Bone Valley | Earwitness Episode 6: "Misfiled"

Podcast: Bone Valley – Earwitness
Host: Beth Shelburne (B)
Original Air Date: February 4, 2026

Overview

In this pivotal episode, "Misfiled," Beth Shelburne investigates how critical evidence regarding the payment of a key prosecution witness was withheld for 17 years in the capital case against Toforest Johnson, a Black man who has sat on Alabama’s death row for over two decades. The episode delves into the legal, bureaucratic, and ethical failures that allowed a questionable conviction—based almost entirely on the testimony of a single "earwitness," Violet Ellison—to stand. Through in-depth interviews with jurors, lawyers, Toforest’s family, and Ellison herself, the story exposes the devastating impact of systemic injustices and prosecutorial misconduct.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Meeting Toforest Johnson: The Start of the Legal Battle

[03:18 - 06:22]

• Context: Ty Alper, then a new attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights, describes his first visit to Toforest at Alabama's Holman Prison.
• Emotional Impact: Toforest, relieved upon learning he had years of appeals ahead, breaks down crying—not from distress, but from hope:

  “He just started crying…because he had just assumed they could come any minute and take him to be executed.” (Ty Alper, 05:23)

• Insight: Toforest had been kept in the dark about his case's status, highlighting neglect and systemic disregard for people on death row.

2. The Role of Violet Ellison’s Testimony

[08:09 - 09:58]

• Central Issue: The entire original conviction rested on Violet Ellison’s testimony, making her credibility the linchpin of the case.
• Legal Task: Ty and his team set out to investigate Ellison, questioning if she had ulterior motives—such as the $5,000 reward that had been publicly offered for information.

3. The Missing Reward Documentation

[09:58 - 14:51]

• Discovery Journey: Despite evidence of a reward offer being public, there was no record in Toforest’s case files about Ellison ever applying for or receiving payment.
• Breakthrough: After weeks of persistent searching—including calls to multiple state agencies—a faxed court order finally surfaces, revealing that Ellison had received $5,000, signed off "off-the-record" by the trial judge.
• Quote:

  “That was when we knew, okay, she did know about this reward. She was motivated by the reward when she testified and the judge knew about it.” (Ty Alper, 14:36)

4. Bureaucratic Obfuscation and Suppressed Files

[15:57 - 21:05]

• Face to Face: When confronted at her home, Ellison at first denies but then admits she did get the reward after seeing the documentation.

  "She said, ‘Oh, yeah, I did get a reward. Got $5,000.’” (Investigator Jason Marks relayed by Beth, 16:21)

• Systemic Issue: The DA’s office kept “reward files” completely separate from case files, effectively hiding the documentation from defense attorneys and, arguably, from prosecutors themselves.

5. Alabama Courts’ Reluctance and the Supreme Court’s Intervention

[16:56 - 20:19]

• Legal Hurdle: The state denied any Brady violation (failure to disclose evidence helpful to the defense), and Alabama courts at first refused to hear the claim.
• Time Lost: The appeal process crawls on for 17 years—during which Toforest’s children grow up and start families.
• Supreme Court Action: Only after reaching the U.S. Supreme Court were Alabama courts ordered to review the new evidence.

6. “Misfiled” or Deliberately Hidden?

[20:55 - 25:55]

• Files Turned Over: After a judge’s order, the state suddenly “finds” all relevant documents—application forms, a copy of the $5,000 check, and emails confirming payment to Ellison. The state claims they were simply “misfiled.”
• Critical Reflection:

  “When I hear misfiled, I imagine someone accidentally putting a document into the wrong folder… But that’s not what happened. It sounds like they had it organized in a file they kept explicitly for rewards.” (Beth, 22:55)

• Pattern Detected: Another wrongful conviction case on Barber’s watch (Montez Spradley) featured similar suppression of reward-payout documentation, overseen by the judge’s sister—pointing to a disturbing systemic practice.

7. Jury Perspective and Regret

[12:14 - 46:01]

• Monique Hicks (Juror): Shares how the jury perceived Ellison as credible, especially since they believed she had “nothing to gain."

  “She just seemed very truthful, like she had nothing to gain by coming forward.” (Monique Hicks, 12:26)

• Staggering Realization: Decades later, Monique discovers via news that Ellison was paid, leading her to deep grief and regret:

  “I think we convicted an innocent man.” (Monique Hicks, 42:22) “I felt a lot of grief, shame, guilt for having been a part of this.” (Monique Hicks, 46:01)

• Impact: All three jurors interviewed by Beth express regret and doubt, feeling they were misled by Ellison’s testimony.

8. Confronting Violet Ellison

[47:00 - 49:31]

• Beth Interviews Ellison: Ellison repeatedly denies knowing about the reward when she testified—despite paperwork and her own earlier admissions suggesting otherwise.

  "I feel like I'm just being ridiculed for telling the truth, and I don't like that." (Violet Ellison, 47:51) “Nobody has come to me like you to see how I feel about it. They just reporting on what somebody say hearsay.” (Violet Ellison, 49:18)

• Significance: The episode highlights that Ellison remains the “linchpin” of the entire case—and the prosecution’s refusal to forthrightly address the inconsistencies or the reward only deepens public distrust.

9. The Broader Issues: Systemic Bias and Exclusion

[36:45 - 39:55]

• Representation: At Toforest’s appeal, all judges and most courtroom participants are white, deciding the fate of a Black man accused of killing a sheriff's deputy.
• Statistics: Black Alabamians constitute 54% of the prison population but 27% of the general population; nearly all DAs and appellate judges are white.

Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• Ty Alper on Meeting Toforest:

  "Not only had he been screwed over in pretty much every possible way you can be, but nobody was telling him anything about what was going on in his case." – (05:23)

• Ty Alper on the Importance of the Reward Evidence:

  “When you take a step back, he’s on death row because the jury believed a woman who they didn’t know was being paid for her testimony. And that should cause real concerns and questions about the validity of the conviction.” – (16:33)

• DA David Barber Shrugs Off Accountability:

  "You have people working in agencies, DA's offices… Things get misfiled… It happens." – (24:11)

• Juror Monique Hicks on Her Realization:

  “By the time I got to the end of the book, I remember I looked at my husband and I said, oh, my goodness, I think we convicted an innocent man.” – (42:22) “I definitely believe we would have, as a jury, talked about that. Like, how credible is this testimony? She’s being paid for it… I do believe it would have… could have changed the outcome.” – (44:21)

• Beth Shelburne on Systemic Problems:

  “They told the jury that Violet Ellison was credible and believable and they still say that. But they weren’t truthful about the reward. So why should we believe how they characterized their key witness?” – (49:46)

Notable Segments & Timestamps

• [03:18] – Ty Alper’s first meeting with Toforest Johnson
• [14:03] – Discovery of judge’s order authorizing reward payment to Ellison
• [16:21] – Ellison admits, after confrontation, she got the $5,000 reward
• [20:55] – State claims documents were “misfiled”; actual discovery of all suppressed documents
• [24:00] – Interview with former DA David Barber—systemic downplaying of misconduct
• [41:03] – Juror Monique Hicks recounts the trial, her discovery, and subsequent regret
• [47:00] – Beth’s direct conversation with Violet Ellison
• [49:46] – Closing reflection on the implications of the concealed payoff

Episode Tone and Style

• Tone: Investigative, measured, empathetic, and quietly outraged.
• Style: Facts are presented with patient clarity, but the emotional impact—especially on those misled by the system—remains palpable throughout.

Summary

"Misfiled" is a methodical, disturbing exploration of how justice can be subverted through bureaucratic secrecy and resistance to accountability. The episode reveals that critical evidence was hidden from Toforest Johnson’s defense for years, severely undermining the integrity of his conviction and sentencing. The testimony of the paid “earwitness,” Violet Ellison, was never properly scrutinized by the jury due to state misconduct, and that, coupled with racial and systemic disparities, continues to deny justice to Toforest and his family.

Core takeaway: If what happened to Toforest Johnson is not a textbook case of prosecutorial misconduct, "what is?" The state’s changing story, the hidden files, and the crushing regrets of jurors all point to a grave miscarriage of justice still waiting to be remedied.