SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A man sentenced to death for a 1998 murder is now free, two years after the Oregon Court of Appeals reversed the conviction. The Oregon Innocence Project on Wednesday accused the state of committing a “heinous injustice” in its handling of the case. Political Cartoons View All 1146 ImagesWhile Johnson had been sentenced to death after he was convicted in 2004, former Gov. The group said Johnson's trial lawyers failed to interview a key witness who saw a white man fleeing the home of Thompson, who was Black. She said she then saw the white man run from the house.

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Persons: Jesse Johnson, “, ”, Johnson, nurse’s, Harriet “ Sunny ” Thompson, ” Johnson, John Kitzhaber, Kate Brown, Thompson, Steve Wax, Patricia Hubbard, didn’t, Hubbard, —, Wax, Paige Clarkson, Ellen Rosenblum, ” Wax Organizations: Oregon, Marion, Innocence, Appeals, State of, State Locations: SALEM, Ore, Oregon, Marion County, Salem, Thompson’s, State, State of Oregon