Edward Earl Johnson

Edward Earl Johnson (June 22, 1960 – May 20, 1987)^[1] was a man convicted in 1979 at the age of 18 and subsequently executed by the U.S. state of Mississippi for the murder of a policeman, J.T. Trest, and the sexual assault of a 69-year-old woman, Sally Franklin. Throughout his eight years on death row, he continued to plead his innocence. Johnson was executed by gas chamber.

Edward Earl Johnson
Born	(1960-06-22)June 22, 1960 Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	May 20, 1987(1987-05-20) (aged 26) Mississippi State Penitentiary, Sunflower County, Mississippi, U.S.
Cause of death	Execution by gas chamber
Criminal status	Executed
Motive	To avoid arrest
Conviction	Capital murder
Criminal penalty	Death

Mississippi State Penitentiary, where Johnson was held on death row and executed

Life

Johnson was born on June 22, 1960, at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. He was born six weeks premature and spent the first month of his life in an incubator at the hospital.^[2] He later lived in Walnut Grove, Carthage, Mississippi.

Documentary

His case came to international attention when he was featured in the BBC documentary Fourteen Days in May. Broadcast in 1987, the documentary showed the last two weeks of Johnson's life. It starts on May 6, the day that Johnson learns the date of his execution. During interviews, Johnson said that his confession was forced by police in a deserted wood while they were threatening to shoot him.^[3]

Throughout the documentary he also raised the point of the sexual assault victim saying during the police lineup that he was not the man who raped her and pointed to another individual.

Execution

In spite of British lawyer Clive Stafford Smith's attempts for a reprieve, Johnson was executed. The documentary team was given access to him until minutes before the execution was carried out. A follow-up documentary by Stafford Smith claimed to prove conclusively that Johnson was innocent and had been framed by the police.

He was pronounced dead at 12:06 a.m. on May 20, 1987, after being put to death in the gas chamber of what was then called Parchman Prison Farm. Johnson's final statements echoed his wait for a stay of execution, he stated "Well, I guess no one is going to call. OK, let's get this over with."^[4] Don Cabana, the warden of Parchman Prison Farm following Johnson's execution, became outspoken about abolishing capital punishment, believing that an innocent man had been executed.^[3]

It was the second execution by the state of Mississippi since the Gregg v. Georgia decision, the first being that of Jimmy Lee Gray, and the 72nd overall in the United States.

See also

• Capital punishment in Mississippi
• Capital punishment in the United States
• List of people executed in Mississippi
• List of people executed in the United States in 1987