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Michael Johnson

URGENT ACTION NEEDED

Michael Johnson having exhausted all legal options available to him was awaiting execution, when the court issued a stay. The stay was based upon the finding of a confession from the real killer. This is Michael’s second time in Federal Courts and ultimately his last chance at survival!

Michael Johnson, now 26 years old has been sitting on Texas’s death row since 1996 for a crime, which he did not commit! Not only does Michael claim his innocence but also more importantly he can prove it. His provable factual innocence comes in the form of a signed confession from the real murder. At trial the state alleged that Michael had shot Mr. Wetterman, an employee of a Lorena convenience store, in the face, with a 9mm gun. According to the state Michael killed Mr. Wetterman because he did not have the $24.00 necessary to pay for the gas, which had been pumped, into the car he was driving. The murder of Mr. Wetterman occurred in the early morning of September 10, 1995. The only three people present at the gas station at the time of the crime were Michael, Michael’s friend David Vest and Mr. Wetterman. Michael was convicted and sentenced to die based primarily on the testimony of David Vest. Mr. Vest testified under oath that he heard a single shot fired and then saw Mr. Wetterman fall to the ground. Mr. Vest repeatedly stated at trial that Michael had fired the fatal shot. There were video cameras in the parking lot, which recorded the entire incident. However, mysteriously when the detective returned to the gas station to retrieve the tapes the VCR was “missing”!

EXECUTE JUSTICE / NOT PEOPLE The most heinous crime is that the confession was signed on 2/29/96, two months and eight days before Michael was sentenced to death on a capital murder charge. David Vest, the state’s star witness in Michael’s case, signed the confession. The confession was also signed by the Deputy District Clerk for McLennan County, the attorney for Mr. Vest, the Assistant Criminal District Attorney and the Presiding Judge in Michael’s case. A constitutional violation exists because the State withheld the confession by not including it in the “open file” discovery that it claimed was complete, and by sponsoring misleading and false testimony when it presented Mr. Vest as the star witness. If it were not for the work of an anti-death penalty activist, who in researching an article on Michael’s case combed through court documents and uncovered the confession from David Vest, Michael would have already been murdered by the state of Texas. The facts of this case are simple: the state of Texas did not turn over Mr. Vest’s confession to the defense, a Brady violation, the state of Texas knowingly used perjured testimony to convict Michael Johnson, Michael is a victim of ineffective defense counsel. The only ways to remedy this injustice is to FREE MICHAEL JOHNSON and charge the state of Texas with attempted murder!!! How can you help? Join the CEDP and Michael's family and supporters in calling for justice. Please call (317) 313-6301 or e-mail statedeathrow@yahoo.com.