Danny Darnell Carr (born 1970) is the District Attorney of

Jefferson County, Alabama Jefferson County is the List of counties in Alabama, most populous county in the U.S. state of Alabama, located in the central portion of the state. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 674,721. Its county seat i ...

, serving since November 27, 2018. Carr previously served as the county's interim district attorney in 2017. He is the first African-American District Attorney in the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

division of the Jefferson County,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

District Attorney’s office.

Life and career

Carr was born in the Ensley neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. He was raised by a single mother, Regina Carr-Hope, who worked as a probation officer and later the Principal of

Wenonah High School Wenonah High School is a four-year public high school in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of seven high schools in the Birmingham City School System. School colors are Old gold and white. The mascot is the Dragon. Wenonah competes in Alabama High S ...

. Carr graduated from Jackson-Olin High School, then attended

Alabama State University Alabama State University (ASU, Bama State, or Alabama State) is a public historically Black university in Montgomery, Alabama. Founded in 1867, during the Reconstruction era, it was one of about 180 " normal schools" established by state gove ...

on a basketball scholarship. He graduated from Miles Law School. In 2016, attorney Charles Todd Henderson was elected as a Democrat to be the next Jefferson County District Attorney. Henderson was then indicted on felony perjury, leading to Carr’s appointment as interim District Attorney. Alabama Governor

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey ( ; born October 15, 1944) is an American politician who is the 54th governor of Alabama, serving since 2017. A Republican since 2002, Ivey was the 38th Alabama state treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor o ...

later appointed Michael Anderton, a Republican prosecutor in the district attorney's office, as the next Jefferson County District Attorney. Local activists previously petitioned the Governor to not remove Carr, a Democrat, from the seat. A career Jefferson County prosecutor and criminal justice reformer, Carr was the victorious Democratic nominee for Jefferson County District Attorney in the November 6, 2018 general election, defeating Anderton. Carr took office on November 27, 2018. In May 2024, Carr filed a public report calling for a new trial for death row prisoner

Toforest Johnson Toforest Onesha Johnson (born February 8, 1973) is an American man on death row for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County deputy sheriff William G. Hardy in Alabama. Johnson's case is controversial and his quest for a ne ...

, a man his office successfully prosecuted in 1998. Carr's report detailed the reasons why his office had concluded that "the evidence in this case has unraveled over 20 years.” Carr wrote that "it has not been possible, until recently, to fully appreciate the full extent to which the foundation of this conviction has disintegrated." Carr was joined in his call for a new trial by Jeff Wallace, the prosecutor who obtained Johnson's conviction and death sentence in 1998.

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the celebrity sex tape ...

and many others have also spoken out in support of Johnson's quest for a new trial.

References

Living people 1970 births Lawyers from Birmingham, Alabama People from Ensley, Alabama District attorneys in Alabama Alabama State University alumni Miles Law School alumni Alabama Democrats 21st-century African-American lawyers 20th-century African-American lawyers {{US-law-bio-stub