With God as my witness, I have been falsely accused of these crimes. I did not commit them. I'm an innocent man. In 1983 Calvin C. Johnson Jr. spoke these words to a judge who later handed down a life sentence for rape and related crimes. Johnson spent 16 years behind bars before he was freed in 1999 after DNA testing conclusively ruled out the possibility of his guilt. ""Exit to Freedom"" is the story of Johnson's unrelenting quest for justice against incredible odds and under circumstances that threatened to shred his ...
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With God as my witness, I have been falsely accused of these crimes. I did not commit them. I'm an innocent man. In 1983 Calvin C. Johnson Jr. spoke these words to a judge who later handed down a life sentence for rape and related crimes. Johnson spent 16 years behind bars before he was freed in 1999 after DNA testing conclusively ruled out the possibility of his guilt. ""Exit to Freedom"" is the story of Johnson's unrelenting quest for justice against incredible odds and under circumstances that threatened to shred his dignity and hope. As Johnson recalls his trial and long journey toward freedom through five Georgia prisons, he also speaks candidly about everything from his middle-class childhood in Atlanta to the reasons he came to be a rape suspect to the steadfast support of his family. This is also a story of faith: how Johnson found it in prison and how, he believes, it played a role in his release. At the point in his prison term when Johnson thought that he had exhausted all avenues of appeal, DNA-based forensics began to make headlines. Eventually his case was taken up by the Innocence Project, the nonprofit legal clinic renowned for overturning convictions through DNA testing of evidence. Years of delay followed, but Johnson eventually became the 61st convict to be exonerated with the Innocence Project's help. His is the only first-person account of a wrongful conviction overturned through DNA testing. However disturbed readers may become by this portrait of a justice system undermined by its own cynicism, Johnson himself feels no bitterness toward his accusers. In a book that offers many lessons about freedom, that may be the most important one of all.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good+ in Very Good+, Not Price Clipped jacket. Book. Inscribed by Author(s) Complete number line from 1 to 5; inscribed by Calvin Johnson on the title page: "__, To a fellow writer. May the muse catch you awake. We will do what needs to get done. Calvin Johnson"; his e-mail address follows the inscription; minor wear; otherwise a solid, clean copy with no marking or underlining; collectible condition; illustrated with black and white photographs.
My original copy was signed by author, at the bookstore signing in 2003. Another copy was shared with the Chaplaincy's Library where the author was once incarcerated & I was Chaplain. The waiting list was long for those wanting to read it. I cherish my autographed copy. I continue to see God's movement in the author's life as he has gone on to fulfil his life in God's plan. Thank God for the DNA capability today that is continuing to free "innocent" folk from prison.