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Missouri Appeals Court Weighs Wrongful Conviction Allegation

Graphic of a gavel.

A Missouri appeals court will decide if St. Louis' top prosecutor has the authority to request a new trial for a man imprisoned nearly 25 years for a murder she believes he didn't commit. 

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that lawyers for Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner on Wednesday told the Missouri Court of Appeals that Gardner is duty bound to correct the wrongful conviction of Lamar Johnson.

A lawyer for the Missouri Attorney General's Office argued that Gardner lacks authority to seek a new trial.

Johnson was convicted of killing Marcus Boyd in 1994.