Johnny Johnson is scheduled for execution in Missouri on August 1, 2023 for the 2002 murder of Casey Williamson in St. Louis County in 2002.

UPDATE: July 29, 2023 -  In an en banc review, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a stay that had been granted to allow for an examination of his mental competency.  This is a serious execution date.

To learn more about the mental illness issues in this case, watch this video.

The following is from our allies at Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty. These signatures will be combined with those collected by MADP and others and delivered together in a unified effort to stop the execution.

Johnny Johnson's case highlights the troubling flaws in the mental health and criminal legal system's treatment of individuals with mental illness. Johnny has struggled with developmental disabilities and severe mental illness all his life. Yet, despite repeatedly seeking treatment for his mental health symptoms, he never received the support and care he desperately needed to stabilize his condition.

At the time of the crime, Johnny was in the grips of active psychosis caused by schizophrenia and experiencing command hallucinations that influenced his actions. Over the span of two decades incarcerated at Potosi Correctional Center (PCC), Johnny’s condition has worsened. A recent medical evaluation shows that Johnny lacks a rational understanding of the reason for his execution and therefore is incompetent to be executed.                      

Johnny's impending execution violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. We cannot stand idly by while a system that fails to adequately address mental illness executes a person who does not rationally understand the reason for his sentence and is unfit to be executed.

Background:

Johnny's medical records paint a picture of a life that has fallen through the cracks. As a child, Johnny suffered several head injuries before age 10. He experienced motor delays and had a learning disability, and although he was retained in kindergarten and first grade, he was later socially promoted out of at least one middle-school grade and ultimately dropped out of school in the ninth grade. His first admission to a psychiatric clinic was when he was 14. By the time he was 18, he had been admitted four times. As a teenager, he sought treatment for a host of mental health disorders, including depression with psychotic features and schizoaffective disorder with auditory command hallucinations.

Johnny’s psychosis continued to be present in his 20s. During a March 1998 evaluation, a psychiatrist noted that Johnny heard voices telling him to kill himself or hurt others. In August 2001, Johnny was incarcerated in the St. Louis County Jail for misdemeanor stealing. Due to his diagnosis of schizophrenia, among other disorders, and concerns about suicidal behavior, he was admitted to the St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center. During his time at the center, doctors noted that he was hearing voices and was fearful, distressful, and anxious. Particularly in times of stress, the intensity of his hallucinations increased, and he had intense dysphoria and an inability to sleep. He desired to hurt himself and inflicted tattoos, cuts, and burns on his body. Other doctors also diagnosed schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and recognized his learning disorder and substance dependence disorder. He was later conditionally released, which included an assignment to a clinical caseworker contracted by the Department of Mental Health.

At first, Johnny was compliant with his medications, but over time, he stopped taking his prescribed medication and started self-medicating. His caseworker last spoke with him on June 28, 2002. Casey Williamson was killed on the morning of July 26, 2002.

Johnny was in a state of active psychosis at the time of the offense and was experiencing command hallucinations. The State’s expert testimony at trial refuted this; however, the State failed to disclose impeaching evidence relating to the credibility of this testimony.

Proceeding with the execution would violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

The Trial. During the trial, Johnny admitted to killing Casey but his attorneys argued that his schizoaffective disorder prevented him from forming the necessary intent to commit the crime. To rebut this, the State relied on evaluations of Johnny by Mr. Becker and Mr. English. (This petition does not refer to the State’s experts as “Dr.” because neither have a valid Missouri license to practice psychology.) They did not dispute that Johnny suffered from schizoaffective disorder but English testified that Johnny did deliberate as required for first-degree murder. This expert testimony played a crucial role in obtaining a first-degree murder conviction, subsequently enabling the State to secure the death penalty for Johnny.

Brady Violation. Prior to the trial, the State did not disclose impeaching information concerning Becker’s pre-trial DWI. Then, during post-conviction appeals, prosecutors again withheld critical impeaching information about the State’s experts. Newly discovered evidence reveals that both expert witnesses had their licenses revoked by the State due to illegal and unethical conduct. Becker’s license was revoked due to a series of DWI convictions which resulted in incarceration, and English was forced to relinquish his license due to conducting unsanctioned pre-surgical evaluations and sexually harassing co-workers for a number of years, including prior to trial.

Because this expert testimony was so vital in securing the first-degree murder conviction and death sentence, Johnny deserves a new trial.

Sign and share the petition to Governor Parson asking for a stay of execution to allow for a hearing on the competency claim.

#ClemencyForJohnny

In continuing to schedule executions, Missouri makes itself an outlier in its use of the death penalty. In fact, since the pandemic began, Missouri has been one of only a handful of states that has carried out an execution since 2020.

The majority of other states are on a downward trend of executions, and increasingly, states are abolishing the practice altogether, including the southern state of Virginia, which repealed its death penalty law in 2021.

Please sign the petition asking Governor Mike Parson to do everything within his power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Petitions will be delivered on your behalf in the days leading up to the execution.