‘Hush’ bonus episode: Jesse Johnson was wrongfully convicted. Now, he’s suing
Hush · OPB
September 24, 202515m 25sExplicit
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Show Notes
<p>On September 5th, 2023, Jesse Johnson <a class="c-link c-link--underline" href="https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/06/jesse-johnson-harriet-thompson-oregon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/06/jesse-johnson-harriet-thompson-oregon/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">walked out of jail a free man</a>. He’d spent a quarter century incarcerated, including 17 years on death row, for a crime he always insisted he didn’t commit: the 1998 murder of Harriet Thompson in Salem, Oregon.<br aria-hidden="true">Two years after his release, <a class="c-link c-link--underline" href="https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/04/salem-police-detectives-sued-jesse-johnson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.opb.org/article/2025/09/04/salem-police-detectives-sued-jesse-johnson/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">Johnson is suing</a> the state of Oregon and the Salem police detectives who locked him up for much of his life. The lawsuit argues that flagrant racism played a key role in the investigation into Johnson that led to his imprisonment.<br aria-hidden="true">The case against Johnson was the focus of the first season of <a class="c-link c-link--underline" href="https://www.opb.org/show/hush/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.opb.org/show/hush/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">OPB’s investigative podcast series “Hush,”</a> reported by Leah Sottile and Ryan Haas. Today, Ryan joins us for an update.</p>