Prosecution outlines case against Johnson in opening arguments
Prosecutors said permissiveness by Phylicia Barnes’ older sister allowed the teen to indulge in drugs and alcohol, leading to a drunken, naked romp with an older man that would lead to her death six months later.
In opening statements, Assustabt State’s Attorney Lisa Goldberg told jurors the night of June 13, 2010 was a “changing point” between Phylicia – a 16-year-old who lived in North Carolina and often visited older sister Deena -and Michael Maurice Johnson, a 28-year-old who had dated Deena for 10 years.
At a party, they went streaking, then went to a neighborhood school and filmed themselves “nakedly touching” each other. Goldberg said that while touching Deena, Johnson was looking at her younger sister, and in the ensuing months exchanged 1,300 text messages with her. Prosecutors plan to play the tape for the jury.
In a twist, prosecutors also disclosed that after Johnson’s April 2012 indictment, a petty thief named James McCray told investigators that Johnson called him to the apartment on the day Barnes was killed, showing him her body and asking for advice on what to do.
Prosecutors acknowledged that they don’t know how Johnson transported her body to the river 40 miles east of Baltimore where it was found, but say Johnson acted erratically that day, calling out of work and purchasing a plastic tub from a Wal-Mart that they believe he used to move the body.
Defense says witness’s claim is invalid
Defense attorneys for Michael Maurice Johnson said prosecutors overreached in charging their client.
“This is not about sex, lies and videotape,” Russel Neverdon told the jury, referring to a tape of the defendant and victim engaged in a naked romp months before she was killed.
Neverdon said none of the hundreds of text messages Johnson exchanged with Barnes were inappropriate or suggestive, and that Johnson was seen moving things out of the apartment he shared with Barnes’ older sister because she had asked him to move out by the end if the year.
The witness who prosecutors say Johnson called for advice on moving the body is a “jailhouse snitch” who “can’t tell Michael Johnson from Michael Jordan,” Neverdon said. He also said there was no DNA evidence and that Barnes’ body showed no sign of injury.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/ma...cia-barnes-trial-20130122,0,5104131.htmlstory
Praying for FULL JUSTICE! Rest In Paradise Phylicia Barnes ♥
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