Wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, a Durham father wants a pardon from the governor

Last month, the Durham County district attorney dropped gun and drug charges against Kevin Johnson that he and his attorney contested from the start.

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?”

It’s not the first such incident for Johnson, who was freed from a 33-year-prison sentence after being wrongfully accused and convicted in 2010 for allegedly shooting and assaulting a police officer.

Shortly after getting, Johnson began doing 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 gun violence.

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 revealed that key witnesses against him weren’t credible.

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, defended his innocence.

Weeks later, on Jan. 18, the Durham County District Attorney’s Office dismissed those 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 to the local governments. .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 Cornwallis Road, his old neighborhood, and though he said it wasn’t easy, he loved what he did.

Johnson went door to door to inquire about neighborhood feuds, talk to young people and distribute information about Bull City United’s mission, 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.”

“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 to 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, although 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 that 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.

“It is a problem when a police officer says, ‘I don’t care if the search warrant is any good; that’s not my problem,’” she said.

Burnette told The N&O he told police the substances and weapons seized at Johnson’s apartment were his and claimed that police ignored him.

Mumma said the search warrant on his apartment was illegal and that an an outsized police response and ensuing drug raid was 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, which was provided to The N&O. The complaint also says officers lied to her as an attorney and did not let her communicate with Burnette 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