Episode 5 of 8
Beth combs through the trial transcripts to understand how Toforest was convicted of Deputy Hardy’s murder with no physical evidence. During the trial, the State introduces a new witness - the earwitness. Violet Ellison claims she overheard Toforest talk about the murder on a jailhouse phone call – a theory the State initially rejected but now throws all its weight behind once Yolanda Chambers’s story falls apart. Beth walks listeners through one of the most shocking aspects of this case: in five different court proceedings, prosecutors presented five different, mutually exclusive theories about how Deputy Hardy was killed. Her investigation then leads her to the prosecutor who asked a jury 25 years ago to sentence Toforest to death. 
To learn more, including how you can help, visit:
http://www.ToforestJohnson.com
Earwitness is available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes 1 week early and ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.
Earwitness is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5 | Anybody Will Do

One July night in 1995, Deputy Sheriff William G. Hardy was shot behind the Crown Sterling Suites hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. At the same time as the murder, at least ten people saw Toforest Johnson four miles away, at a popular nightclub called Tee's Place. But detectives zeroed in on him as a main suspect in Deputy Hardy’s murder anyway, ultimately resulting in Toforest being tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. For over a quarter century, Toforest has been confined to a 5’ by 8’ cell on Alabama’s death row.
In 2019, investigative journalist Beth Shelburne began covering the case, going down a disturbing rabbit hole revealing many unsettling facts that cast grave doubts about Toforest’s guilt. The facts she found tear at the very foundation of the American criminal justice system: No eyewitnesses or physical evidence tied Toforest to the murder; the state tried to convict a different man for the same crime; and perhaps most disturbing of all, Toforest’s conviction relied on an ‘earwitness’ – a woman who claimed to have eavesdropped on an incriminating phone call, a woman whom prosecutors paid for her testimony, in secret. That payment was not disclosed to the jury, Toforest, or his lawyers until after he had been on death row for 17 years.
From the team behind the award-winning hit podcast Bone Valley, Lava for Good’s Earwitness is an 8-episode docuseries that asks the question, “How did an innocent man end up on death row — and why is the state still trying to execute him over the objection of the prosecutor who put him there?” Shelburne’s unprecedented access to key players—the lead detective, lead prosecutor, witnesses, jurors, and the earwitness herself— illuminate a story filled with disturbing twists, frustrating ambiguities, and shocking admissions. The story of Toforest Johnson and the state's enthusiasm for the death penalty in the face of such troubling evidentiary flaws brings to light the failings of a criminal justice system run amok.
Earwitness is available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes 1 week early and ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.

True crime

Episode 8 of 8
In a rare and remarkable move, the current Jefferson County District Attorney, Danny Carr, has asked the court to throw out Toforest’s conviction and order a new trial. The original prosecutor, Jeff Wallace, joined Carr’s call to right this terrible wrong, yet Toforest remains on death row, and the State continues to seek his execution. Beth unpacks the journey these powerful men have taken to reach their conclusions while also exploring why the system itself refuses to self-correct. The series concludes with Toforest’s children sharing how his wrongful conviction has shaped their lives and how they continue to hold out hope that the truth will prevail and their father will finally receive the freedom he deserves – before it’s too late.
To learn more, including how you can help, visit:
http://www.ToforestJohnson.com 
Earwitness is available wherever you get your podcasts. To hear all 8 episodes right now ad-free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts. 
Earwitness is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 8 | Bondage to the Law

Episode 7 of 8
The original trial prosecutor, Jeff Wallace, begins to doubt Violet Ellison's credibility several years after Toforest's conviction. Beth embarks on an investigative journey to examine Ellison's credibility, and discovers that Ellison appeared on the State's witness list in at least four other criminal cases. She speaks to the defendants in these other cases – as well as members of Ellison’s own family – and learns that she is not at all the woman prosecutors portrayed at trial, and in fact, has a history of leveraging the legal system for her own gains. 
To learn more, including how you can help, visit: http://www.ToforestJohnson.com 
Earwitness is available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes 1 week early and ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts. 
Earwitness is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 7 | Messy

Episode 6 of 8
Beth unravels disturbing revelations about the State’s handling of Violet Ellison, the earwitness whose testimony forms the backbone of the case against Toforest. She tracks the tenacious investigative work of Toforest’s lawyers to prove Ellison was paid $5000 for her testimony - in secret. After years of denying that a reward was ever paid, prosecutors are finally forced to disclose the truth – almost 20 years after Toforest was convicted and sentenced to death. 
To learn more, including how you can help, visit:
http://www.ToforestJohnson.com
Earwitness is available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes 1 week early and ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.
Earwitness is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 6 | Misfiled

Episode 4 of 8
Beth examines the Hardy murder file in order to fully understand the investigation. She discovers a pattern of tunnel vision, willful disbelief of alibi witnesses, and a reliance on coercive interview tactics that suggest if witnesses don’t say what the police want them to say, they will end up as defendants and charged with crimes themselves. Beth considers other potential investigative leads that were ignored and lost to time while detectives constructed a narrative that suited their fixation on securing a prosecution for this high-profile crime. 
To learn more, including how you can help, visit:
http://www.ToforestJohnson.com
Earwitness is available every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. To hear episodes 1 week early and ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good+ on Apple Podcasts.
Archival audio courtesy of WBRC
Earwitness is a production of Lava for Good™ Podcasts in association with Signal Co. No1. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 5 | Anybody Will Do

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