Lamar Johnson

Lamar Johnson is an American man from Baltimore, Maryland, who was arrested and wrongfully convicted of first-degree murder in 2005. Although physical evidence was used in the courtroom it had no DNA link to Johnson. But, through this and eyewitness testimonies, Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Johnson served 13 years in jail until he was exonerated through help from the Maryland Conviction Integrity Unit, Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (a subset of the Innocence Project), and attorney David Benowitz.

On March 26, 2004, Carlos Sawyer, 31, was murdered in the McElderry Park neighborhood in Baltimore. Three shots were fired in the middle of the day on a street corner with about 30 witnesses. A 911 tip pointed the police in the direction of the assailant, who has a particular nickname: "Boo Boo." This tip came hours after the fatal attack.

Police followed the lead and found Lamar Johnson, who at the time was incorrectly identified by this nickname. This connection made Johnson top the list of potential suspects. Johnson was arrested and tried for first-degree murder. At the end of the trial in 2005, Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. There was no physical evidence that connected Johnson nor a clear motive for the crime provided by the prosecution. Eyewitnesses testified that Johnson "looked like" the gunman.

Starting in 2008, Lamar Johnson began filing with the court of appeals to overturn his conviction. The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP), a subset of the Innocence Network, picked up Johnson's case and began re-investigating. This process found new eyewitnesses that had originally not been interviewed or seen as important. The MAIP team also re-tested physical evidence used in the original case and visited the crime scene multiple times.

A joint motion was filed in 2016 by the State Attorney's Office Chief of Conviction Integrity Unit Lauren Lipscomb, Attorney David Benowitz, and the MAIP. Judge Charles Peters presided over the case. The case review covered new testimonies where the original eyewitnesses explained that Johnson "looked similar" to the shooter, but may not have been him. An altercation between Carlos Sawyer and another person that occurred the same day as his death was also brought up in questioning from a different witness This witness had not been interviewed during the original case. This witness confirmed the fight was between Sawyer and someone who was obviously not Johnson.

On September 19, 2017, Lamar Johnson's case was reviewed in a writ of actual innocence hearing. Judge Peters overturned Johnson's first degree murder and gun convictions. After serving 13 years of his life sentence, Lamar Johnson walked out of the courtroom a free man. The MAIP was involved with this case for over 6 years. This was the first case of its kind in Maryland to successfully help get a wrongly convicted person out of jail and has set precedent for other cases.