Disruptive Behavior Leads Utah Judge to Delay Bear River Rancheria Triple Homicide Suspect’s Hearing
Mauricio Eduardo Johnson [Screenshot from an earlier Tooele County, Utah courthouse hearing]
When the judge inquired as to Sanchez-Johnson’s current status, the bailiff told her, “Your Honor, we don’t have Sanchez-Johnson in the (jail) courtroom. He was being disruptive so we took him back to the jail.”
As a result of Sanchez-Johnson’s disruptive behavior, the judge explained that the court will “just continue the case if somebody is misbehaving in jail” and she set his next hearing to May 4, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. MST.
California Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature is required to sign a “governor’s warrant” and release Sanchez-Johnson back to this state.
Andrea Sullivan, Sanchez-Johnson’s defense attorney, told us in an earlier interview, Sanchez-Johnson could face a capital case that could result in the death penalty or the possibility of life in prison without parole.
Sullivan told District Attorney Flemming in an email that “if she would like to get Mauricio, drop the special circumstances and makes this a non-capital case.”
According to an article in the Lost Coast Outpost, Fleming said that “her office has never asked for the death penalty and will not do so in this case.”
Sanchez-Johnson was accused of killing 16-year-old Shelly Moon and Shelly’s mother, 40-year-old Margaret Moon and her mother’s fiancé 40-year-old Nikki Metcalf on February 10, 2021.
A search warrant affidavit issued by the Utah State Bureau of Investigations describes Sanchez-Johnson arriving to his brother’s the night of the suspected killings in a panic and covered in blood. The affidavit describes Humboldt County Detective Head speaking with Mauricio’s brothers. The brother found Sanchez-Johnson in possession of a pistol and wearing bloody clothes. Mauricio allegedly told his brother he had shot someone but later explained he had shot multiple people. The witness told the investigator that Mauricio proceeded to change his clothes and left the residence with a pistol and “a bag containing his bloody clothes.”
Sanchez-Johnson fled Humboldt County on February 11, 2021 accompanied by Von Eric Keener and his mother Melissa Johnson. The group was arrested in Utah on Interstate 80 after officers deployed spike strips to halt their pursuit. Currently, Sanchez-Johnson has been in a Utah detention center held without an opportunity for bail until he is extradited to Humboldt County.
Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules
Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/
Guy kills a minor and two others and the DA wont persue the death penalty? Oh well, he looks to pretty for prison anyways. This guy should be turned over to the family members of the murdered!
Of course not he’s young. That kid has a long life to live in prison so they can wring as much taxpayer dollars out of us as possible to support his time in there.
He won’t make it out. Too many people knew and loved all three of the people he murdered.
And the DA needs to be Fired….. Cowardice at the helm is what keeps this shit happening. Lack of any prosecution and little to no time and these people just keep on F’ing up everyone else’s lives…
👆👆👆👆👆👆 spot on.
Oh but he is probably confused and scared, we can house and feed him for the rest of his life. Or better yet let him serve like seven years and I’m sure he’ll be a better person then……..
he’s got it figured out with some inside help. Act out and your extradition will be delayed. Next up physic eval.
It’s not like he’d actually he put to death even if he got the death penalty.
So he kills 3 people to cover up his rape of a minor and we don’t seek the death penalty??? Isn’t that who the death penalty was intended for? Just give him back to the tribe and let them deal with him!!
What is Gavin too busy dining at The French Laundry in Napa during a pandemic to sign a ‘governor‘s warrant‘?
Oh, please! Give the guv a break. The French Laundry has an unusually extensive wine list. He’s going as fast as he can.
In my professional experience when the state or government fails to produce a defendant, 99.9% of the time it is because the client was injured or something within the jail is causing the issue. I have my client moved immediately, in I’d say 20% I can get them out on bond regardless of the crime. The state is playing a very serious game with not getting him to court. A good attorney would already have been infront of a magistrate.
Everyone is entitled to there day in court. I have had clients gagged and on a dolly, but they made it to court. Zero excuse Utah!
It is unfathomable to see the federal courts in eureka slam people for marijuana. Yet they allow cases that should clearly not be handled in state court to pass.
That’s not what happened in this case. He was “taken back to jail” because of his behavior. But maybe his next appearance will be in restraints and with a gag at the ready.
At least this guy is going to be charged with murder of 3 individuals. The recent verdict over Mr. Floyd getting killed was triple jeopardy. He was charged 3 times for one murder – 3 different levels of punishment for the same crime. How is that conviction based on anything but hype. Choose one level punishment for a crime or it is not justice.
You clearly have no concept of how double jeopardy protection works. Multiple charges adjudicated in one trial are commonplace. Chauvin acted with malice and wanton disregard of the risk to human life of the force he used for over nine minutes.
You still can’t convict 3 times for the same crime. If you are guilty of murder, than you are not also guilty of manslaughter, because the lesser charge is inclusive in the higher crime.
When multiple charges are presented, they are for one of 2 reasons. Either there are lesser crimes, such as murder and manslaughter so the jury can convict of the highest level possible, or there are multiple crimes such as a rapist who committed continuous crimes over a period of time. There was only one death, thus one crime. This happens all the time when a DA is not sure if the jury will convict, yet only one conviction is allowed per specific crime.
Amazingly well said. I fought until I was foaming and spitting at the mouth in a similar situation. DA tried his hardest to swing a conspiracy to murder and murder 1. I had seen this done with drug cases regularly, not violent crime.
Use of force can be felonious, reckless, and negligent.
BLM speaks. Bought any million dollar homes with Silicon Valley money lately? No? You’re missing out on cashing in on “systemically racist” America. Chauvin was tried by a kangaroo court and the result was liberal jury nullification. Celebrity OJ gets off after slaughtering two white people. A white public servant gets hanged by twelve morons. But you go right ahead and buy Mad Maxine Waters a beer. You can discuss antifa riot tactics from the comfort of a yuppie salon. Saint Floyd salutes you too.
When someone accuses me of supporting BLM they’re only showing their own ignorance and butthurt. Facts matter.
And that’s why it’s what- 2nd or 3rd degree? Nobody has stopped celebrating long enough to realize Chauvin will be out in 7 years w good behavior. Manslaughter…only called murder 3 in a few states
Wouldn’t like him out on the streets, in the community again, if he did it. Condolences to the victim’s families.
He’s an idiot for wanting to stay in Utah. Oh well, maybe he’ll get what he wants.
Well…
I lived in Calif. for about 40 years, in Utah the last 15 or so.
Seeing both judiciaries in action, if I was giving this fellow friendly advice, it would be:
Get out of Utah ASAP. You are WAY more likely to be treated with kid gloves in Calif.
Here in Utah, the govt. is ESPECIALLY unforgiving with the likes of this arrestee.
His antics merely make the govt. people that much more determined.
Go west young man, go west.
Yeah, I visited my cousin who’s native in Utah about 30 years ago. It was scary. She moved. Guess it hasn’t changed as much as they’d like anyone to believe. He might just win a darwin award if he stays there.
Odd this is not a death penalty case ?Maggie Fleming is not fit to be a DA ..A Vietnam vet got the death penalty for a lesser crime . what a absolute travesty.
———
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/california
Famous Cases
Manuel Babbitt was a Vietnam War Veteran who was executed in 1999 for murdering an elderly Sacramento woman. Babbitt served two combat tours in Vietnam and, while on death row, received the Purple Heart for wounds he received during the Battle of Khe Sanh. After the war, Babbitt was diagnosed with a post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. He soon became homeless. In 1980, he broke into the home of 78-year-old Leah Schendel, assaulted her and stole some food as well as some of her belongings. Schendel died of a heart attack. He laid a mattress over her and toe tagged her. Babbitt said that he was having a Vietnam War flashback. During the sentencing phase of the trial, James Schenk, Babbitt’s defense lawyer, did not introduce any evidence of Babbitt’s mental illness to the jury, prompting him to later say that he “failed completely” during this crucial phase of the trial. Before his execution, Babbitt refused his last meal and asked for the allotted money to be donated to a homeless Vietnam Veteran. Prison officials refused his request. (E. Nieves, “Vietnam Veteran Executed for 1980 Murder.” The New York Times, May 5, 1999.)
He should be executed and it should be done quickly!
Michelle Daetwiler what happens if he stays in utah does he get off on killing that family
Obviously playing the system by acting up in jail to avoid facing the judge back in California. Let the hearing proceed with him strapped to a chair in a straight jacket and gag in place. The evidence is there to prive he raped a minor and committed murder to destroy the witnesses… off to the judge to face justice.
This case and him should be over by now and he’s not even seen a court room yet. Pitiful
Yes, let us all hear The Executioner’s Song once again played so sweetly. Gary Gilmore, to his credit, demanded that the State of Utah put him to death. His defiant last words were “Let’s do it”, moments before his executioners shot him through the heart. Bada bing bada boom.
Little shyt!!! Acting a fool. YOU HONESTLY LOST ANY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN THE NIGHT YOU TOOK THE 5 VICTIM’S RIGHTS FOREVER AWAY. I say 5 because the survivors…heck even more than that. Cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, grandparents, the community, people reading of the tragedy all were traumatized when this came down. Still are.
This type of injustice is why people take the law into their own hands.
Im talking about Frontier Justice. A rapist serial killer deserves justice. This is a smack in the face to the family and friends of the victims. This is no kid, this guy is a monster!
“””WTF…..FOR REAL HE INTENDED TO KILL MY BABY SISTER, MY NIECE & BRO. IN LAW THEY WERE ALL 3 SHOT IN THE HEAD & IN DOING SO HE ACCOMPLISHED WHAT HE INTENDED TO DO….. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID “”MAN UP TO THE UNFORGIVEABLE FCKD UP SHIT U DID TO MY FAMILY…”” AND IN MY EYES IF UR HELPING HIM BY KEEPING HIM IN UTAH UR AS FCKD UP AS HE IS….. I NEED CLOSURE IN ORDER TO LET MY FAMILY BE ABLE TO REST IN PEACE & UNTIL THEN WE R HERE WHERE WERE AT….. ONLY IN FCKD UP AMERICA …….
….”oh my GOD”….”oh my god!!!” what a HORRIBLE “horrible” tragedy….”I couldn’t EVEN IMAGINE!!!”…”my heart and my prayers “go out” to the family….”just HORRIBLE!”…”IM SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS!”….