Johnetta Carr

Reason for Wrongful Conviction

Perjury or False Accusation, Government Misconduct

Original Sentence

20 Years

More About the Case

Johnetta is one of the youngest female exonerees in the United States. At age 16, she was charged with the murder of her boyfriend, Planes Adolphe. Johnetta had been dating Mr. Adolphe, who was roughly twice her age. However, she had a solid alibi the night of the Mr. Adolphe’s death - she was at a sleepover party with a friend. Both the friend and Johnetta’s mother established alibis, saying that Johnetta could not have been involved in the murder.

The crime scene showed that there had been an altercation with Mr. Adolphe in his apartment, he had been carried down a flight of stairs, his feet were bound with duct tape, and he had been strangled with an electrical cord. His wallet and cell phone were stolen, and his cab was found abandoned several miles away. The police arrested Johnetta and two of her young friends for the murder.

The state conducted DNA testing on several items found at the crime scene. The results on some items were inconclusive, and other items established that Johnetta could not have been a contributor. The police withheld these findings from Johnetta's attorney.

Police held Johnetta in a juvenile detention center until she turned 18, and then transferred her to a cell at the adult jail, where they placed a jail house informant in the cell next to Johnetta.   The jailhouse informant passed information along to the police and the police used that information to manipulate Johnetta.  Later the informant said the police had instructed her to lie about what Johnetta said; Johnetta never confessed to anything.

Police also threatened Johnetta, saying that if she did not enter a guilty plea that they would try one of the co-defendants under the death penalty. Three years after she was arrested, worn down, hopeless, feeling that she would never be released if she did not do as the police demanded, and worried that her friend would be tried under the death penalty, Johnetta finally entered into a guilty plea.

Johnetta was sent to adult prison to serve her sentence. She was an exemplary inmate, even though she was one of the youngest women at the prison. In 2016, the Kentucky Innocence Project accepted her case and prepared to request additional DNA testing. Johnetta and the Kentucky Innocence Project also sought a pardon simultaneously from Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, which was granted on December 9, 2019. Unfortunately, Kentucky law will not allow DNA testing of evidence if a person has been released from state's custody, so the evidence in Johnetta's case cannot be tested and the true killer will likely never be identified.

What Johnetta is doing today:

Johnetta is an advocate for criminal justice reform laws in the Kentucky State Legislature and speaks to various groups about her experiences with the criminal justice system. 

To learn more about the case go to:

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=5693 

Listen to the Johnetta Carr Wrongful Conviction podcast by Lava For Good:

https://lavaforgood.com/podcast/325-maggie-freleng-with-johnetta-carr/