United States v. Johnson

Twice in 2007, Johnson was charged in Florida with crimes involving robbery with a deadly weapon, and entered no-contest pleas. After his release and while on probation in Florida, Johnson moved, in violation of his probation. Law enforcement learned that Johnson was at the apartment of his girlfriend, Tweedly, in Michigan. Officers went to the apartment, where they found Tweedly but not Johnson. They found a rifle under the bed. Tweedly explained that Johnson had brought the rifle with him when he moved in and that they had another gun, but that, if it was not at the apartment, it was with Johnson, who was at work. Officers went to Johnson’s workplace, where they arrested him and found a handgun partially under the driver’s seat of the car that he had driven to work. Charged under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), Johnson fired two attorneys and represented himself with standby counsel. The court sentenced him to two concurrent 60-month sentences. The government conceded that the rifle conviction should be vacated. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the handgun conviction, rejecting arguments that it too rested on improperly admitted hearsay evidence; the court should not have allowed the jury to see the nature of Johnson’s prior felony; and the court improperly instructed the jury. View "United States v. Johnson" on Justia Law