Gov. Kay Ivey Tuesday commuted the death sentence of Toforest Johnson, whose conviction for the murder of an off-duty Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy in 1995 has faced years of questions over the conduct of prosecutors and the reliability of a key witness.
Ivey said in a news release on Tuesday that she had concerns there was not enough evidence to carry out the death penalty that jurors recommended 10-2.
“My decision is not a determination of innocence, but a recognition that the circumstances of this case justify commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment, without possibility of parole,” the statement said…