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Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 11:26:49 AM EST
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Michael DeWayne Johnson was 17 18 years old when he was charged in Texas with killing a convenience store clerk. He was sentenced to death.

Johnson was to have faced his Texecutioner last night. Hours earlier, despite 15 minute checks by guards, Johnson slit his own throat and used his blood to write on his cell wall, "I did not shoot him."

Prison spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said Johnson cut his jugular vein and an artery in his right arm with a blade fastened to what appeared to be Popsicle sticks. He was last seen alive at 2:30 a.m. as guards made their regular four-times-an-hour death-watch check of his cell.

Lyons said the blade was small, possibly fashioned from a disposable razor. She said Johnson's cell had been searched for weapons several days before the incident.

Michael DeWayne Johnson died at age 29, beating the Texecutioner of the opportunity to kill him by mere hours. He had had no prior convictions.

Johnson always maintained his innocence in prison interviews. What if he was telling the truth?

He was one of two men linked to the Sept. 10, 1995, murder of Wetterman, 27, at a convenience store in the Waco-area town of Lorena. Johnson's accomplice, David Vest, served eight years for aggravated robbery in the case and was released from prison in September 2003.

What was the evidence against him?

Testimony showed Wetterman was shot in the face with a 9 mm pistol after he had filled the men's car with $24 of gasoline. Johnson and Vest first drove to Corpus Christi, then Dallas, where they were arrested three days later. Vest testified for the prosecution in Johnson's trial.

In other words, a co-participant in the crime got a deal for saying Johnson was the shooter. Here's more, from those who believe in his innocence.

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    Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself | 27 comments (27 topical)
    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#1)
    by roy on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 12:01:27 PM EST
    In other words, a co-participant in the crime got a deal for saying Johnson was the shooter.

    It gets weirder.  In the paperwork for that deal, that co-participant confessed to being the shooter.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#4)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:06:31 PM EST
    Who made the deal? The prosecutor?

    Is he not now an accessory to conspiracy? Or to murder?

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#8)
    by roy on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:40:46 PM EST
    Who made the deal? The prosecutor?

    You can get what little knowledge I have by following TL's link here, and skimming the paperwork here (PDF).  Looks like the DA at least signed on to the deal.

    Is he not now an accessory to conspiracy? Or to murder?

    I'm not sure there's such a thing as "accessory to conspiracy" but I think I get your point.  So, IMHO, yeah, but that's not what Johnson was convicted of.


    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#10)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:46:30 PM EST
    I'm not sure there's such a thing as "accessory to conspiracy"

    I didn't think so either, but I meant it in a moral , not a 'legal' sense.

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#11)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:58:31 PM EST
    roy, it's pretty clearcut from the DA's paperwork that David Noel Vest confessed and pled guilty to shooting Wetterman.

    To my mind it's also clear that Vest AND the DA conspired to murder Michael DeWayne Johnson, using the DA's ability to manipulate the system as the murder weapon.

    I'm not a lawyer. I say this again in a moral and human sense, not a legal one. But it may be true in a legal sense also.

    THAT is sick.

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#13)
    by roy on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 02:03:50 PM EST
    OK, I misunderstood you before.  I thought you were saying that Johnson would still have some culpability for the murder even if Vest pulled the trigger.

    I agree with the spirit of both what you said and what I thought you said.


    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#14)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 02:10:33 PM EST
    My fault. My attention is divided with other things I'm doing here, and I was commenting quickly, beacause this kind of bullsh*t really gets my steam up. I should be more careful to be clear.

    Parent
    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#2)
    by scribe on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 12:24:45 PM EST
    Well, what would any rational criminal do - take the needle himself, or finger his "buddy" so he could get the better deal and get out (after 8 years or so)?  We're not talking about noble people here.

    The real fault is in Texas' overly vindictive reliance on punish, punish, punish as the only means of dealing with crime.  And for that, they get more crime than anywhere else, it would seem.  Violence breeds violence, regardless of who's dealing it.

    I tend to believe what he wrote in his own blood.

    So sad.
    So wrong.
    So Texas.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#3)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 12:53:40 PM EST
    I tend to believe what he wrote in his own blood.

    I do too... he had no reason to not be honest at that point.  He couldn't profit by lying, he had already cut himself.

    Did he have less fear of death than of the method of execution planned for him? I imagine the method would make anyone twitchy...

    Did he decide to remove the power the state had over him, and leave on his own terms? If so, good for him, he's earns at least my respect, and I hope others as well.

    How is the state or society better off? (rhetorical question) It appears an honest, truthful man has left us without the benefit of one. And there are never enough to go around.

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#5)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:19:34 PM EST
    scribe - "The real fault" is that Vest and Johnson killed an innocent man who was at work trying to make a living.

    That the state got one and missed one is a bad mistake. Both deserved to be executed.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#9)
    by roy on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:43:36 PM EST
    Where do you see any justification for your claim that they both killed Wetterman?  The various stories I've read are A) Johnson wasn't even there, B) Johnson shot without Vests's knowledge, or C) Vest shot and nobody says whether Johnson knew about it.


    Parent
    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#12)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 02:03:38 PM EST
    He doesn't have any justification. And he doesn't care that he doesn't. He's baiting, that's all.

    Parent
    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#6)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:22:54 PM EST
    Edger writes:

    Did he decide to remove the power the state had over him, and leave on his own terms? If so, good for him, he's earns at least my respect, and I hope others as well.

    Let me understand. The guy either shot someone in the face with a 9mm pistol, or was an accompliace.

    And he earns your respect? Come one, edger. That's sick.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#7)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 01:38:49 PM EST
    Go back and read the thread from the first post, Jim. And take your meds. It will all come clear at last. Even you might earn my respect.

    Parent
    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#15)
    by HK on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 02:12:38 PM EST
    Nobody seems to have commented on the fact that when Johnson allegedly committed this crime, he was, in fact, a child.

    Texas no longer executes children.  It just waits until they are adults and then does it.

    Johnson is dead.  Vest is free.  Anyone feel safer?

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#16)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 02:29:42 PM EST
    Texas no longer executes children.  It just waits until they are adults and then does it.

    No, but this District Attorny: John W. Segrest, his Assistant DA: Mike Freeman, and the Presiding Judge: George Allen(?) MURDER children. And force them to sit on death row until they can use the state as the murder weapon.

    Johnson is dead.  Vest is free. And Jim is happy....

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#19)
    by Edger on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 05:58:40 PM EST
    In light of Jeralyns correction on his age I'll withdraw the word "children" from my post above. The rest stansds.

    Parent
    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#17)
    by txpublicdefender on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 05:37:02 PM EST
    That can't be correct that he was 17 when the crime was committed.  After the Supreme Court invalidated the death penalty for juveniles, all individuals on Texas's death row for crimes committed before the age of 18 had their sentences commuted to life.  

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#18)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 05:52:51 PM EST
    You're right. I corrected the post.  The article said he was 29 today and the crime was in 1995.  I figured that's 12 years ago, but it was only 11.  

    Thanks for the correction.

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#20)
    by HK on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 06:01:08 PM EST
    I had a quick scout round and found that he was 18 when the crime was committed.  Vest was 17.  There's some more information here.

    Kind of makes me wonder how stringent they are with these 15 minute checks.  He managed to retrieve his makeshift blade from wherever he'd hidden it, slash his arm and neck, bleed a sufficient amount to write a message several words long on the wall, which he then did, and then die on the floor...all in 15 minutes?  I'm sure it is possible, if he was very efficient and everything went smoothly for what he planned to do, but is it likely?

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#21)
    by kdog on Fri Oct 20, 2006 at 06:23:21 PM EST
    It's pretty clear at most he was an accomplice, maybe not even there.

    This man's last act earned my respect as well.  Kind of makes me think he was innocent...or at least railroaded.

    Texas is so f*cked up.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#22)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Oct 21, 2006 at 10:02:15 AM EST
    et al but especially kdog and edger - The following is from the link in the post, and note that this link is decrying the execution. But here is what it says:

    Michael Johnson was clearly a criminal. He was knowingly travelling in a stolen car. He knew that a stolen firearm was in the car. He deliberately conspired to steal gasoline. But, he didn't kill Jeffery Michael Wetterman. It's undisputed that only one gun was at the crime scene and only one shot was fired. It's undisputed that Mr. Wetterman was murdered by a lone gunman.Yet, it was Michael Dewayne Johnson who was sentenced to death for the crime David Vest swore he committed.

    Now, you may argue that the wrong man was convicted. You may argue that the wrong man was about to be executed. That may be true. But there is no doubt that he was an accomplice.

    If you can sincerely tell me that an accomplice to a brutal murder for profit deserves your respect and sympathy, then I cannot see any common ground in our worldview.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#23)
    by Edger on Sat Oct 21, 2006 at 10:23:52 AM EST
    I cannot see any common ground in our worldview

    I was wrong about you. You can learn after all.

    There never has been any common ground in our worldviews, on this or any other topic that I can recall.

    Parent

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#26)
    by 1980Ford on Sat Oct 21, 2006 at 06:09:26 PM EST
    If prosecutors cared about justice, they would work to ban any plea bargains based on snitching. If they cannot prove guilt based on evidence, then they do not have a Constitutionally sound case.

    Problems with The Plea.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself (none / 0) (#28)
    by Avedon on Sun Oct 22, 2006 at 09:27:11 PM EST
    Oh, I see.  They couldn't execute Vest because he was too young, so they got him to claim Johnson was the shooter so they could kill him.

    Re: Inmate Avoids Texecution (none / 0) (#29)
    by kdog on Mon Oct 23, 2006 at 01:06:06 PM EST
    Jim my friend....of course the criminal acts he committed aren't worthy of respect, they are worthy of punishment.

    All I'm saying is the act of taking your own life instead of meekly walking to your wrongful execution is something I respect.  Bottom line he didn't commit a murder, yet he was sentenced to death.

    Um... (none / 0) (#30)
    by Avedon on Thu Oct 26, 2006 at 06:45:59 AM EST
    Did you miss the fact that what the prosecution did was premeditated murder?  They hid the facts in the case and framed someone else as the shooter just so they could kill someone.

    Don't you think this is, y'know, wrong?

    Inmate Avoids Texecution By Killing Himself | 27 comments (27 topical)