Nick Gady

He wasn't even a lawyer yet when it happened.

Danny Carr is different from other DAs in a number of ways.

He ran as a changemaker.

He put together the first Conviction Review Unit in Jefferson County.

The unit's job is to review cases where the DA's office might have made some mistakes.

He's one of only three Black DAs among the 42 across Alabama.

He grew up in a community that's been impacted by crime and mass incarceration.

His family has also been a victim of violence.

The year he was hired as a young prosecutor, Danny's younger brother, Jaxton, was murdered.

Danny named his barbershop D&J in his brother's memory.

D for Danny, J for Jaxton.

Can you kind of walk me through your involvement in the DeForest Johnson case?

When did you first become aware of it?

Once Danny was elected as DA, he started hearing more about Taforist's case as a possible wrongful conviction.

And the year after Danny was elected, Taforist's case was back in court.

This was the hearing I covered the first time I reported on Taforist's case, where his attorneys argued that Violet Ellison testified in pursuit of the reward money and the state hid it.

I saw Danny Carr at the hearing, but he told me he wasn't ready yet to comment on the case.

So after the hearing, Danny decided to conduct a full review of DeForest's conviction.

For nine months, he read through the trial transcripts, as well as the documents that prosecutors had claimed were misfiled.

He was troubled by the $5,000 reward payment given to Violet Ellison that the jury didn't even know was a possibility.