Sex, Lies, And More Lies — The Fibs That Lead To Life In Prison

I just came from a hearing — or I should say a 3-hour wait for a hearing to not really happen — in the ongoing case of Terrell Johnson.

Fifteen-years-ago, Mr. Johnson was convicted of murder in the first degree after a police witness was shot and killed — purportedly by mobsters — in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood. Nevermind that the police were supposed to protect the witness against mob violence related to her testimony; she was killed by three men who were apparently pissed off that she was snitching.

Two men — known mob guys, tried together — were charged and acquitted. The other, Johnson — not a known mob guy, tried separately — was charged and sentenced to life without parole based on testimony from Evelyn McBryde.

Ms. McBryde is something of a legend here in Pittsburgh. Before she agreed to testify against Mr. Johnson, she had been convicted of and implicated in an incalculable number of crimes (she often changed names and Social Security numbers to commit bank and identity fraud) that included not only prostituting her children but also coercing her children into performing sex acts on each other for paid performance purposes.

She agreed to testify against Mr. Johnson in exchange for leniency on a number of her previous charges and a stint in rehab among other things. Eventually — as the Innocence Institute of Point Park University (where I work) reported over and over again — her testimony was discovered to be bullshit and the case against Mr. Johnson became much flimsier.

Mr. Johnson’s hearing today was purported to be about bond — about getting him released from prison in preparation for a new trial — but that didn’t happen. A new hearing is pending.

For what will become obvious reasons, today’s proceedings reminded me of Megan Williams.

I was not involved in Ms. Williams’ case at all, but check out the details from MSNBC:

Megan Williams’ shocking accusations initially strained the imagination: Seven white people beat her with sticks, forced her to eat feces, raped her and taunted her with racial slurs over several days in a ramshackle trailer in West Virginia.

But the suspects eventually confessed to their actions and pleaded guilty. All but one were sent to prison. Now Williams, who is black, is taking it all back.

Williams lied in 2007 because she wanted to get back at a boyfriend who had beaten her, her attorney, Byron L. Potts, said Wednesday at a news conference in his Columbus office.

I don’t keep up with Rush Limbaugh, but if this hasn’t yet been on his show I imagine it will be soon. Which is unfortunate, because I imagine — as MSNBC did, at least in their introduction — the focus will be racial. Where the focus should be — at least from my pie-in-the-sky viewpoint — is on how these lies get this deep into the justice system. I suppose in cases of extreme violence and abuse, the system is forced to take people at their word. But in the case of Ms. McBryde, why must the system engage her, let alone pay her for her coerced testimony? The answers seem sketchy at best, criminal at worst.