The state NAACP will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. today.
William Barber II, president of the state's NAACP chapter, said Monday he has news of a "major" development in the case of James Johnson, a Wilson man who was jailed for three years for a murder he says he did not commit, Titan Barksdale reports.
Johnson was charged with rape and murder in 2004 after the death of Brittany Willis, a Wilson teenager who was carjacked at a shopping center. Another man is serving a life sentence for the crime. He originally implicated Johnson, then recanted.
Recently, the NAACP has been encouraging U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield to find out who is handling the review of Johnson's case. Johnson was released from jail in September after a judge reduced his bond from $1 million to $60,000 and granted a request for an outside review of the case.
More after the jump.
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Supporters of Johnson, who is black, have accused Assistant District Attorney Bill Wolfe, who is white, of pursuing the prosecution because of race. No physical evidence links Johnson to the murder of the white teenager.
Butterfield, a Wilson Democrat, wrote to the Administrative Office of the Courts requesting information about who was handling the case and how it was being handled. The administrative office confirmed that Forsyth Assistant District Attorney Belinda Foster, a prosecutor in Winston-Salem, has been reviewing the case. It remains under review.
Johnson's supporters, including the NAACP, have become increasingly concerned about the review process of the case.
