Emily Hoerner, Senior Reporter at Injustice Watch

Mo. Attorney General fights to maintain conviction despite prosecutor’s innocence conclusion

The Missouri Attorney General’s office this week rebuked arguments from the city of St. Louis Circuit Attorney, defense attorneys and more than 40 prosecutors across the country, contending in a legal brief that a local judge has no right to consider vacating a conviction of a prisoner the prosecutor says is innocent.

by Emily Hoerner August 16, 2019December 5, 2023

Archive

Prosecutors nationwide join fray over St. Louis case of potential wrongful conviction

More than 40 local prosecutors across the country filed a legal brief Thursday supporting the City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s effort to overturn the murder conviction of a local man her office has concluded is innocent. Lamar Johnson, the prisoner, was convicted of murder in 1995 and is serving a life sentence.

by Emily Hoerner August 15, 2019December 5, 2023

Archive

Prosecutors acknowledge his innocence, but St. Louis man remains locked in prison

A St. Louis man imprisoned for a murder that the local prosecutor said he did not commit expressed dismay this week at why he remains behind bars. “I just don’t understand why I can’t go home,” Lamar Johnson said in a telephone interview from the Jefferson City Correctional Center.

by Emily Hoerner August 14, 2019January 8, 2024

In Plain View

More Facebook fallout: Seven Philly cops retire while investigation continues

Seven Philadelphia police officers have resigned in recent days, weeks after their posts were included in the Plain View Project database of troubling Facebook posts by police officers. Among those who retired was one supervisor whose posts were highlighted by Injustice Watch.

by Emily Hoerner and Rick Tulsky August 2, 2019December 5, 2023

Archive

St. Louis judge questions authority to overturn conviction of man prosecutors say is innocent

A Missouri judge on Thursday questioned if she even has the authority under state law to consider the local prosecutor’s motion contending a St. Louis man was wrongly convicted of a 1994 murder based on prosecutorial and police misconduct that they said led the framing of an innocent man.

by Emily Hoerner August 1, 2019December 5, 2023

Archive

St. Louis prosecutor agrees with defense on wrongful conviction; but is that enough?

The St. Louis city prosecutors’ effort to overturn a conviction based on police and prosecutorial misconduct faces an uphill legal battle, legal experts said this week. Unlike several other states, Missouri has no process for such a request, experts said.

by Emily Hoerner July 26, 2019December 5, 2023

Archive

St. Louis prosecutor: Fabricated and hidden evidence by police, prosecutor led to wrongful conviction

Prosecutors in St. Louis said in an explosive set of charges that an innocent St. Louis man was wrongly convicted of murder in 1995 after police fabricated trial evidence and prosecutors hid information from defense attorneys.

by Emily Hoerner July 23, 2019December 5, 2023

In Plain View

Across U.S., officials alarmed by the Facebook posts of police officers

Across the country, officials and citizens alike reacted intensely the launch of a database revealing thousands of troubling posts by law enforcement. Top prosecutors in Philadelphia and St. Louis said they are reviewing the posts, and some police groups called on departments to take action against officers whose posts were included in the database.

by Emily Hoerner and Rick Tulsky June 6, 2019December 5, 2023

Less than Life

After courts order new sentence, Cook County prisoner given 39 years for murder committed as youth

An Illinois man originally sentenced to serve 100 years in prison for a murder he committed at age 16 was re-sentenced Monday to 39 years by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Kenneth J. Wadas.

by Emily Hoerner June 3, 2019December 5, 2023

In Plain View

Cops around the country are posting racist and violent comments on facebook

A review of the Facebook accounts of thousands of officers around the US — the largest database of its kind — found officers endorsing violence against Muslims, women, and criminal defendants.

by Emily Hoerner and Rick Tulsky June 1, 2019June 15, 2020

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