Wrongful conviction case judge: Was there ‘rush’ to convict?

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The judge presiding over a hearing to determine if a Missouri man’s murder conviction should be overturned questioned if police and prosecutors “were in a little bit of a rush” to convict Lamar Johnson. St. Louis Circuit Judge David Mason is presiding over a hearing on an effort to vacate Johnson’s murder conviction in the 1994 killing of Marcus Boyd. The hearing is different from a typical trial, and Mason frequently asks questions of his own. On Friday, after former Detective Joseph Nickerson recounted Johnson’s violent history, Mason asked, “You sure this isn’t a situation where you guys were in a little bit of a rush to make a conviction?” Nickerson denied it.