Freed prisoner wants compensation: 18 years for a crime he didn't do

St. Louis Post-Dispatch ^ | 8.1.02 | Tim Bryant

[general_re]

The victim who falsely accused him.

"False" only in the sense that it was a misidentification - we certainly don't know from this story whether she did so intentionally or maliciously.

Would you really have her be personally liable?

As for the system, what would have had them do differently to avoid this outcome?

[Chemist_Geek]

What action (or inaction) of theirs caused him harm?

Individually, none. Generally, they organized a government which deprived him of his liberty without good reason.

I know it's a tough question. Here we have an innocent man who spent, what, 18 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. But, we also know that the justice system is imperfect and cannot be perfected. How can we make this man whole again?

[general_re]

True. I guess the real difficulty for me is that you have the legal equivalent of being hit by lightning - no particular person or procedure seems to be at fault, and yet in a one-in-a-million shot, he was convicted anyway. Hell of a feather for the prosecutor's cap - he's so good, he can convict innocent people ;)

In any case, what would be the best outcome for me is compensating this man for his losses without simultaneously punishing people for doing exactly what we expect them to do in exactly the manner in which we expect them to do it.

[RGSpincich]

How can we make this man whole again?

I would like to know more about the rape charge that he was acquitted on. It occurred prior to this one and just after his parole from prison on the first rape charge.

Johnson had been in trouble before. He is a former Marine paroled in June 1982 after serving about half of a 15-year sentence given him after a 1974 court-martial on another rape charge. In that case, he was convicted of rape, robbery and assault of the wife of a Marine staff sergeant while stationed in Japan.

On Nov. 28, 1982, Johnson was arrested and charged with kidnapping and raping a 22-year-old woman near Maffit Avenue and Sarah Street. He was acquitted in 1983.

The circumstances surrounding his acquittal would be helpful.

Link

[RGSpincich]

Knowing the circumstances surrounding his acquittal would be helpful.

[TankerKC]

Johnson is a former Marine who was paroled in 1982 after serving about half of a 15-year sentence in the rape, robbery and assault of the wife of a Marine staff sergeant while stationed in Japan.

Could it be that he wrongly found guilty twice? Nope. Is it likely that he committed the first rape, but not the second? Nope. So, where do we go from here?