Posted on 04/13/2006 9:02:37 PM PDT by SmithL
An investigation into convicted killer Sarah Johnson's claim that she was raped in an Idaho jail while awaiting trial for her parents' murders concluded that the teenager is a "liar" and her allegations unsubstantiated.
Following a three-month probe into the jailhouse rape allegations made by Johnson, who is serving life without parole for the 2003 shooting deaths of her parents, Alan and Diane Johnson, a team of sheriffs from outside jurisdictions determined that her story "lacked credibility."
But Johnson's supporters say the investigation's findings are yet another example of the corruption and bias against Johnson from the Blaine County Sheriff's Department.
"Basically, we have the wolves investigating the coyotes," Patrick Dunn, an investigator for Johnson's defense team, told Courttv.com. "There's too much conflict of interest. This investigation should have been done by the U.S. Attorney's Office."
The investigation began soon after Johnson, now 19, was sentenced to life without parole in June for killing her parents when she was 16 because, as prosecutors contend, they stood in the way of her relationship with a then-19-year-old illegal Mexican immigrant.
In March 2005, after a two-month trial, a jury convicted the high school volleyball player of gunning her parents down in their affluent hillside home near Sun Valley, Idaho.
In July, Johnson's lawyers filed a tort claim on her behalf alleging that members of the Blaine County Sheriff's Department allowed an adult male inmate illegal access to the incarcerated minor when she was 17.
As a result, Johnson claimed she was subjected "to rape and other sexual acts" between March and April 2004 by a jailhouse trustee who worked in the kitchen.
But a report released this week by the Tri-County Sheriff's Association, based on interviews with Johnson and about 100 female inmates who were housed with her, said there was no evidence to corroborate her claims.
Specifically, Johnson told other inmates she had sex four times in her cell and in the drunk tank with inmate Elvis Mahurin, who she said paid off guards to allow him to crawl through an air vent to gain access to her.
"It was just physically impossible to accomplish the accusations," said Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling. "He would have been unable to gain access through the air vents since they're welded shut, and they're too small."
The report also stated that Mahurin denied the allegations and that no guard or inmate witnessed the alleged crimes.
"Some of the inmates told investigators that Johnson is a liar and had ulterior motives in making the accusations," the report states.
It was not be the first time Johnson has been accused of lying. Throughout her murder trial, friends and relatives characterized her as a selfish and pathological liar who often created tales to suit her interests.
Fifth District Judge Barry Wood cited the calculated and cold-blooded nature of the crime, as well as Johnson's refusal to admit guilt, in handing down his sentence of life without parole.
Dunn said Johnson's tort claim will still go forward despite the investigation's findings, in yet another footnote to Johnson's post-conviction saga.
Last week, Judge Wood ruled that Johnson's trial lawyer, Bob Pangburn, owed Blaine County more than $42,000 in over-billing for his work on the case. Pangburn told the Associated Press he would appeal the ruling.
And last Thursday, the Idaho Supreme Court dismissed Johnson's appeal of her conviction based on "untimely filing" on Pangburn's part.
Pangburn did not return calls for comment.
Dunn said Johnson's defense team would pursue a motion for post-conviction release.
But Sheriff Femling said he hopes this is the end of the matter.
"I just hope we don't ever have to talk about Sarah Johnson again," he said.
I guess she wants to be in constant solitary, with around the clock security camera footage. That way she will be safe from any further such problem.
Where is that Court TV host(ess) Lisa Bloom? She is an advocate for the Duke accuser. Where is she in this case? Mayhaps the lack of a race charge against rich white boys doesn't interest her.
"Elvis has left the air vent"
"Diane Johnson died from a gunshot wound to the head as she lay in her bed, still under the covers, at about 6:20 a.m. Alan Johnson was shot in the chest in his shower and stumbled out of the bathroom before falling to the floor next to the bed where his wife lay. He bled to death.
Blaine County prosecutors believe Sarah Johnson killed her parents after they threatened to file statutory rape charges against her 19-year-old boyfriend, an undocumented Mexican immigrant."
What a shame, they are a very cute couple.
What happened to the "illegal amigo" who was the cause of this crime? Is he doing day labor near me? Or sneaking back over the border as we speak? Or did Yale offer him a spot?
Just asking!
Death row would have been a better spot for her.
Feb. 16, 2005
"Santos, who has been in custody on drug charges since October 2004.
After authorities cleared him as a suspect in the Johnson murders, Santos was deported to Mexico in September 2003, only to return for grand jury proceedings against Sarah the next month.
He was then granted a special visa that allowed him to stay in the country on a probationary basis. On Oct. 30, 2004, he was arrested in Blaine County, Idaho, on charges of drug possession, for which he is awaiting a tentative March 30 trial date.
Jurors did not get to hear about the pending charges, nor about several instances in which Santos had sex with Sarah, at the request of Blaine County prosecutors Jim Thomas and Justin Whatcott, who said they would be compelled to press statutory rape charges against Santos if he testified to sexual activity with a minor."
Cut the guy some slack.
L
"[prosecutors] said they would be compelled to press statutory rape charges against Santos if he testified to sexual activity with a minor."
Oy gevalt! We wouldn't want them to be "compelled" to do that, would we? Perhaps we can get some MEXICAN prosecutors to do the jobs these folks won't do. Or even French prosecutors. Possibly the Germans will take the job. If not, maybe the Italians. Oh, heck! Call Nigeria, see if ONE attorney in Nigeria will prosecute this guy. Canada? HELLO?....HELLO?.....
As Ted Kennedy asked: Whatever happened to Little Billy?.....
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