Boone County prosecutor wants refocus on shootings, homicides
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Boone County's new prosecutor wants the office to refocus its efforts on investigating and pursuing shooting and homicide cases.
Roger Johnson said the 14 lawyers that make up the Boone County Prosecutor's Office have 26 homicide cases to deal with right now. Each one of them, Johnson said, compounds the work the office already has to do with prosecuting other crimes.
"It's been a busy couple of years with the office, I think," Johnson said. "There's been a lot of turnover here. We have a really dedicated staff, I think, but we're working on building up training and experience."
Johnson takes over as Boone County's prosecutor following a special appointment last week. His unopposed win in the August primary left him set to win in November, and clearing the way for the county to appoint him to the spot early. He will be sworn in for an official four-year term at the beginning of 2023.
Johnson succeeds Dan Knight, who died in June after Columbia police found him dead at his home. An investigation into Knight's death is ongoing. Johnson was one of several prosecutors that left in 2021, a point he brought up when launching his campaign. In an interview on Wednesday, Johnson called many of the problems "water under the bridge," and laid out what he wanted to accomplish.
"The office has really grown over the course of the years where now it’s a pretty big organization," Johnson said. "And I think there has to be an intentional focus on building a community here. The reality is the people that you work with are the people you spend most of your lives with. And I think there just needs to be an intentional effort to build a team, make sure people are recognized for their contributions.”
Johnson said he's spent the first few days in the office meeting with different law enforcement agencies in Boone County. He said some have expressed frustration with how cases are handled, including plea deals given and light sentences recommended for some violent crimes.
Johnson said he wants to build back trust and communication between the office and detectives on cases, as well as the victims in the cases involved.
"There’s been some instances where cases are disposed of, where there’s a guilty plea and the victims just hadn't been informed about what the recommendation was going to be, or the first time the victims hear about it is that they read it in the paper or saw it in the news," Johnson said. "So we really have an obligation as prosecutors to victims to make sure that they’re informed."
Johnson said he's working on marshaling resources to help the office with its caseload. That included help from the Missouri Attorney General's Office. He also wanted local prosecutors to get more involved in reviewing and helping investigate serious crimes earlier.
One local civil rights group called on him to refuse prosecution of any doctor referred to his office for performing an abortion. Johnson called it a "bad idea" to generalize how he might handle a particular set of cases. Johnson said he wanted to focus the office's work on tackling violent crime. Taking positions on abortion could put him at odds with the current or future attorneys general in the state, leading to litigation between him and the state.
"I'm reluctant to make some advisory opinion about it, especially early on, especially before it's been addressed by the courts," Johnson said.
Johnson said he is also learning to navigate handling criminal prosecutions under the state's Second Amendment Preservation Act. He said the law's prohibition on state law enforcement from helping federal agents enforce some federal gun laws is hampering his office's ability to work with those agencies. He said he's looking into ways to pursue those drug and gun cases in light of the law.
