Melissa Bailey Photo
Johnson with his mom upon his 2013 release from prison.
Johnny Jermaine Johnson got a $4.2 million ticket to a new life — then ended back behind bars on a shooting charge.
Johnson was one of four New Haven friends who were serving effective life sentences, then won their freedom and multi-million-dollar awards for wrongful prosecution.
Wilmington N.C. police
Three years after that second chance, U.S. marshals arrested Johnson in North Carolina a week and a half ago in connection with a shooting outside a sports bar. (A law enforcement officer confirmed it was the same Johnson from New Haven.)
The charges were assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by felon.
He was subsequently back home with his kids filming a Facebook Live video in the days following his arrest.
Johnson had been serving a 75-year sentence on a murder charge when he and three other men were released from prison in 2013 after the State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for them. They had been accused of committing a 1996 murder at the Farnam Courts housing development.
The Supreme Court ruling followed the revelation the prosecution had failed to disclose a deal it struck with a key witness against them — then failed to correct the record when the witness claimed, under oath, that he had struck no such deal. The state chose not to retry Johnson and the three other men. They were freed for good.
Then they filed suit for wrongful prosecution. In a settlement with the state, they each received $4.2 million — and a second chance.
Johnson and his fellow former co-defendants formed a concert and events company called 365 Entertainment and 365 South. The group has been putting on events both in the New Haven/Hamden area and in North Carolina. Through 365, Johnson helped put together this Easter basket giveaway, for instance.
Johnson did not respond to requests for comment left for him through the company and through social media over the past week.
