Alabama governor spares Toforest Johnson from execution after decades of doubts about his conviction

Toforest Johnson will not be executed. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday changed his death sentence to life in prison without parole, a rare move by a governor who has overseen 27 executions and has now commuted only three death sentences.

Johnson was convicted of killing Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy in 1995. Hardy was shot twice in the head while working an off-duty security job at a Birmingham hotel. Johnson has said for nearly 30 years that he was across town when the shooting happened.

Why the governor acted

Ivey said she worried there was not enough direct evidence to justify the ultimate punishment. She stressed that her decision does not mean she believes Johnson is innocent. She said he will spend the rest of his life in prison and asked people to keep Hardy's family in their prayers, calling the deputy a hero. As the law requires, she told Hardy's family and the state attorney general before announcing it.

A case that came apart

The conviction rested heavily on one witness. At the 1998 trial a woman testified that she had listened in on a three-way phone call and heard a man she believed was Johnson admit to the killing. Years later it came out that she was paid $5,000 in 2001 for her testimony. Johnson's lawyers say prosecutors kept that money motive from the defense.

The county's own top prosecutor has sided with Johnson. Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, who took office after winning election in 2018, wrote in a 2024 court filing that the evidence had unraveled over two decades. He said believable alibi witnesses put Johnson somewhere else that night and that there are many reasons to doubt the key witness.

Others have joined the call for a new trial, including a former Alabama attorney general, two former chief justices of the state Supreme Court and a group of former judges and prosecutors. The case drew national attention and was the focus of a popular podcast.

The fight is not over

One of Johnson's attorneys thanked the governor for carefully reviewing the case and acting to keep an innocent man from being put to death. He said the legal team will now press the courts to throw out the conviction and grant a new trial. The goal, he said, is to bring Johnson home to his family.

For supporters who have rallied around Johnson for years, Tuesday's decision was a long-awaited step. For now he remains behind bars while his lawyers keep pushing for the chance to clear his name.