Prosecution rests in case against Jonesboro school shooter

Mitchell Johnson gives a statement in this video still in which he apologizes for his role  the 1998 Jonesboro shootings.

Mitchell Johnson gives a statement in this video still in which he apologizes for his role the 1998 Jonesboro shootings.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

— A prosecution witness against Mitchell Johnson testified Tuesday that the Jonesboro school shooter often smoked marijuana, but later acknowledged that he lied under oath when he testified that he didn't own a handgun himself.

Dustin David Wynboom's testimony wrapped up the prosecutors' case against Johnson, who is charged with being in possession of a firearm while either being a user of or being addicted to a controlled substance. Johnson faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The prosecution previously offered a botched lab report and a witness who said he was falling-down drunk when Johnson smoked marijuana in his presence. After the prosecution rested, Johnson's defense questioned two neighbors who said they never saw Johnson with marijuana or drug paraphernalia.

Government lawyers seek to punish Johnson for marijuana use and possession of a 9 mm nickel-plated pistol during a Jan. 1, 2007, traffic stop.

Wynboom, 21, of Springdale testified he and Johnson would smoke marijuana once every week or two and that they once smoked marijuana while working at a local Wal-Mart. He said he considered Johnson a friend and they would "hang out, talk, and smoke - just normal teenage things."

Wynboom said he also saw Johnson's handgun and said Johnson told him "he needed it for protection, that people were after him."

However, Wynboom denied ever owning a handgun when questioned by Johnson's lawyer, John B. Schisler, prompting a long recess. When court resumed, Wynboom admitted he lied under oath.

"I was scared I was going to incriminate myself," Wynboom said.

Michael Lindsey, another Wal-Mart co-worker, testified Johnson often discussed smoking marijuana and sometimes appeared to be high at work. Lindsey later admitted to getting so drunk on Jagermeister at a party with Johnson and other Wal-Mart employees that he fell down the stairs.

"I was so wasted," he told the jury.

Washington County sheriff's deputies said they found a pistol and a 20-gauge shotgun in Johnson's van after the 2007 traffic stop, along with around 0.74 ounces marijuana.

In 1998, Johnson, then 13, and 11-year-old schoolmate Andrew Golden opened fire as students and teachers left Jonesboro Westside Middle School after Golden pulled the fire alarm. The boys killed English teacher Shannon Wright and students Natalie Brooks, 11; Paige Herring, 12; Stephanie Johnson, 12; and Britthney Varner, 11. They wounded 10 others.

Tuesday, widower Mitch Wright and his son, Zane, were among the spectators in the courtroom. Mitch Wright said his son, who was 2 when his mother Shannon was killed, had always wondered about Mitchell Johnson.

"He wanted to see what this person looked like," Mitch Wright told an Associated Press reporter before the trial resumed.

State courts locked up the boys until their 18th birthdays, then federal prosectors stepped in with orders to hold them until age 21. Johnson left prison with an "adjudicated" record - meaning he could own firearms.

A senior chemist with the state Crime Laboratory took the stand again Tuesday and acknowledged that an initial exam of marijuana found in Johnson's pocket came back negative but a lab worker mistakenly recorded the results as positive.

Gary Dallas said he conducted a second test of the drugs last week before Johnson's federal trial on a weapons charge began Monday, and that test was positive for marijuana. Dallas said he conducted the test after workers realized the first report contained a "clerical error."