ID: little miss can be wrong

From the Idaho Mountain Express:

Supreme Court upholds Johnson convictions

The Idaho Supreme Court has upheld Sarah Johnson's convictions of killing her parents in 2003... Now 21, Johnson was 16 at the time...

From the Times-News:

Justices reject Sarah Johnson appeals - Court says 2005 murder conviction was legal

The Idaho Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld the conviction of Sarah Johnson for murdering her parents five years ago in their Bellevue home... Johnson was given two life sentences after a jury handed down a guilty verdict on two counts of first-degree murder for shooting her parents, Alan and Diane Johnson...

Update: I take that back, I hope she's doing fine - she does have a colorable ineffective assistance claim. See the Idaho Supreme Court opinion here (pdf file).

ID: supreme Sarah Johnson smackdown

Heckling during oral argument, in front of the state Supremes, perhaps from the state Supremes, reported by Cassidy Friedman by the Times-News:

Supreme Court weighs Johnson case

Idaho Supreme Court justices will have to decide whom to blame for Sarah Johnson's botched defense: the judge or her attorney. Guessing from the blasting that Johnson's absent attorney received, the furious scribbling by reporters and the astonishment of Johnson's family each time a new heckle was uttered, it's not looking good for the attorney.

Members of the state's Supreme Court heard arguments on Johnson's appeal Friday, over three years after an Ada County jury found her guilty... (of) first-degree murder... (At trial), defense attorney Bob Pangburn harped the same line, "no blood, no guilt" - meaning that since no blood spatter was found on Johnson, the triggerman must have been somebody else.

Never did that defense seem more regrettable than Friday when Justice Roger S. Burdick, at Johnson's appeal, called that once memorable line "some silly jingle." As it turned out just before the jury's deliberation, the defense blew into a rage when the judge instructed the jury they could just as easily find Johnson guilty of murder by aiding and abetting someone else to do it because the two accusations are one and the same by Idaho law. To be guilty of the charge, she didn't have to be the one who pulled the trigger.

"Why wouldn't a competent defense attorney say, 'OK, she's being charged with first-degree murder,' (and) prepare a defense that goes either way?" asked Justice Warren E. Jones...

Fair question, that. It'll be asked in post-conviction proceedings too.

ID: two losses for Sarah Johnson

From the Mountain Express:

Authorities conclude Johnson lied about rape charge - Supreme Court dismisses murder conviction appeal

Blaine County authorities have concluded that convicted Bellevue murderer Sarah M. Johnson lied about being raped or having sex with another inmate while she was awaiting trial in the county jail in Hailey...

In another development, the Idaho Supreme Court last week dismissed an appeal on Johnson's murder convictions. The high court ruled Thursday that the appeal "was not timely filed."

Attorney Bob Pangburn, a member of the Johnson defense team, told the Express Tuesday that the deadline for filing was confusing because there was an amended judgment after Johnson was sentenced. Furthermore, he said Johnson told him the appeal was going to be filed by the State Appellate Public Defender Office, but he filed the appeal himself, hoping there was still time, after he found out it hadn't been done.

Next comes the ineffective assistance phase...

ID: teen murderer is appealing

I for one have never found due process to be particularly excessive, especially in criminal court, but that's what the headline says. From the Idaho Mountain Express:

Sarah Johnson appeals murder convictions - Were due process and sentences excessive?

Sarah M. Johnson has appealed her murder convictions to the Idaho Supreme Court. Convicted in 2005 for the shooting deaths of her parents, Johnson alleges in her Notice of Appeal to the high court that she was denied due process of law in trial proceedings and that the sentences imposed were excessive. Johnson, 19, is serving two life sentences..

Idaho: among the believers

Johnson gets continued representation for free - Belief in girl's innocence spurs continued work

Following her sentencing June 30 to life in prison for slaying her parents... convicted murderer Sarah M. Johnson was left without official legal representation.

Her appointed public defender, Bob Pangburn, is no longer under contract with Blaine County and has, at least temporarily, faded from the case. However, Boise attorney Mark Rader, investigator Patrick Dunn and counselor Linda Dunn are continuing to represent the 18-year-old for free...

...[T]he long and short of it remains: ... Johnson's defense team does not appear ready to back down.

Update: You can tell going in that a profile of Sarah Johnson which starts with lyrics from "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" - "She hold the shotgun while you do-si-do" - isn't going to be too pro-defense... Yow!

ID: ineffective screw-up of counsel

From the Blaine County paper:

Sarah Johnson seeks appeal - Hearing to determine if murder conviction can be appealed

A court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Hailey to determine if Sarah M. Johnson can once more appeal her convictions for the murders of her parents in Bellevue in 2003.

The Idaho Supreme Court dismissed her original appeal in April, ruling that it was filed beyond the legally mandated deadline. Johnson filed court papers later in April seeking reinstatement of her appeal rights on the grounds that her attorneys screwed up in filing the appeal too late.

I believe that the reporter must have taken the term "screwed up" from the pleadings.

ID: teen murderer still seeking relief

Saw this coming, just not this soon:

Johnson seeks new appeal to conviction - Claims ineffective legal counsel contributed to guilty verdicts

Sarah M. Johnson, convicted in 2005 for killing her parents in their Bellevue home, has filed court papers that allege mistakes by her attorneys contributed to guilty verdicts against her and led to dismissal of her conviction appeal by the Idaho Supreme Court...

Prior Sarah Johnson posts are here and here.

ID: this is the song that never ends

From the Times-News:

Discovery Channel revisits Johnson murder case

Discovery Channel crews have launched a week of filming for the storied Sarah Johnson murder case. The uncommon trial of a girl charged with shooting her parents already has been highlighted in an unending stream of national media coverage... Now, Discovery Channel, which will debut a new show, "Solved," in the fall, is featuring the Wood River Valley with a decidedly law enforcement bent...

Fixed life for Idaho teen murderer

After a jury found her guilty of murdering her parents, Sarah Johnson was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus 15 years for use of a firearm. The defense had argued for the chance for Johnson to be paroled after serving 15 years. Next comes the appeal.

Idaho teen on trial for murdering her parents

I don't know if you've been following this trial, but a teenager is on trial in Idaho for murdering her parents. Sarah M. Johnson was 16 when her parents were killed in September 2003. Court TV has been providing full coverage here.

The trial has not been going well lately. In fact, it's turned pretty ugly.

On Wednesday, a jailhouse snitch claimed that Johnson admitted the murders through "a slip of the tongue." "One time, she said, 'When I killed...'." Then she stopped herself and was like, 'When the killers ...'." The defense lawyer tried to rattle the snitch by asking if she thought this trial was funny, only to get back a face-full of "you're a joke to me, Mr. Defense Lawyer." Advantage: snitch.

On Thursday, trial was halted for two hours when prosecutors spread out blood-covered bed sheets and court officials became concerned over "body pieces" falling to the floor. Fault: prosecution. On Friday, a blood-spatter expert put on a pink bathrobe to demonstrate his theory of how the killer stood while shooting the victims. Point: expert.

It's been fairly compelling to follow as a spectator. Please spare me from ever having to do another murder trial as a participant.