The Alabama Supreme Court today denied an appeal by death row inmate Toforest Johnson, who claimed the state violated his right to a fair trial by failing to disclose that a key witness was motivated by a $5,000 reward.
The justices did not issue a written opinion in denying Johnson’s petition for a writ of certiorari, or a request to review the case. The case came to the state’s highest court after the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down Johnson’s appeal in May.
In 1998, a Jefferson County jury convicted Johnson of capital murder in the death of Jefferson County Deputy William G. Hardy, who was shot twice in the head while working security for a hotel during off-duty hours in 1995.
A key witness, Violet Ellison, testified during Johnson’s trial that she heard Johnson confess to the crime on a telephone conversation from the Jefferson County jail. In 2001, Ellison received a $5,000 payment from the state because Gov. Fob James had issued a reward in the case back in 1995.
Johnson’s lawyers claimed the state violated a legal principle called the Brady rule by not disclosing to Johnson’s defense team what they alleged was Ellison’s motivation for the reward. The Brady rule says prosecutors are legally required to disclose information that is favorable to the accused.
The Brady rule issue in Johnson’s case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 2017 granted certiorari for Johnson and ordered Alabama courts to review the matter.
The Jefferson County Circuit Court held a hearing in June 2019. Ellison testified she did not know about the reward when she testified against Johnson in 1998. The circuit court ruled that Johnson’s lawyers failed to prove that Ellison was motivated by the reward and that prosecutors failed to disclose that. The court found that the state could not have hidden the information about the payment since the payment did not happen until three years later.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the circuit court’s ruling in May of this year.
Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr filed a brief in court supporting Johnson’s request for a new trial, citing multiple reasons, including the Brady rule issue. Nine former federal and state prosecutors filed a brief supporting Carr’s position, including former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce White Vance.
Patrick Mulvaney, a lawyer for the Southern Center for Human Rights who represents Johnson, declined comment on today’s decision. Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office, which opposed Johnson’s appeal, also declined comment.
