Johnnie Lindsey, 65, was wrongly convicted of rape in the 1980s and spent nearly 30 years in jail
Johnnie Lindsey spent nearly three decades in jail for crimes he didn’t commit. Now, he’s confined to a hospice facility as terminal cancer takes over his body.
Lindsey was imprisoned after being wrongly arrested and convicted of rape nearly 35 years ago – he’d spent time in prison on robberies before, but police picked up the wrong man after a series of rapes in North Texas.
Lindsey was released from prison in 2008 after DNA tests exonerated him. He was subsequently diagnosed with colon cancer, but he beat the disease and was healthy for almost a decade until cancer was discovered in his liver in August of 2017.
Lindsey’s life has been featured in a number of film projects, including a documentary that debuted at Tribeca Film Festival, ‘True Conviction’. There’s also an intimate look into his current life with cancer that visualizes his struggles by Dallas News.
Shortly after being exonerated due to DNA evidence, Lindsey was diagnosed with cancer. He was again diagnosed, this time terminally, in August of 2017
Despite his lot in life, Lindsey reportedly lives his life with ‘no regrets’.
‘He lost so much, but I think he did everything he wanted,’ said his sister, Pearline Waldrop. ‘He certainly lived a life.’
Lindsey also says that the best parts of his life have come from living with a lack of selfishness.
‘I just wanted a difference in other people’s lives,’ he says. ‘Whether it’s a big change or a little change. If I could change somebody’s life, that’s what I did,’ Lindsey said.
For a man in his dying days who had half his life unjustly, Lindsey remains upbeat.
‘Give unconditionally,’ he said.
Lindsey, pictured here with his wife, is maintaining an attitude of positivity and gratitude despite the circumstances that have affected his life