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Decision in Lamar Johnson case to be announced Tuesday

A decision on whether Johnson's 1995 murder conviction will be upheld or overturned will come out Tuesday.

ST. LOUIS — Lamar Johnson will find out Tuesday if his 1995 murder conviction will be upheld or if he will be released from prison with his conviction overturned.

Johnson was convicted in 1995 for the murder of Marcus Boyd. 

A 5-day hearing took place in December to determine if Johnson's life sentence should be overturned or upheld. It's been in Judge David Mason's hands ever since. 

In a news release Friday, the St. Louis Circuit Court said Circuit Judge David Mason will provide a short summary of his decision in court on Tuesday, Feb. 14. 

Johnson has spent nearly 28 years in prison, and has repeatedly denied his role in the murder.

Judge Mason could make three decisions on Tuesday. 

  • Overturn the conviction and find Johnson “actually innocent.” That’s a legal term, meaning all of the new evidence proves Johnson is not the killer and should be released.
  • Overturn the conviction on a constitutional error. In this scenario, Mason could side with any number of constitutional challenges Gardner’s office made about how the lineup was conducted or beyond. This would reverse his conviction on an error. That would not mean he found Johnson to be innocent, rather wrongfully convicted on a constitutional violation or violations.
  • Uphold the jury’s verdict.

Mason is expected to announce the decision at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. 

5 On Your Side will continue to provide updates as the decision is made in Johnson's case.

   

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