Wednesday, April 8, 2009

New judge sought in Johnson case

Attorney alleges Judge Wood is biased against his client


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Judge Barry Wood

The attorney for convicted murderer Sarah Johnson is seeking a new judge in post-conviction court proceedings, alleging that 5th District Court Judge Barry Wood is biased against his client.

The allegation is not a new one. Johnson made the allegation three years ago following her convictions in 2005 of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her parents.

Hailey attorney Christopher Simms, who has been appointed public defender for Johnson in her post-conviction relief petition, renewed the allegation against Wood in a motion for disqualification of the judge filed in March.

Simms alleges that prior to Johnson's 2005 trial, Wood "independently apprised himself of the facts and background of the case, specifically by reading the grand jury transcript and police reports, as well as visiting the scene of the crime."

"In independently apprising himself in an extrajudicial manner, of the background and facts of the case, the judge created in himself a bias against petitioner, which bias was displayed as the case and the trial progressed," Simms wrote.

Wood sentenced Johnson to two life prison terms without the possibility of parole after a jury in Boise convicted her in the shooting deaths of Alan and Diane Johnson at the couple's home in Bellevue in September 2003. Johnson, now 22, is currently an inmate at the Pocatello Women's Correctional Center.

Simms claims Johnson is innocent and has used the recent identification of previously unidentified fingerprints on the murder weapon to further his argument. Last month, Wood ruled that Simms be allowed to have all information related to fingerprints taken during the original criminal investigation.

The state of Idaho in Johnson's post-conviction relief proceedings is represented by the Idaho Attorney General's Office, which has filed an objection to Simms' motion to disqualify Wood.

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"Johnson has failed to establish any basis for concluding this court is biased or prejudiced against her or that this court is incapable of performing a proper legal analysis of the claims in her post-conviction petition," Deputy Attorney General Jessica M. Lorello wrote in her objection to Simms' motion.

"That this court made certain rulings adverse to Johnson during trial and has made comments indicating a belief that the evidence against Johnson was strong does not establish bias or prejudice," Lorello wrote.

A hearing on the disqualification motion is scheduled for April 21 before Judge Wood.

Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com




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