County Attorney faces questions about ‘A Shot in the Dark’ investigation

Maricopa County Rachel Mitchell is standing by her office’s decision to seek years in prison for a Valley trauma surgeon despite significant concerns from the court and outside experts.

Weeks before trial, the county attorney’s office has not budged from its offer of five to ten years in prison for Dr. Kris Johnson, who is willing to plead guilty but not to aggravated assault charges that would put him behind bars.

To learn more about Johnson’s case and the chaotic chain of events leading to his arrest, ABC15’s three-part investigation can be found here.

Ahead of ABC15’s investigation, Mitchell and her office declined interview requests and would not answer questions about the case. But during a recent press conference about a different Phoenix police shooting, ABC15 was able to ask the county attorney several questions.

ABC15: County attorney, Mitchell, I’m here for Dave Biscobing as he’s out of town on assignment. We wanted to ask you about Dr. Kris Johnson. Why do you feel this doctor deserves prison time?

Mitchell: This case is set for trial, actually, fairly soon. I’m not going to make any comments about it… I have ethical responsibilities to not engage in pretrial publicity type situations where I am tainting the jury pool, so I’m not going to do that, but we will obviously present our case in court.

Johnson’s case began almost four years ago.

After years of hearings and a probable cause presentation, a judge openly stated that he does not believe that Johnson belongs in prison.

“I certainly hope this case doesn’t go to trial,” Judge Michael Mandell said. “He’s not the typical person we want to put in prison. So I hope we don’t get anywhere close to that, that you are able to come to a resolution of some sort.”

ABC15: You know, the judge who oversaw the case for years openly said that he does not want to see Dr. Johnson go to prison. Are you weighing that? Does that give you pause?

Mitchell: I’ve always invited courts to give me their opinion about a case, but I also have to recognize that a court — a judge — has not talked to victims, a judge has not reviewed the case like I have, they’re operating under some limited information at the time, and we’ll see. Maybe the judge will feel differently after trial. I don’t know, but, yeah, I certainly take that into account.

ABC15: Do you think the judge is wrong? Does he deserve prison time?

Mitchell: I think the judge is entitled to his opinion, and I respect it.

Mitchell also rejected the comparison between Johnson’s case and the armed standoff between Tempe police and former state prison director Charles Ryan, who received probation and no time behind bars.

ABC15: The former prison director did not get prison time.

Mitchell: Correct. He did not. He also did not fire his gun at police. He shot his sink before they got there. I distinguish between shooting the sink and shooting at people.

Mitchell’s allegation that Johnson fired at police is significant.

ABC15 reviewed hundreds of police files and evidence photos and did not find anything proving shots were fired in the officers’ direction. During a hearing, police and prosecutors also stated that they believe Johnson when he says he did not know the people outside were officers.

Mitchell’s statement appears to be based on the words of the Phoenix officers, who claim to hear bullets that “whizzed” by them.

ABC15: It’s being alleged that you’re pushing for prison because police want you to. What do you say to that? Is there anyone from police influencing your decision?

Mitchell: I did set a policy about using guns and if charges are filed, what the results would be. And so, I’m following my policies — that has nothing to do with anybody reaching out to me. Nobody has reached out to me regarding that.

Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at [email protected].