By Shawn McGrath
June 27, 2008 10:20 pm
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ANDERSON — It took a jury about 2 1/2 hours of deliberations Friday to find 20-year-old Jalon N. Johnson not guilty of murder in the December shooting death of Ashtin Logan.
“The truth shall set you free, that’s all I’m going to say,” he said, declining further comment.
Johnson, wearing a black-and-white jail jumpsuit with his wrists shackled, looked somber before the jury of seven women and five men returned with its verdict at about 6:15 p.m. His body shook, and he held his hands to his face, sobbing uncontrollably after the acquittal was announced.
Several people in the packed courtroom erupted in cheers when Madison Superior Court 1 Judge Dennis Carroll read the jury’s not-guilty verdict.
“They called it as they saw it,” Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Eads said, “and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Johnson, of Anderson, faced 45 to 65 years in prison if he had been found guilty of shooting to death 17-year-old Logan with an SKS assault rifle outside Logan’s Madison Avenue home on Dec. 16. Instead of murder, the jury had the option of finding Johnson guilty of the lesser charges of either voluntary manslaughter, a Class A felony punishable by 20 to 50 years behind bars, or reckless homicide, which carries a potential prison term of two to eight years.
“I’m not surprised; that’s not the right word,” said Bryan Williams, who represented Johnson with Noblesville attorney Jim Toombs. “Relieved. That’s the right word, relieved.”
Johnson’s version
Johnson testified earlier Friday that he was unarmed when he went to the back door of Logan’s home to speak to Wenzell Williams about a confrontation the same day between Wenzell and Johnson’s brother, Tiras Johnson, 18, at a neighborhood convenience store. Wenzell, who is not related to Bryan Williams, had already left Logan’s home, however.
Johnson told the jurors he encountered Logan and another person leaving Logan’s home as he came up to the door. He testified that shortly after meeting the two, Logan’s cousin, Henry D. Clayton, 20, Kokomo, came outside and words were exchanged. Clayton then quickly went back in the home, presumably to retrieve his .45-caliber handgun.
Johnson then began walking returning to his car to leave and told Tiras to come with him, he said, but Tiras remained outside the home, continuing to exchange words. Johnson then got his assault rifle from the vehicle and came back to the scene. Clayton then came back outside, said something else and fired a shot in the air. Johnson then fired once into the air, he testified.
Clayton then began shooting, and Johnson started running away, but fired back at the group as he fled, Johnson testified. But one of Johnson’s rounds struck Logan, and he died the next day at an Indianapolis hospital.
Final arguments
After the verdict was announced, several jurors said the evidence wasn’t strong enough to prove Johnson was guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. They didn’t believe he was guilty of either lesser charge. With the exception of a black female juror, the jury was all white.
During closing arguments, Deputy Prosecutor Eads told the jury Johnson knew there was a good chance someone could be seriously injured when he opened fire with his assault rifle. Logan’s death, he said, constituted murder.
“We don’t have self-defense,” Eads said. “We don’t have reckless homicide. We have the defendant shooting toward the house where there are people, and he hits one of them and he knows what he’s doing.
“Now, if he had time to think about it afterward, he might have thought differently,” Eads continued. “If he certainly had to do that night over again, I’m sure he would. But at that moment, he decided to do what he did, and now he has to live with the consequences.”
In his closing, defense attorney Williams argued Johnson began shooting in self-defense, after Clayton opened fire. He said Johnson didn’t commit murder when he fatally wounded Logan.
“The question in this case is not only one of criminal responsibility — it’s personal responsibility, and there’s a huge difference,” Williams said. “Personal responsibility, in my opinion, is Jalon Johnson’s future. When he’s 40 years old, he has to live with the fact that he killed a 17-year-old boy. He lives with that every day now. When he’s 25, 55, 75, he will have killed a 17-year-old boy.
“That’s personal responsibility. He’s accepted it.”
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The options
A jury acquitted Jalon N. Johnson, 20, Anderson, of a single murder count on Friday. Johnson was facing 45 to 65 years in prison for shooting to death Ashtin Logan, 17, Anderson, in December.
Instead of murder, the jury also had the option of finding Johnson guilty of the lesser charges of either:
• Voluntary manslaughter, a Class A felony punishable by 20 to 50 years, or
• Reckless homicide, a Class C felony that carries a potential sentence of two to eight years behind bars.
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