Supporters attend rally

By Matt Shaw Daily Times Staff Writer

The cry rose in Trinity AME Zion Church Sunday night, growing louder and louder until it became almost deafening.

"Free James Johnson!

"Free James Johnson!

"Free James Johnson!"

Johnson's friends and family hope the sound carries a few miles down Nash Street to the Wilson County Courthouse where Johnson is scheduled to go on trial next week for the 2004 murder and rape of Brittany Willis.

Prosecutors contend that Johnson, now 21, and Kenneth Meeks raped and murdered the 17-year-old Hunt High School graduate. Meeks has already been convicted of the murder and is serving a life sentence.

But some people believe that Johnson is innocent.

Sunday night's rally brought together more than 100 people, including Johnson's parents, Arthur and Beverly Johnson, and the Rev. William J. Barber, president of the N.C. Chapter of the NAACP.

People calling for Johnson's freedom are not insensitive to the Willis family's loss, Barber said. "Many of us have children. Some of us have experienced murder or death."

But people shouldn't confuse a desire for revenge as being justice, he said.

"We're here because there has been a murder and there has been a conviction. Now we must prevent a lynching," Barber said to "Amens!" from the crowd.

District Attorney Howard Boney's office is pursuing the charges against Johnson despite the fact that no DNA or other evidence ties Johnson to the murder scene, Barber said.

The NAACP gathered 300 signatures on a petition that asks the N.C. Bar Association to investigate Boney's office for prosecutorial misconduct, such as was done in the Duke rape accusations. The petition calls for Assistant District Attorney Bill Wolfe to be removed from the case.

Barber also plans to give a copy of the complaint to Gov. Mike Easley this week.

Willis was abducted on June 28, 2004, from a Wilson shopping center. Her body was found at a construction site a half mile away. She had been shot twice.

Meeks told police that Johnson had been involved but later recanted those statements in court.

Johnson, who had no criminal record, has taken polygraph tests that show that he played no role in the murder or rape, Barber said. If he was guilty of anything, it was waiting to tell police what he knew, Barber said. For that, he has now been in jail for 39 months, unable to pay $1 million bail."Three years for three days?" Barber shouted.

"The facts say no, the evidence says no, but the system keeps saying yes!" Barber said."Justice isn't blind in North Carolina. She has her eyes wide open. She sees races, she sees color, she sees class, she sees power and she see money, and all too often she renders cases based on biases.

"Richard A. Rosen, a law professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, compared Johnson to the Duke students who were falsely accused of rape."People seemed to care about those boys spending even an hour in prison," Rosen said. "Justice was served in Durham because people demanded it. Justice will be served in this county because of you.

"Johnson's parents, Arthur and Beverly Johnson, said they are hopeful that justice will be served."We don't even know whether there's going to be a trial," Arthur Johnson said. "But that being said, if there is, keep it fair and I'll see you in two weeks victorious.

" James Johnson is remaining upbeat in jail, his father said. "He has grown into a great man. He understands what's happened and he's ready for a fight." Beverly Johnson said, "James' strength has given me the strength to endure." Johnson's trial is set to begin next Monday in Wilson Superior Court.