这名死刑犯将不再面临执行死刑的命运，因为该州的共和党州长在人们对他的定罪越来越存疑的情况下，决定减刑。
death row inmate, will no longer face execution after the state's Republican governor commuted his sentence amid increasing doubts about his conviction.
1995年，阿拉巴马州州长凯·艾维（Kay Ivey）将托弗雷斯特·约翰逊（Toforest Johnson）因谋杀杰斐逊县副警长威廉·哈迪（William Hardy）而判处的死刑减刑为无期徒刑，且不得假释。约翰逊一直坚称自己是无辜的；此外，多位前政府官员及当地地方检察官也主张应为他重新举行审判。
Kay Ivey, the Alabama governor, commuted Johnson's sentence to life in prison without parole in the 1995 murder of William Hardy, a Jefferson county deputy sheriff. Johnson has long maintained he is innocent, and several former public officials, as well the local district attorney, have argued he should receive a new trial. "When presented with Mr Johnson's case, I had concerns there was not enough direct evidence to carry out the most serious punishment – death," Ivey said in a statement.
艾维在一份声明中表示：“在审查约翰逊的案件后，我认为没有足够的直接证据来判处最严厉的刑罚——死刑。我的决定并非认定他无罪，而是认为本案的实际情况足以将他的死刑减刑为无期徒刑（且不得假释）。”在担任州长的期间，艾维曾监督过27次死刑执行，并减刑了3名死刑犯的刑罚。她的这一决定是在另一位共和党州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯（Ron DeSantis）本月早些时候首次取消死刑执行计划之后作出的。
"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." Ivey has overseen 27 executions during her time as governor, and commuted the death sentence of three death row inmates. Her decision on Tuesday comes shortly after another Republican governor, Ron DeSantis cancelled a planned execution for the first time earlier this month.
约翰逊的律师之一泰·阿尔珀（Ty Alper）表示，他们非常感谢艾维“认真审查了约翰逊的案件，并采取措施挽救了一个无辜者的生命”。阿尔珀表示，他们将继续为推翻这一定罪而努力。在这种情况下，州长只有权力对死刑判决进行减刑。约翰逊于1998年被判处死刑。
Ty Alper, one of Johnson's attorneys, said they are grateful to Ivey for "diligently reviewing Toforest's case and taking action to spare an innocent man from execution". Alper said the fight to overturn the conviction will continue. The governor only has the power to commute a death sentence in such cases. "Toforest Johnson is innocent.
1995年，哈迪在一家酒店执行非执勤安保任务时头部中枪身亡。约翰逊坚称案发时自己正在城镇的另一端；没有任何物证能证明他与这起谋杀案有关，而且有超过10名目击者证实案发时他确实在城镇的另一侧。
Now it is up to the courts to overturn his conviction and grant him a new trial. We will keep fighting until he is home with his family," Alper said. Johnson was sentenced to death in 1998. Hardy was shot twice in the head while working off-duty security at a hotel in 1995.
杰斐逊县地方检察官丹尼·卡尔（Danny Carr）以及最初的检察官都要求撤销原判。卡尔表示：“这一判决的基础已经崩溃”，并且有许多理由让人对关键的证人证词产生怀疑。
Johnson has maintained he was on the other side of town at the time of the shooting. No physical evidence tied him to the killing, and more than 10 witnesses placed him on the other side of town during the killing.
在1998年的审判中，该证人作证称自己在偷听电话时听到一个她认为是约翰逊（Johnson）的人承认了犯罪行为。2001年，她因此获得了5000美元的报酬；约翰逊的律师则指出，检方隐瞒了与该证人动机相关的关键证据。
Danny Carr, the Jefferson county district attorney, has called for the conviction to be overturned, as has the original prosecutor. Carr has said that "the foundation of this conviction has disintegrated" and that there are multiple reasons to doubt the key prosecution witness.
多年来，人们一直在为争取重新审判而努力，这一案件引起了全国的关注，甚至得到了金·卡戴珊（Kim Kardashian）的支持，也曾成为播客节目的讨论话题。卡尔在2024年提交给法院的文件中写道：“本案的证据在过去的20年里已经变得不可靠（即这些证据已经失去了可信度）。”
The witness at Johnson's 1998 trial testified that, while eavesdropping on a phone call, she heard a man she believed was Johnson admitting to the crime. She was paid $5,000 in 2001 for her testimony, and Johnson's lawyers argue that the state withheld evidence of monetary motivation for the testimony. There has been a years-long legal effort to win a new trial in the case that has garnered national attention, including support from Kim Kardashian, and was the subject of a podcast.
多位前法官和检察官也加入了要求为约翰逊重新审判的行列。前阿拉巴马州总检察长比尔·巴克斯利（Bill Baxley）、前州首席大法官索尼·霍恩斯比（Sonny Hornsby）和德雷顿·纳伯斯（Drayton Nabers），以及多名前法官和检察官都提交了支持重新审判的书面意见或社论。
Carr wrote in a 2024 court filing that the "evidence in this case has unraveled over 20 years". Former judges and prosecutors have joined the effort seeking a new trial for Johnson. Bill Baxley, a former Alabama attorney general, former state chief justices Sonny Hornsby and Drayton Nabers, and several former judges and prosecutors have submitted briefs or written editorials supporting a new trial.
美联社（Associated Press）对此案进行了报道。
The Associated Press contributed reporting