RYAN KRULL
Lamar Johnson greeting supporters, holding in the hand the ruling that freed him from 29 years of wrongful incarceration.
Thousands of supporters of Lamar Johnson, the 49-year-old wrongfully incarcerated for nearly 30 years, are trying to make his re-entry into free society a little easier by contributing to a GoFundMe.
On Tuesday, St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason overturned Johnson's sentence and he walked out of the courtroom a free man.
By Missouri law, however, Johnson is not entitled to any restitution from the state despite the state attorney general's office keeping Johnson wrongfully imprisoned; and despite the fact that while working in prison, Johnson earned only a few-cents-per-hour wage. Only people who are freed through a specific DNA testing statue are entitled to compensation from the state. Johnson's case did not involve DNA evidence.
The paltry wages and lack of recourse to restitution have left Johnson with no savings upon which to restart his life as a free man. The Midwest Innocence Project set up a GoFundMe to help Johnson, and it has raised over $140,000 from more than 2,400 donors for Johnson in less than two days.
"Your support will help Lamar re-enter society with some financial resources," the page reads, adding that "Lamar's legal team worked pro bono and 100% of funds raised will go to him to help him rebuild his life."
When Kevin Strickland, 62, was freed in Kansas City in 2021 after being wrongfully convicted, he also received no compensation from the state, despite spending more than 40 years behind bars. His GoFundMe raised $1.7 million.
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