WEBVTT - Misfiled 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:16.040 Last time on ear witness. 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.279 Bolly that was walking that door, scanting up on this 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:19.600 table and say what she said? 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:21.880 We got a full table. 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:24.640 Now we got all the evidence we. 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:28.720 Need this Alison, would you tell us about the information 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:29.120 that you. 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:30.240 Have for us? 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:35.920 Yes, my door to use her three way to call 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.120 for his homeboy, and he named the name is to 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:40.199 Borrow Johnson. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:42.280 We had a weak case. 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:44.680 It's based on testimony in one witness. 0:00:45.440 --> 0:00:48.840 The only evidence supposedly they had against was this ear 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:52.879 witness who had never heard him speak before, who had 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:54.240 no idea who he was. 0:00:55.400 --> 0:01:00.640 This case is all about alternative worlds that are in 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:05.320 conflict with each other and in conflict with truth, and 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.000 in conflict with what our justice system stands for. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:12.240 We forget sometime that there was a third person on 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.959 that phone who told him to discredits what this lady says. 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.720 She heard you know what I mean? And now how close, 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:20.360 how much closer can you get than that? 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:25.959 Why did the jury believe this woman who eavesdrop on 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.840 the call over you who actually had. 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:29.360 On the call. 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:30.920 I don't understand. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:32.080 I never understood that. 0:01:33.480 --> 0:01:36.559 You know, the victim's family deserve to know what happened 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:41.160 to their loved one. But they get no justice, no 0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:45.560 peace out of a wrongful conviction, you know, And this 0:01:45.760 --> 0:02:01.280 is simply a case of does anybody all do do. 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:06.160 You remember the first time you met him? At Ty 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:09.440 Alper was just starting out his legal career at the 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.679 Southern Center for Human Rights when he met to Forest Johnson. 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.120 To Forest was one of the first people on death 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:21.960 row that Ty'd been assigned to represent. In January of 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.920 two thousand and three, ty gets into one of the 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:28.200 old Volvos that the Southern Center had in their parking 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:32.440 lot in Atlanta and drives four hours south to Holman 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.480 Prison and at Moore, Alabama. 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:38.840 The first time I met him was down at Holman. 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:44.600 I was by myself and well, I was going to 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:47.160 go down and make sure that he was okay with 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.440 us representing him and to sort of tell him where 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:51.160 his case was. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.000 Tye is twenty nine years old, and here's what he knows. 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:00.720 To Forest Johnson is just eight months old than he is, 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.160 and he's been on death row for over four years 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:14.679 for a crime he says he did not commit. When 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.880 ty finally gets inside the prison, he's taken to a 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.560 room called the visiting yard, but it isn't a yard 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:25.440 at all. It looks like a middle school cafeteria surrounded 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:31.160 by plexiglass. Outside the plexiglass, correctional officers and men in 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:35.880 prison uniforms, white slacks, white shirt with Alabama Department of 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:41.440 Corrections stamped on the back are walking by. Inside, there's 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:44.960 no ac and the sad attempt of cooling the room 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:48.440 is left to metal fans that hang in the corners 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.040 to forrest sits at a table in a plastic chair 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:56.320 across from Tye. Ty tries to talk quietly so he 0:03:56.320 --> 0:03:59.760 doesn't disturb other lawyers working with their clients on the yard, 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.240 but loud enough to be heard over the roar of 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.040 the fans. 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.000 And I remember saying to him, you know, mister Johnson, 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:12.400 I want you to know we're at the very early 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:16.800 stages of your appeals. There's many rounds of appeals to go. 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.400 We're going to file a petition in the US Supreme Court. 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:21.960 Then we're going to go back into state court. If 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.039 we lose there, we're going to go back into federal court, 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:28.039 and all this could take many years. And he just 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:34.560 started crying, and I assumed that he was upset because 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:36.240 I knew that he had claimed that he was claiming 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.320 he was innocent, and I assumed that he was upset 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.000 that this was going to take so long, and I 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:44.520 asked him what was wrong, and he said that he 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.640 was so happy because he had just assumed that they 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.000 could come any minute and take him to be executed. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:52.960 And it was just the thing that struck me the most, 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.880 because not only had he been screwed over in pretty 0:04:56.920 --> 0:04:59.720 much every possible way you can be, but nobody was 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:02.119 telling anything about what was going on in this case. 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:07.599 But to Forrest's days without a lawyer to fight for 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:11.480 him are over. It's now up to Tie and the 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.359 team of lawyers at the Southern Center to do what 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:19.600 no one has done before, thoroughly investigate to Forrest's conviction, 0:05:20.600 --> 0:05:23.880 a conviction that hinged on the word and credibility of 0:05:23.920 --> 0:05:27.640 a single witness, Violet Ellison. 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.520 Do you he my may. 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:03.320 Love, hads may. 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:10.840 Sorrowstp re lit. 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:13.640 In this b. 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.160 Both tears. 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.719 I want to see. 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:27.120 Revelation. 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:33.240 I want to know who you are. 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:38.920 I'm reation. 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:49.280 In thisspiration to the word Who's holding stands? 0:06:52.000 --> 0:06:52.560 To the. 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.919 Who's holding the stand? 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:09.080 I'm Beth Shelburne. This is ear witness, Chapter six misfiled. 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.960 After ty leaves Holman prison, he and the rest of 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.760 Taforest's new legal team go through the case. They need 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.040 to understand how their new client ended up on death row. 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.360 They hear about to Forest's alibi that he was at 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:31.440 Tea's place when Deputy Hardy was shot. They learn about 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:37.000 Yolanda Chambers changing stories. They read how the state presented 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:42.200 conflicting theories at different trials. Now it's clear to the 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:47.520 legal team to Forest Johnson did not kill Deputy Hardy. 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:54.680 The state's case completely revolved around Violet Ellison's testimony, so. 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.440 We knew that that was a potentially fruitful area to 0:07:57.480 --> 0:07:59.800 investigate because she was the state's whole case. 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.160 They need to figure out whether they can challenge Violet 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:08.880 Ellison's testimony. If they can show that it wasn't reliable, 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.200 they can argue that to Forrest deserves a new trial. 0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:16.760 So they need to know why did Violet Ellison come 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:22.000 forward in the first place. Prosecutor Jeff Wallace told two 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:26.840 juries that Violet was a credible witness, someone who overheard 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:30.400 to Forrest Johnson admit to the crime, and she came 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:34.280 forward because it was the right thing to do. But 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:39.319 there were other reasons Violet Ellison might have come forward. 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:42.600 We knew the reward was offered because it was all 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.920 over the papers, but we didn't know who got it, 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:47.640 or if Violet Elison got it. 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.920 The reward was not a secret. It was mentioned in 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:55.160 press releases and reported on TV news. 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:58.720 So the next step was okay. Well, were there questions 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.840 about her credibility that the juris already never heard, And 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:11.960 an obvious one was what was she paid for her testimony? 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:18.400 If Violet Ellison knew about the reward money before trial, 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:22.240 or even if she had qualified for the reward, the 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:28.040 jury should have been told this when they heard her testimony. 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:33.720 The legal issues here get complicated fast, but it's important 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:38.560 to understand that the prosecution must turn over anything that 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:42.680 would be helpful to the defense. It can be a 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:47.160 lead on another suspect, or some forensic report that casts 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:52.360 doubt on a piece of evidence, or information that calls 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:57.880 the credibility of a state's witness into question. This is 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:02.199 called Brady information, after a famous US Supreme Court case 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:06.000 called Brady v. Maryland. And if a court finds out 0:10:06.080 --> 0:10:11.560 later that prosecutors failed to turn over Brady information, that's 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:15.800 a constitutional violation and the court will order a new trial. 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:29.840 So if prosecutors knew that Violet Ellison came forward looking 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.880 for the reward, they should have told to Forest trial 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.680 lawyers about it, and then they could have brought it 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:39.440 up at trial. They could have told the jury when 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:43.599 you go back and deliberate about Violet Ellison's testimony, Remember 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.880 there's a reward being offered and she wants that reward. 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.600 Are you sure money isn't part of the equation here? 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.400 But the jury never heard anything about the reward. 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.079 She was very credible. 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:03.280 Monique Hick was on the jury into Forrest's second trial 0:11:03.559 --> 0:11:06.800 and she voted to convict to Forest based on Violet 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:08.000 Ellison's testimony. 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:11.760 She just seemed very truthful, like she had nothing to 0:11:11.800 --> 0:11:14.840 gain by coming forward. She had heard this information and 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:17.959 she felt like I have to share this. She was 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.839 a very credible witness compared to some of the others 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:25.560 that took the sandlight. We believed her, obviously, we believed 0:11:25.559 --> 0:11:28.120 her because we convicted him and it was on her testimony. 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:35.360 Overturning a conviction is damn near impossible. Our system prioritizes 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:39.880 finality in part because a jury's verdict is considered a 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:44.600 community statement and given great weight. So for to Forrest 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.920 to get a new trial, his lawyers needed to prove 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:52.360 two things that Violet Ellison came forward with her story 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:56.560 in the hopes of getting the reward, and that police 0:11:56.559 --> 0:12:02.200 and prosecutors were aware of this true motive. There's one 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:07.880 big problem. If Violet Ellison had been paid, documentation of 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.679 the payment should have been into Forrest's case file, but 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:17.439 there wasn't anything there. Still, Tye and the other attorneys 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:21.360 had a hunch that Violet Ellison got the money. The 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:25.600 legal team tried calling everywhere they could, the Sheriff's office, 0:12:25.880 --> 0:12:30.200 the Governor's office, the Record's division. What should have been 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:36.319 just a simple phone call turned into a multi week endeavor. Finally, 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:40.280 someone at the Governor's office said they might have something 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:42.840 and would send over a fax. 0:12:45.320 --> 0:12:47.520 I do remember us all hovering around the facts machine 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:49.000 waiting to see what it was, because it was the 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:51.240 first time that anyone had acknowledged that there might be 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:52.960 something that was helpful. 0:12:54.360 --> 0:12:57.959 The fax machine spits out a piece of paper signed 0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:01.720 by Judge Alfred Bayhackle, the man who presided over to 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:07.520 Forrest's trials and sentenced him to death. The paper authorized 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.960 Violet Ellison to receive five thousand dollars in reward money 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:15.640 in exchange for her testimony that led to the conviction 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:17.120 of to Forest Johnson. 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.760 That was when we knew, okay, she did know about 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.079 this reward. She was motivated by the reward when she testified, 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.480 and the judge knew about it in an order that 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:31.760 was not included in the court file. 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:38.000 For to Forest's legal team. This was a huge first step. 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:42.000 The language in the court order said that Violet Ellison 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:46.400 came forward pursuant to the public offer of a reward. 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:52.319 And again, this authorization document was signed by the judge. 0:13:52.600 --> 0:13:55.800 It's an official court document. It should have been into 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:59.560 Forrest's court file right there where everyone could see it, 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:05.240 but it wasn't. Instead, to Forest's legal team had to 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:09.600 go on a bureaucratic goose chase to find it was 0:14:09.679 --> 0:14:14.439 someone trying to hide something. What other documents were missing 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:22.640 from the public file. So a young investigator working with 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.920 the Forest's legal team named Jason Marx went right to 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:31.600 the source. He walked up to Violet Ellison's house, holding 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.560 Judge Bahackle's court order that authorized her payment in one 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.600 hand and knocked on her front door with the other. 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:41.200 When I showed up at her house, he said something 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.360 about the phone calls, and I said, oh, I'm not 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:45.240 here to talk to you about the phone calls. I'm 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:47.440 here to talk about the reward that you got. And 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.200 that's when she said I didn't get a reward. I 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:52.400 was like, oh, well, that's funny. I was like, I 0:14:52.400 --> 0:14:54.760 have some paperwork here that says you got a reward, 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.040 and so basically yeah. So basically confronted her with the document, 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.720 she said, oh, yeah, I did get a reward, got 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:03.360 five thousand dollars. 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:09.440 After initially denying it, Violet Ellison told Jason the state 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:14.080 paid her five thousand dollars for testifying against to Forrest Johnson. 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.360 We knew when we got the judge's order that he 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.120 had authorized the payment, and then she told us that 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.680 she got paid, so we knew it all. When you 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.680 take a step back, he's on death row because the 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:30.000 jury believed a woman who they didn't know is being 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:34.960 paid for her testimony, and that should cause real concerns 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.000 and questions about the validity of the conviction. 0:15:38.560 --> 0:15:42.120 To Forest's legal team files a Brady claim against the 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:46.400 state that argues the jury into Forest's trial should have 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.880 heard about the reward, Violet Ellison knew about the reward 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.640 when she came forward, and that the state suppressed the 0:15:54.680 --> 0:16:01.480 information on purpose. The state denies everything. They deny any 0:16:01.520 --> 0:16:05.400 Brady violation, and they deny all of the allegations into 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.800 Forest's petition, including that Violet Ellison was motivated by the 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:14.800 reward and that she was paid five thousand dollars. But 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:19.120 to Forest's legal team has evidence to the contrary, the 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:23.600 court order that was faxed to them and Violet Ellison herself. 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.680 After the state submits a written denial of all of 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.280 the charges brought by to Forest's legal team, the case 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:36.040 heads to court, but Alabama courts won't hear the case. 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:41.520 They say the reward doesn't qualify as Brady, so the 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:51.160 appeal takes years to make its way through the courts. 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:56.320 When to Forest and Ty first met, to Forrest's five 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:59.600 kids were all under the age of ten, and as 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:04.160 the Braak claim crawls through the legal system, seventeen years 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:09.119 go by, to Forrest's oldest daughter has graduated college and 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:17.280 his four other kids are having kids of their own. Finally, 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.480 to Forest's legal team gets the case in front of 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:25.399 the United States Supreme Court. The justices tell the Alabama 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.920 courts that they're wrong for not reviewing to Forrest Brady claim. 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:35.080 The State of Alabama must hear the evidence about the reward. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.800 Ahead of the hearing, Judge Teresa Pulliam gives the state 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:46.800 very clear orders. 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:50.320 You have to turn over everything, everything that you have 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.600 that concerns a reward payment. You have to turn it 0:17:52.600 --> 0:17:54.800 over to mister Johnson's lawyers. 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:00.240 So the state gives to Forest's legal team what they 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.800 say are all of the documents about to Forest's case. 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:09.040 An attorney representing the state tells Judge Pulliam the files 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:13.840 contained nothing about anyone applying for a reward or being 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:15.080 granted a reward. 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:19.320 I think it was eight or nine banker's boxes of documents, 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:23.840 and we went through every single page looking for any 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.119 mention of a reward payment about Elson, and there was 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:26.800 nothing in there. 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.040 But then to Forest's legal team gets a tip from 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:34.800 an insider. The woman who served as office manager at 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.119 the Jefferson County District Attorney's office went to Forest was 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:39.080 on trial. 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.480 So she told us that if we were only looking 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:46.439 in the case file, we weren't looking everywhere. That the 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:49.760 documentation might be because they also had a reward file 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:53.040 that they kept separate from the case files that would 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:58.639 include paperwork and documentation of witnesses who had sought rewards 0:18:59.119 --> 0:19:00.440 and or been paid rewards. 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:05.680 Reward information in the DA's office, according to this source, 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:11.840 was kept in a separate confidential file away from prosecutors 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:16.480 involved in trials like Jeff Wallace. This meant he couldn't 0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:19.399 turn it over to to Forest lawyers because he didn't 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:23.840 know about it. To to Forest's attorneys, this meant the 0:19:23.880 --> 0:19:30.280 information about the reward was kept from them intentionally suppressed. 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:34.840 The judge orders the DA's office to turn over this 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.080 separate confidential file. 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:41.920 We got an email that said, we found these documents. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:46.000 They had been misfiled, and here they are. 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:52.480 Here they are. After seventeen years, the state finally turned 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:56.520 over every document to Forest lawyers had asked for the 0:19:56.760 --> 0:20:02.200 hidden treasure trove. An application for the reward that's signed 0:20:02.280 --> 0:20:06.080 by Violet Ellison, a copy of the actual check for 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:11.000 five thousand dollars made out to Violet Ellison, an email 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:15.080 exchange between District Attorney David Barber and the Governor's office 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:19.200 about how to pay the reward. And a letter from 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:23.280 DA Barber asking the governor to pay Violet Ellison the money, 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:27.919 saying that she came forward pursuant to the offer of 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:42.040 a reward. If this hidden information about the reward kept 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:47.199 away from to Forest lawyers for seventeen years doesn't count 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:55.040 as prosecutorial misconduct as a Brady violation, what does? But 0:20:55.160 --> 0:21:00.320 according to the state, all of these documents were simply misfunnild. 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:09.640 When I hear misfiled, I imagine someone accidentally putting a document 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:13.639 into the wrong folder, or maybe a paper falling behind 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:18.080 a cabinet. But that's not what happened. It sounds like 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:22.679 they had it organized in a file they kept explicitly 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.960 for rewards, a file that no one seemed to know 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:31.840 about except the office manager and the DA himself, David Barber, 0:21:32.000 --> 0:21:36.560 who headed the prosecutor's office. How is this acceptable? 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:55.920 Hello? 0:21:56.680 --> 0:22:01.240 Yes, I was calling for David Barber speaking mister Barber. 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:05.440 My name is Beth Shelburne. I called David Barber, who's 0:22:05.480 --> 0:22:09.439 now retired after serving as Jefferson County's top prosecutor for 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:13.080 twenty four years. He was DA when to Forest was 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:17.760 tried for capital murder and personally involved in the reward issue. 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:21.400 He wrote the letter asking the governor to pay Violet Ellison. 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:26.440 The defense team for mister Johnson didn't have any records 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.240 about the reward until twenty nineteen. The Attorney General's office 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:35.240 produced the records and said they had been misfiled. Okay, 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:39.840 does that sound strange to you or do you have 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:41.240 any idea how that could. 0:22:41.040 --> 0:22:42.000 Have happened. 0:22:43.280 --> 0:22:45.719 The AG's office. If they said he got misfiled, then 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:47.640 I guess he got misfiled. Human error. 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:48.080 I guess. 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:50.680 I don't know. I don't think. 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:54.800 I guess people. I mean, things happen. You have people 0:22:54.840 --> 0:23:02.200 working in agencies, DA's offices, AG's office's, Governor's office, things 0:23:02.240 --> 0:23:05.160 getting misfiled, And I mean it happened. 0:23:06.320 --> 0:23:11.000 It happens. Actually, it did happen at least one other 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:15.359 time on Barber's watch. In two thousand and four, a 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:19.199 man named Montez Spradley was sentenced to death for murder 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:22.480 based on the testimony of one witness, just like to 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:28.239 Forrest Johnson. Eventually, Spradley's lawyers discovered the star witness was 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:32.800 paid ten thousand dollars for her testimony, but police and 0:23:32.880 --> 0:23:39.399 prosecutors never disclosed the reward payment because the reward documents 0:23:39.440 --> 0:23:43.679 were kept in this same separate file as Violet Ellison's 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:48.800 reward payment. The judge in that case also didn't disclose 0:23:48.840 --> 0:23:54.760 information about the reward. The judge was Gloria Bahackle, the 0:23:54.800 --> 0:23:59.040 sister of Alfred Bahackle, the judge into Forests trial. 0:24:05.520 --> 0:24:05.840 Hello. 0:24:07.640 --> 0:24:10.880 Hey, my name is Beth Sholburn. I was wondering if 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:16.399 mister Alfred ba Hackle is here. My producer Mara, and 0:24:16.440 --> 0:24:19.760 I went to Judge Alfred bay Hackle's house hoping to 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:23.840 talk to him about these off the record payment authorizations, 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:28.520 but he told us that he wasn't interested in commenting 0:24:28.640 --> 0:24:32.520 on any specific cases or his time as a judge. 0:24:32.760 --> 0:24:33.760 I've talked to you. 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:40.080 It's about a murder case and several of the trials here. 0:24:40.520 --> 0:24:42.560 I can't talk about, okay. 0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:46.600 Montes Bradley was able to prove his innocence and was 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:51.280 released from prison in twenty fifteen to Forrest and his 0:24:51.359 --> 0:25:29.800 attorneys hope for this same outcome. I first heard about 0:25:29.840 --> 0:25:33.760 to Forest Johnson's case in twenty nineteen when the Brady 0:25:33.800 --> 0:25:37.399 hearing was scheduled. I was assigned to cover the hearing 0:25:37.560 --> 0:25:41.000 for WBrC The News station where I used to work. 0:25:42.000 --> 0:25:46.919 This hearing would determine whether Violet Ellison's secret reward payment 0:25:47.280 --> 0:25:52.560 amounted to prosecutorial misconduct. I didn't know much about to 0:25:52.600 --> 0:25:55.800 Force case back then, only that he was on death 0:25:55.880 --> 0:25:58.359 row for a crime that he said he didn't commit 0:25:59.040 --> 0:26:02.320 and was convicted on the testimony of an ear witness 0:26:02.720 --> 0:26:07.600 who was paid off the record. In preparation for the hearing, 0:26:07.840 --> 0:26:12.119 I met with Taforest's cousin Antonio Green, and other family 0:26:12.160 --> 0:26:16.120 members at their uncle's house. They all said to Forrest 0:26:16.440 --> 0:26:19.080 was optimistic about the hearing, and he. 0:26:18.960 --> 0:26:21.080 Tells me, he says all the time, well, you know, 0:26:21.200 --> 0:26:23.359 cause I know I didn't do this, so one day 0:26:23.520 --> 0:26:24.600 it'll all come out. 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:26.320 Old. 0:26:26.520 --> 0:26:30.640 Yeah. On the day of the hearing, I only took 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:34.240 a pen and notebook into Judge Pulliam's courtroom because she 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:39.080 doesn't allow recording. I sat next to to Forest's mother, Donna, 0:26:39.280 --> 0:26:43.119 in a middle row, and I spotted to Forrest sitting 0:26:43.200 --> 0:26:47.200 at the defense table with his attorneys. This was the 0:26:47.240 --> 0:26:51.160 first and only time I've ever seen to Forrest Johnson 0:26:51.280 --> 0:26:55.560 in person. He was wearing an orange and white striped 0:26:55.760 --> 0:27:00.320 jail jumpsuit and was in handcuffs and leg irons. At 0:27:00.320 --> 0:27:03.800 one point, he turned and smiled at his family, and 0:27:03.840 --> 0:27:07.560 I heard his mom next to me say softly, hey baby. 0:27:09.200 --> 0:27:12.119 The courtroom was packed, and much of the crowd was 0:27:12.160 --> 0:27:16.160 to Forrest's family and friends, but I also saw Jefferson 0:27:16.200 --> 0:27:20.160 County's newly elected district attorney seated in the first row, 0:27:20.800 --> 0:27:24.600 Danny Carr. He's the first black man to be elected 0:27:24.640 --> 0:27:29.160 top prosecutor in Jefferson County. A month before this hearing, 0:27:29.840 --> 0:27:32.560 a group of faith leaders who knew about to Forest 0:27:32.720 --> 0:27:36.840 case published an open letter to Carr asking him to 0:27:36.960 --> 0:27:41.000 push for a new trial, but at this point Carr 0:27:41.000 --> 0:27:48.240 had not commented publicly on the case. The hearing starts 0:27:48.359 --> 0:27:52.719 at nine am to Forrest's attorneys present all of the 0:27:52.760 --> 0:27:56.720 documents that took the state seventeen years to turn over. 0:27:57.760 --> 0:28:01.240 They argue that the documents showed so the state suppressed 0:28:01.280 --> 0:28:06.119 evidence that Violet Ellison initially contacted police in pursuit of 0:28:06.160 --> 0:28:10.359 the reward money, and then the state hid that she 0:28:10.440 --> 0:28:21.840 was eventually paid five thousand dollars. Just after ten am, 0:28:22.240 --> 0:28:27.120 the state calls only one witness to testify, Violet Ellison. 0:28:28.560 --> 0:28:31.880 She's seventy seven years old and walks to the stand 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:35.760 using a cane. She has short white hair and is 0:28:35.880 --> 0:28:40.760 dressed in a white blazer and black pants. After she's 0:28:40.760 --> 0:28:44.440 sworn in, Violet Ellison says that she knew the victim 0:28:44.840 --> 0:28:48.840 and followed the details about the murder and investigation by 0:28:48.920 --> 0:28:54.400 watching the news and reading the newspaper. But despite all that, 0:28:55.000 --> 0:28:58.400 and despite the fact that information about the reward was 0:28:58.560 --> 0:29:02.920 all over the news, she is vehement that she didn't 0:29:03.280 --> 0:29:07.160 know about the reward. She testifies that the first time 0:29:07.200 --> 0:29:11.040 she heard about the reward was after to Forrest was 0:29:11.080 --> 0:29:14.360 sentenced to death in July of two thousand and one, 0:29:15.000 --> 0:29:20.160 three years after he was convicted. She says that's when 0:29:20.200 --> 0:29:24.120 someone from the DA's office contacted her and asked her 0:29:24.160 --> 0:29:26.920 to come in and sign papers for the reward money. 0:29:30.520 --> 0:29:34.400