Letter to the editor

This letter is in response to Michael Johnson’s rambling November 3, 2009, letter to you concerning his son, A.J. Johnson. He notes that his goal was to instill respect for the law in his children. I believe that he failed to do so with respect to A.J. Johnson.

The circuit court files available in the circuit clerk’s office concerning A.J. Johnson indicate that he has confessed to being a felony-grade thief and possessing more than 2.0 grams of crack cocaine for personal use.

Thus, I conclude that Michael Johnson never once came by my office nor called me concerning the defense of his son. During his son’s first court appearance, his mother appeared with him, but not Mr. Johnson. From my perspective he took absolutely no interest in his son’s two felony indictments until his son was placed in custody.

From the allegations made in Mr. Johnson’s letter I conclude that his son did not wish to enter a plea of guilty to his two indictments nor go to trial because he just wanted the indictment to “go away” with no disposition. He wanted to go box, not accept personal responsibility for his criminal actions. His personal schedule was more important than the deadlines set by the circuit court judge.

Finally, I note that Mr. Johnson never proclaims his son innocent of the charges lodged against his son nor demands a trial on his behalf. He, as Presiding Justice George C. Carlson Jr. frequently said while serving as a circuit court judge, just wants his son to “go home.”

Sincerely,
David L. Walker
Proudly serving as Panola County Public Defender since 12-10-1992.