Partners featured in ’48 Hours’ on wrongful conviction case

BCLP litigation Partners Charles Weiss and Jonathan Potts were featured in CBS News’ 48 Hours for their work exonerating Lamar Johnson, who spent the last 28 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Charlie and Jon served as special prosecutors appointed by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Together, they filed and won the first-ever wrongful conviction case brought by a local prosecutor in St. Louis history.

Beginning in 2021, the BCLP team conducted a fresh investigation into Mr. Johnson’s 1995 conviction for first-degree murder. After concluding that Mr. Johnson was innocent, the Circuit Attorney’s Office asked Circuit Judge David Mason to overturn Johnson’s sentence. The BCLP team served as special prosecutors and lead counsel during a week-long trial to prove Mr. Johnson’s innocence.

“I took this case because I believe Lamar Johnson is innocent,” said Jon in the 48 Hours special. “I didn’t take it because I think he might be innocent.”

“There was no physical evidence at all connecting Lamar with the murder of Markus Boyd, period,” Charlie added.

On Feb. 14, Judge Mason granted the circuit attorney’s motion and set aside the decades-old conviction, releasing Mr. Johnson from custody.