Tennesse
October 25, 2006
The state of Tennessee is set to execute Donnie Johnson on Nov. 16, 2004 for the 1985 murder of his wife in Shelby County. Connie Johnson, 30, was found dead in her van outside a Memphis shopping mall on Dec. 9, 1985 after suffering an apparent suffocation caused by a black trash bag lodged in her throat. The prosecution argued that Johnson committed the crime in his office and disposed of her body with the help of his co-worker Ronnie McCoy. McCoy, a work-release inmate and co-worker of Johnson, supported this theory with his testimony at trial. McCoy stated that he left Johnson and his wife alone for approximately 15 minutes in the office, coming back to find that Connie had been killed. Johnson maintains his innocence. He insists that McCoy murdered his wife, and that he only helped dispose of the body.
Since his conviction, Johnson has filed several motions arguing ineffective assistance of counsel, centering on the fact that his trial counsel previously represented McCoy. Although his case has completed the standard three-tier review by the District, Appeals, and Supreme Courts, recent information sheds new light on the facts surrounding the testimony of Ronnie McCoy, the State's star witness.
Johnson recently presented evidence to the Supreme Court that McCoy may have had an immunity agreement to testify for the State. Although this fact was concealed from Johnson, his counsel might have known it. Furthermore, defense counsel did not question McCoy about a possible agreement in order to impeach him on the stand, an action that could have been paramount to discrediting the State's evidence and providing reasonable doubt regarding the innocence of Donnie Johnson.
Despite this information, which was not known by Johnson or presented in his defense at the original hearing for post-conviction relief, the Supreme Court of Tennessee upheld his death sentence. In his dissenting order, Justice Adolpho Birch, Jr. stated, I believe that this information is serious enough to impact the validity of the conviction in this case, and warrants refraining from setting an execution date until the basis for such accusation can be either confirmed or disproved.
Justice Birch advocates a grace period of sixty days for Johnson to file a petition to reconsider the State's motion to set his execution. Please write to Governor Phil Bredesen and request a stay of execution on behalf of Donnie Johnson. Help prevent a serious injustice and the execution of a man whose innocence is a very real possibility.
Please write to Gov. Phil Bredesen!
