BENTON COUNTY : Inquiry finds no abuse of jailed school shooter
Posted on Saturday, May 10, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/225246/
BENTONVILLE — Jonesboro school shooter Mitchell Scott Johnson wasn’t abused in the Benton County jail as he told a judge in court last week, and he tried to make marks on his body to bolster his story, a sheriff’s office investigation shows.
Although the investigation found Johnson’s abuse claims to be untrue, allegations that jailers mocked him over his murderous past may have credence, a jail supervisor said Friday.
“We’re just starting to look into this, but there appears to be some basis to it, and appropriate action is going to be taken,” Lt. Paul Carter said.
Johnson was 13 in 1998 when he and Andrew Golden, then 11, fatally shot a teacher and four students at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro.
Johnson, 23, is charged in Benton County with theft, identity fraud and misdemeanor marijuana possession.
He told a judge at a May 5 hearing that he’s being abused in the jail and wants to be transferred to another jail or have his bond lowered. Circuit Judge Tom Keith set a June 9 hearing to consider the allegations and bail reduction.
The sheriff ’s investigation shows that jail staff acted properly in disciplining Johnson for rule violations over the past few months.
It also shows they caught him trying to bruise his wrists and ankles May 3, hours before he filed a grievance claming excessive force.
Finally, it suggests he has an ulterior motive for wanting a transfer to another jail — his wife and child are coming to visit soon from another state. As it stands, Johnson can’t have visitors because he’s in protective custody.
“The investigation shows there’s absolutely nothing to his claims of being abused,” said chief deputy prosecuting attorney Shane Wilkinson.
“It’s my opinion that he just wants to go to a jail that allows more personal privileges. My job is to prosecute him for the crimes he has committed, not necessarily to make sure he has all of the comforts of home.”
WORD SPREADS Johnson was placed in protective custody in the jail Feb. 5, three days after Bentonville police arrested him on the marijuana charge. The fraud and theft charges were filed days later on claims that Johnson used a debit card someone left at the Bentonville convenience store where he was briefly employed. A week before his Feb. 2 arrest, Johnson was convicted of a federal gun and marijuana charge in a high-profile trial. The case in U. S. District Court in Fayetteville rejuvenated publicity about the Jonesboro school shootings 10 years earlier. After a few days in the Benton County jail, word was out among inmates about Johnson’s presence, the sheriff’s office investigation shows. On Feb. 5, jailers found him surrounded by 15 inmates and he was quickly moved out of the general population. “His past didn’t sit well with some of the inmates, and we moved him to administrative segregation,” Carter said. “It was a proactive measure before anything bad might happen.”
Johnson was disciplined March 3 after he and his cellmate flooded the toilet in their cell and stuffed paper in the air vent, reports show.
Johnson was belligerent, swearing at jailers and saying he and his roommate flooded the cell because it was too hot and he wanted quicker access to the law library, the report shows.
“You run things in here, but you ain’t s *** on the street,” Johnson told jailers. “Out there, you ain’t the only ones with the guns —you’re nothing.”
Later, while in restraints because of the incident, Johnson was seen by jailers wringing and roughly rubbing wrists and ankles against the restraint cuffs, reports show. They told him to stop but he didn’t. He was trying to injure himself and leave marks or bruises, investigators found.
Johnson struggled and yelled obscenities when jailers tried to remove the restraints, reports show. They moved him to an observation cell, where he rushed the door and banged on the glass. They used a “leg strike” technique to get him to comply. He filed a grievance saying he was “attacked” by jailers and kicked and punched in the head, face, arms and legs while handcuffed. He wrote that he had injuries to prove the assault, but officials said his evidence came up short. The only injuries sheriff’s officials found were abrasions on Johnson’s wrists, a small scratch on his forehead and a bruise under his armpit, reports show.
WIFE AND CHILD Johnson said jailers have mocked him over the Jonesboro shootings and he wants it to stop. “You’re picking on me because I’m Mitchell Johnson and I killed some people when I was 13,” he said to jailers on March 3.
He told sheriff ’s investigator Wes Bryant in an interview this week that jailers have made “unwarranted and inappropriate” comments about the school shootings.
He said the comments were “threatening” and upsetting, Bryant wrote in a report.
Johnson told Bryant he hasn’t had any problems with inmates and wants to be back in the general population or transferred to the Washington County jail.
“He stated that his wife and child are coming to visit from Connecticut... and if he remains on lockdown he will not be able to see them,” Bryant wrote.
Deputy public defender Scott McElveen said he’s gathering evidence to ask that Johnson’s $ 50, 000 bond be reduced at the June 9 hearing.
McElveen said he didn’t have any information about Johnson’s abuse claims.
Even if Johnson’s bond is reduced, he’s still on no-bond hold by the U. S. Marshals Service until he’s sentenced in the federal case. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.