Alabama governor commutes Toforest Johnson’s death sentence

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted Toforest Johnson’s death sentence to life in prison without parole on Tuesday, sparing him execution as the local district attorney and former state officials continue to press for a new trial.

Johnson was convicted in the 1995 killing of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy and sentenced to death in 1998. He has long maintained his innocence. Hardy was shot twice in the head while working off-duty security at a hotel; Johnson says he was on the other side of town.

“When presented with Mr. Johnson’s case, I had concerns there was not enough direct evidence to carry out the most serious punishment, death,” Ivey said in a statement. “My decision is not a determination of innocence, but a recognition that the circumstances of this case justify commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment, without possibility of parole.”

The Republican governor said Johnson would remain in prison. “Capital punishment is too important of a tool for Alabama to not approach it carefully and seriously,” she said. “Mr. Johnson will serve the remainder of his life behind bars for the senseless murder of Deputy Sheriff William Hardy. No doubt, he is paying the price.”

Ivey has overseen 27 executions as governor and has commuted the death sentences of three inmates. Before announcing her decision, she notified Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Beverly Hardy, a designated member of Hardy’s family, according to CBS News.

The commutation does not overturn Johnson’s conviction. His attorney Ty Alper thanked Ivey for “diligently reviewing Toforest’s case and taking action to spare an innocent man from execution,” but said the legal effort would continue.

“Toforest Johnson is innocent. Now it is up to the courts to overturn his conviction and grant him a new trial. We will keep fighting until he is home with his family,” Alper said.

Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, elected in 2018, supports a new trial. In a 2024 court filing, he wrote that the “evidence in this case has unraveled over 20 years.” Carr has cited credible alibi witnesses and questioned the prosecution’s key witness, who testified that she overheard a man she believed was Johnson confess to the killing while she eavesdropped on a phone call.

The witness received $5,000 in 2001 for her testimony. Johnson’s lawyers argue that the state withheld evidence of a monetary motivation for it. The Guardian reported that no physical evidence tied Johnson to the killing and that more than 10 witnesses placed him elsewhere at the time. The newspaper also reported that the original prosecutor has called for the conviction to be overturned.

Former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, former state chief justices Sonny Hornsby and Drayton Nabers, and other former judges and prosecutors have supported a new trial through court briefs or editorials. The years-long effort has drawn national attention and was the subject of a podcast.