50,000 goal already reached.
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