Wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, a Durham father wants a pardon from the governor
Last month, the Durham County district attorney dropped recent gun and drug charges against Kevin Johnson that he and his attorney had contested from the start.
It was not the first such reversal for Johnson, who was previously freed from prison after being wrongfully accused and convicted in 2010 of shooting a police officer.
Now, Johnson wants a pardon of innocence from Gov. Roy Cooper to clear his name.
“I want the world to know that I’m tired,” Johnson, 41, said in an interview. “What else do I got to go through? How many more trials and tribulations, instead of giving me my due justice?”
Shortly after getting out of prison, Johnson began what he called the “most beautifulest job ever” for Bull City United, Durham’s gun violence intervention program.
He was doing the sort of “stuff you’d read (about) in books or see on TV” as a former gang member back in his old neighborhood working to stop shootings.
It was the best job, he said, for someone reentering society after spending roughly 15 years in jail and prison.
Police raid questioned
On June 1, 2023, Johnson was exonerated of the 2010 charges with the help of attorney Christine Mumma of the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence. His felony convictions were vacated and charges dismissed following a hearing, where new evidence raised questions about key witnesses’ credibility.
But the exonerated Johnson lost his job as a violence interrupter in early January after a swarm of Durham police officers detained him and raided his apartment, charging him with possession of drugs and illegal guns, The News & Observer previously reported.
Johnson and Mumma, who was at the scene, maintained his innocence.
Weeks later, on Jan. 18, the Durham County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges after further investigation of his case.
Johnson was freed again but still feels like he hasn’t gotten a second chance at life. He also wants his job back.
He spoke to The N&O on a basketball court where he now plays with his 16-year-old son, Kevin Jr., who was born the year his father was first jailed.
“It was proven that I ain’t do nothing the first time,” he said. “Now the second time going around, here we go again. I’m glad it didn’t take years this time.”
Why was Johnson exonerated?
Before his exoneration, Johnson agreed not to sue Durham County and the city of Durham if a judge granted a motion to vacate his convictions without a hearing for attempted first-degree murder and assaulting an officer.
But the county “chose not to do the right thing” by objecting to the motion, instead holding a June court hearing to review Johnson’s case, according to Mumma.
A judge overturned his conviction, and the District Attorney’s Office later decided to dismiss his charges altogether.
A civil suit has not been filed on behalf of Johnson and could prove costly. A jury awarded Durham exoneree Darryl Howard $6 million in 2021 after he served two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder, based on fabricated evidence and an inadequate investigation by a veteran police officer.
In Johnson’s case, a co-defendant named David Williams recanted his testimony that Johnson had shot Durham police officer David Vereen, who was injured during a burglary in 2007. Johnson’s ex-girlfriend also testified he was with her the night of the shooting.
Vereen testified that the shooter had dreads or cornrows, but Johnson, whose head is tattooed, had been bald for years.
“When someone’s in prison for something they didn’t do, the most important thing to them is their freedom and their name,” Mumma said in an interview.
His petition for a pardon has been under review by the governor’s office since July. The district attorney consented to a finding of innocence in the case, recommending his case to the governor for a pardon.
“Cases for clemency or pardon follow an intensive review of many elements,” Jordan Monaghan, a spokesperson for Cooper, said in an email. “The Office of the Governor, including the offices of Executive Clemency and General Counsel, carefully reviews all petitions for clemency.”
What Johnson did for Bull City United
Just days after getting out prison, Johnson began working for Durham’s gun violence intervention program, the first of its kind in the state when it was formed in 2016.
Bull City United performed 2,789 mediations last fiscal year, The N&O reported previously. The 25-person staff operates on a budget of about $3 million from the city and county.
Its workers do conflict resolution in target areas known for shootings. Johnson was sent to the Cornwallis Road public housing community, his old neighborhood, and though he said it wasn’t easy, he loved what he did.
Johnson went door to door to ask about neighborhood feuds, talk to young people and spread Bull City United’s message, he said.
“We’d be out there interacting with 14-, 15-, 16-, 17-year-olds ... full-fledged, toting pistols,” he said. “They wasn’t in school, they was out there trying to survive. Some of them had kids.”
Sometimes shootings broke out while Johnson and other violence interrupters were working in the neighborhood, he said.
“The police don’t even do this ... they don’t be in the midst (of gunfire),” he said. “I know what I did to the streets, all the havoc I caused, the worrying I caused on my mother, so (I was) really trying to stop it.”
Johnson was fired as a temporary full-time contractor after his arrest. A county spokesperson declined to confirm the reason for his termination.
Since losing his job, he’s been in a precarious financial situation with his girlfriend and his son.
His money and car keys were confiscated by the Durham Police Department after his arrest, although a motion to return his property was filed.
Freed from charges, a second time
The January drugs and weapons charges against Johnson stem from a visit from a longtime friend, Scott Burnette, and police searching for Burnette’s teenage son, who was wanted by police. Johnson’s charges were all dismissed.
“I’m very glad the charges got dismissed,” said Mumma. “But I am a little disappointed we didn’t get to prove (publicly) how outrageous the whole thing was in court.”
Johnson and Mumma said he was at work and his son was at school when police arrived at Johnson’s apartment to search for the juvenile wanted for alleged drug- and weapon-related crimes.
Burnette, 38, was visiting the apartment to work on Johnson’s girlfriend’s car as a favor to him, according to Johnson and Burnette.
Police tracked Burnette’s son to the apartment complex but did not find him, though they later arrested him, a police spokesperson confirmed.
Police weren’t looking for Johnson or Burnette as suspects in any crimes that day, arrest warrants show.
However, they detained and arrested Burnette after allegedly finding small amounts of drugs and a weapon on him.
Johnson arrived at his home after Burnette’s arrest and called Mumma to the scene.
Police then obtained a search warrant for Johnson’s home, despite Burnette telling officers he didn’t live there, and that any drugs or weapons present were his.
Mumma questioned officers’ motives for wanting to search Johnson’s apartment.
She said the search warrant was illegal and that an an outsized police response and ensuing raid was a disproportionate use of police resources against Johnson.
“I counted at least 23 officers at that apartment that afternoon, including 12 SWAT team officers who came in in full armor,” she said.
In a statement to The N&O, Durham police said they do not “target any individual, business or group when conducting legitimate criminal investigations.”
Mumma says police lied in the search warrant and obtained the warrant illegally, and has filed an Internal Affairs Division complaint against the police department. The complaint also says officers lied to her as an attorney and did not let her communicate with Johnson while in custody, and that officers were “unnecessarily rough” toward him.
Police confirmed they’re reviewing the complaint, Mumma said, and “are taking the complaint seriously.”
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, a Durham father wants a pardon from the governor."
