‘Justice demands’ new trial for death row inmate, Alabama district attorney says

By KIM CHANDLER
Associated Press

An Alabama district attorney on Monday asked a judge to order a new trial for a death row inmate. Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr filed a brief expressing his support for Toforest Johnson’s bid to receive a new trial. Carr wrote Johnson’s conviction was built on flawed evidence and “cannot be justified or allowed to stand.” Johnson was convicted in the 1995 killing of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy. Hardy was shot twice in the head while working off-duty security at a hotel. However, Carr, who was elected in 2018, wrote that the “evidence in this case has unraveled over 20 years.”