Beth Shelburne

I also learned that Violet Ellison was in a precarious financial position, burdened by medical debt.

She lives in a community plagued by violence and poverty.

Her son suffers from addiction.

She's estranged from some of her immediate family.

She seems to seize opportunities where she can.

One of those was created by the state when they offered money for information about a police officer's murder.

Fifteen years before I began looking into Violet Ellison, there was someone else who had questions about her credibility.

Jeff Wallace, the prosecutor who stood in front of a jury and threw Deputy Hardy's hat onto the courtroom floor.

Jeff Wallace spent four years of his life prosecuting this case, trying to put Ardragus Ford and DeForest Johnson on death row.

He successfully put DeForest Johnson on death row.

I mean, four years of his professional life, he devoted to this.

Jeff Wallace reached out to Ty Alper and the rest of DeForest's legal team to share what was on his mind.

And today, he says that DeForest Johnson deserves a new trial.

20 years later, he's saying, I think it should be undone.

I mean, that to me takes courage that most lawyers don't have.

That's next time.

Ear Witness is a production of Lava for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company No.

1.

Executive producers are Jason Flom, Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wardus, and me, Beth Shelburne.

The investigative reporting for this series was done by me and Mara McNamara.