State calls several witnesses in first day of Joanthony Johnson sentencing

Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight called several people to the stand on Wednesday to make his case for a tough sentence for Joanthony Johnson.

The 28-year-old Columbia man was convicted by a jury on two counts of rape, two counts of sodomy and one count of attempted sexual abuse in April. Judge Jeff Harris will determine his sentence, which could be up to life in prison, after the hearing ends on Thursday.

Johnson had sex with at least four women on different nights in 2015 after doing drugs with them at his apartment. Many of them claimed to have been incapacitated by the high-grade THC they smoked, and were led into Johnson’s bedroom for sex. Johnson testified at trial that the sex was consensual, saying the women’s actions “implied” their desire to have sex, like kissing or getting into his bed unsolicited.

Knight ended the five-hour hearing on Wednesday with a victim impact statement from one of the four women. She found out what had happened in 2016, when Columbia police officers accessed videos on Johnson’s phone that showed him having sex. The woman identified herself in the videos and said she did not remember having sex with Johnson.

Learning about it, she said, split her world in two. While she tried to continue a normal life as a college student, she ended up missing classes to work with investigators on the case. Her work at school suffered, she said.

“The defendant took away my ability to consent that night,” she said on Wednesday. “He took away this entire year. But I refuse to let him take any more.”

Johnson’s mother, Norma Chapman, said she believes her son is innocent. She hopes to find a “bulldog” of an attorney to handle the appeal. Knight’s case, she said, involved shaky evidence, such as the police testimony about obtaining the phone. She said investigators may have coerced some women into believing they were assaulted in the videos, despite the women having no memory of it happening.

“It’s just a farce of a case,” Chapman told reporters after the hearing. “If you’re going to do it, be legal about it. I’m not saying you’re illegal, but be fair. OK, don’t do something just to make a name for yourself. And I believe that’s what Knight is doing.”

Knight displayed text messages taken from Johnson’s phone that detailed several drug deals. Arrangements were made to sell different derivatives of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, like “shatter,” “wax” and “oil.” When questioned by Harris on the usefulness of this, Knight said it proved that Johnson had knowledge of drugs and their power.

“The defendant was involved in actually drugging victims,” Knight said.

Chapman criticized investigator Jeff Adams’ testimony about the drug references in the texts, questioning his expertise on the issue.

Johnson’s attorney, Sarah Aplin, tried to stop Knight from making the argument. She said the texts had nothing to do with the crimes in which the jury found him guilty.

“They’re trying to pull in all these different things to just sort of ephemerally say he’s of bad character that aren’t related to the charged offense,” Aplin said.

Chapman said she was disappointed with Aplin’s handling of her son’s case. She thought Aplin, a public defender, could have spent more time preparing arguments against Knight’s case and asking more questions during cross-examinations.

“You have to vigilantly represent someone,” Chapman said. “Did she ask 10 questions [of witnesses on Wednesday]? No, she asked two. That’s not enough to show anything different than what the outcome was.”

Johnson’s rape and sodomy convictions carry a minimum sentence of five years, and a maximum of life in prison. The attempted rape charge has a maximum of four years.

The sentencing hearing will resume on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.