Appeal in 2009 murder case denied

Posted 9/21/21

The 25-year sentence for a man involved in a 2009 murder in Wright City has been upheld by a Missouri appeals court after the latest attempt to overturn it.

David R. Johnson, 28, of St. Louis, …

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Appeal in 2009 murder case denied

Posted

The 25-year sentence for a man involved in a 2009 murder in Wright City has been upheld by a Missouri appeals court after the latest attempt to overturn it.

David R. Johnson, 28, of St. Louis, was convicted in 2016 as the third suspect in a fatal stabbing at a 2009 New Year’s party. Johnson, who was 15 when the killing occurred, was tried as an adult and convicted of murder, burglary and armed criminal action, as well as assault relating to the injury of a second person.

Johnson has pursued multiple appeals since his conviction, most recently seeking to have his sentence vacated over allegations of a biased judge and incompetent attorneys.

In January 2020, Senior Judge Keith Sutherland, the same judge who presided over Johnson’s conviction, rejected his request to vacate the sentencing. An attorney for Johnson appealed that ruling to Missouri’s Eastern District Court of Appeals.

Last week, the appeals court issued a one-sentence ruling stating it had been sufficiently advised of Johnson’s reasons for appeal, and is upholding Sutherland’s judgment.

Johnson’s appeal had argued that Judge Sutherland was unfairly biased when deciding Johnson’s sentence, in that Sutherland wasn’t willing to consider the full range of legally allowable sentencing. Sutherland had previously rejected a plea agreement between Johnson and prosecutors that would have given Johnson a 10-year prison sentence.

Johnson also argued that his attorneys had mounted a poor defense, including by failing to object to an incriminating audio recording of Johnson from the Warren County Jail that was introduced as evidence just days before the trial.

Murder, Appeal, David Johnson

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