Dead End Street

It’s been a year.  A year of holding your breath, prepping for the worst but praying for something better.

William Knight shot and killed Keith Johnson in what he claimed was in self-defense of himself and others.

The jury didn’t believe him.

Like most trials, it’s a story of opposites. Johnson is black and was young, Knight is white and 64.  Johnson was in possession of a stolen dirt bike, Knight was a law abiding citizen assisting in the recovery of the bike for the rightful owners, his daughter and son-in-law.  Knight thought he was innocent and shooting was justified, the state proved he was wrong and therefore guilty.

I wasn’t at the trial.  I’m extracting all my information from the Akron Beacon Journal, not always the most exacting source of information.

What happened?

Background

Knight’s son-in-law (Curtis) was searching a neighborhood in Akron’s Goodyear Heights when he received a cell call that in the next block over, Keith Johnson had the stolen dirt bike.  Curtis appears to have called his father-in-law, William Knight, to bring his pick-up truck over, as Curtis had no room in the back of his truck to transport the hopefully recovered dirt bike.

At some point Curtis attempted to get the Akron police to accompany him, but this fails to happen.  Curtis proceeds without police support.

The prosecutor stated Knight “tactically” parked his truck a few doors down.  Danmead Ave comes off north of Eastwood Ave. and after a few blocks dead ends into a line of trees and bushes which edges the Metro hiking trail, Freedom Trail.  I assume Knight parks so that his truck is a few houses south of the future crime scene and north of Eastwood Ave.

Knight appears to have stayed with his truck.  His son-in-law establishes proper ownership of the dirt bike and Johnson tacitly agrees the bike is stolen and attempts to ransom it back to the owner.

At some point the problem escalates and Johnson attempts to de-escalate by riding away on the stolen dirt bike.  Curtis tries to pull a plug wire or reach the kill switch on the handle bar.  Johnson knocks Curtis to the ground and drives away.  Curtis’s wife, Knight’s daughter, makes a 911 call requesting police help.

It gets a little cloudy on what happens next.  Did Johnson attempt to drive south to Eastwood and found Knight getting out of his truck?  Did he turn around and drive north planning to escape on to the Freedom Trail hiking path? 

Knight claimed he thought his daughter and son-in-law were in danger of being struck and killed.  Knight drew his .357 (revolver?) and fired a warning shot into the air and seconds later followed up with shot that struck Johnson in the head and killed him.  At this point all gun fire stops for the rest of the incident.  The sound of his shots are captured by the police dispatcher.

Knight is originally charged with involuntary manslaughter.  This excites members of the community who feel it is another example of black lives mattering less than white lives.  The Grand Jury later charges him with two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault.

Knight is now faced with 18 to life in prison.

Observation and Lessons

What went wrong?  Now I’m not a lawyer and I didn’t consult with one, but I have a few thoughts.

Knight had a CCW license for two months at the time.  Did his training fail him?  What did his training tell him about the justified use of lethal force?  I hope your training covered it in detail.

Did the warning shot fired in the air have anything to do the outcome?  The America justice system generally considers every discharge of a firearm as an application of lethal force.  I suspect that’s why two counts of murder and two counts of felonious assault were applied.  Firing a warning shot into the air, in an urban or even in a rural environment could be a textbook definition of careless and indifference to human suffering.  Reckless is another word I might use.  Does this paint a picture of a Knight as a man who doesn’t give a damn?

Not spelled out, was Johnson ridding away from Knight when he was shot?  A dirt bike would be considered a contact weapon, so moving away from you would not put you in jeopardy.  It’s possible a self-defense shooting could result being shot in the back, but your attorney must be able to explain this to the jury.  Did the head shot speak of an execution to the jury?  I suspect that needed to be explained in a manner that is supported by physical evidence.

Was the second shot accidental?  Knight might have been attempting to pull the gun down from recoil, and pulled the trigger a second unintentional time?  I’ve seen shooters accidentally fire a second round on the range because of that.  Again, did his training fail him?

Somehow Knight thought his family was in immediate danger and the jury didn’t see it that way.  At the very least he needed to remember you cannot use lethal force to protect property.  Knight and his family would have been better served by waiting for the police.

Changing the legal charge isn’t unexpected and you should expect it too.  The police need a charge to hold you and start the process.  The prosecutor will research the evidence and interview witnesses and convene a Grand Jury.  The prosecutors will select those charges they feel they can get a conviction.

Knight was appointed two attorneys, Kerry O’Brien and Jaclyn Palumbo.  O’Brien is a criminal attorney and Palumbo is a probate attorney.  I have no doubt they did their best.  But ask yourself, how many truly innocent men have they represented? Most criminal attorneys have criminals for clients and not innocent men and women.  You may have to suggest things to them.  Have you read the gold standard, “In the Gravest Extreme” and its follow-up, “Deadly Force” by Massad Ayoob?  They should be read and on your bookshelf.

Just to remind you of the theater that occurs in these cases, the prosecutor said Knight parked tactically, whatever that means.  The newspaper emphasized Knight “…carried a loaded .357 with him along with additional ammunition,” as if a reload is somehow sinister!  Who would carry an unloaded gun for self-protection?

The community held up a petty criminal as a rally point in our continuing efforts to deal with race.  I wouldn’t know how that affected Knight and his family.  The death of Keith Johnson is a tragedy to too many families. 

So, what are you, in the split second that seems to last an eternity, going to do?