Activist's son not guilty in Wedowee school fire

October 21, 1995
Web posted at: 5:55 a.m. EDT

MONTGOMERY, Alabama (CNN) -- A federal jury in Alabama took just three hours to find the son of a civil rights activist not guilty of burning a high school at the center of a racial conflicts.

The jury of eight whites and four blacks deliberated three hours before setting Christopher Lynn Johnson, 25, free.

Johnson had been charged with the August 1994 torching of Randolph County High School in Wedowee. The school and its principal, Hulond Humphries, became the center of a raging controversy in February 1994, when Humphries threatened to cancel the spring prom if interracial couples planned to attend. Humphries also allegedly called a mixed-race teenager a "mistake."

Humphries was removed as school principal, but was later assigned to supervise the rebuilding of the school after it burned.

Johnson's father was a vocal opponent of Humphries, and prosecutors in the case argued that the son, caught up in his father's rhetoric, set fire to the school. The prosecution's case against Johnson centered on testimony from his former wife, Janice, that she found an incendiary device in her kitchen prior to the fire.

U.S. Attorney Louis Franklin asked jury to return a guilty verdict against Johnson, saying, "The evidence screams, it shouts, it demands you find him guilty on both counts."

But Ron Wise, Johnson's attorney, told jurors that the Humphries is the most likely arsonist and said authorities had left a lot of reasonable doubt.

"The government wants you to convict this man because of who his daddy is," Wise said.

Wise accused the government of not vigorously pursuing Humphries even though he twice made incriminating statements indicating he might have had something to do with the fire.

Wise also noted that Humphries had brought five gallons of gas prior to the school burning and that Humphries admitted removing two boxes of personal items from the school the night of the fire. Testifying in the case on Thursday, Humphries denied setting the fire.

"There are too many unanswered questions in this case," Wise said.

If he had been found guilty, Johnson could have faced up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for arson, plus 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for possessing an unregistered destructive device.

Activist's son not guilty in Wedowee school fire

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