United States v. Johnson

• Decision Date: 31 January 2022
• Docket Number: No. 19-2418,19-2418
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael Lee JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

24 F.4th 590

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Michael Lee JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 19-2418

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued: July 21, 2021

Decided and Filed: January 31, 2022

ARGUED: Melissa M. Salinas, Veronica Portillo-Heap, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL, Ann Arbor, Michigan, for Appellant. Erin S. Shaw, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Melissa M. Salinas, Veronica Portillo-Heap, Mary Harrington, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL, Ann Arbor, Michigan, for Appellant. Erin S. Shaw, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, Detroit, Michigan, for Appellee.

Before: SILER, MOORE, and DONALD, Circuit Judges.

DONALD, J., delivered the opinion of the court in which MOORE, J., joined. SILER, J. (pp. 610–11), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.

OPINION

BERNICE BOUIE DONALD, Circuit Judge.

Michael Lee Johnson was indicted for unlawful imprisonment, assault of a domestic partner by strangulation and suffocation, interstate domestic violence, witness tampering, and assault, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 13, 113(a)(8), 113(a)(4), 2261(a), and 1512(b). A jury found Johnson guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to 864 months’ imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release. Johnson now challenges his conviction and sentence. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE and REMAND .

I.

Michael Lee Johnson dated C.J., a Native American, and a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. They started dating in March 2018, and moved in together into an apartment in Mt. Pleasant, in September 2018. The apartment was on the Isabella Indian Reservation in Indian Country.

On October 23, 2018, Johnson got into an argument with C.J. and would not let her leave the room. Johnson then pushed C.J. on the bed and told her: "sit down, b****." C.J. did not contact the police because Johnson told her he would throw her out the window if she tried. Around noon the next day, C.J. asked Johnson if he was still upset at her. When C.J. was going to walk out the garage door, Johnson came behind her and slammed the door shut several times. Johnson proceeded to throw a bed that was in storage across the garage. After C.J. left to work, Johnson messaged her on Facebook with derogatory messages. C.J. then called Johnson's parole officer to inform her that she wanted Johnson out of her residence.

When C.J. returned home that evening, Johnson was standing in the kitchen, next to a knife on the counter. When C.J. tried to walk him out of the house, Johnson came from behind, slammed C.J. into the wall, and jabbed her in the face with his finger. When C.J. tried to yell, Johnson covered her mouth and nose with his hand, causing her to be unable to breathe. Johnson then wrapped his hands around her neck and slammed her down the stairs. C.J.’s neck was bruised, she hit her head on the stairs, and hit her arm on the marble banister.

Realizing that the only way for Johnson to leave was to drive him like he previously asked, C.J. got in the car, with her two minor children in the backseat, and drove Johnson while he yelled and screamed the entire way to Saginaw. Once in Saginaw, and still inside the car, Johnson grabbed C.J.’s head, pushing her head down towards the console. Johnson then slapped her across the face. C.J. went to the hospital to get x-rays of her injuries. Johnson was arrested the next day.

On November 28, 2018, Johnson was indicted for unlawful imprisonment (Count 1); assault of an intimate partner by strangulation (Count 2); assault of an intimate partner by suffocation (Count 3); interstate domestic violence (Count 4); 8 counts of witness tampering (Counts 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13); and assault by striking, beating, or wounding (Count 8).

Once in jail, Johnson tried to contact C.J. on several occasions, both via phone and mail. He sent her several letters, trying to convince her to drop the charges and not to testify against him. Eventually, C.J. filed for a personal protection order in February 2019.

The Federal Community Defender Office ("FDO") was appointed to represent Johnson on December 11, 2018. On February 1, 2019, Johnson sent his counsel a letter requesting that counsel no longer represent him because of his "overfamiliarization" with the Assistant U.S. Attorney ("AUSA"). Citing a breakdown in attorney-client relationship, his counsel moved the district court to withdraw on February 22, 2019. The district court held a hearing and granted the motion on March 12, 2019. The district court subsequently issued an order for appointment of new counsel.

On March 21, 2019, Johnson's new attorney, Barry Wolf, met with him to discuss the details of his case and a possible plea agreement. Wolf met with Johnson again on April 11, 2019, to inform Johnson that the government withdrew the original plea agreement but offered a new, less favorable one. During the meeting, Johnson became angry, began screaming, accused Wolf of working with the AUSA and left the room. Johnson then sent a hand-written motion to the district court, asking that Wolf be removed as his counsel.

On April 25, 2019, Wolf made another attempt to discuss the plea agreement with him. Again, Johnson became enraged and physically agitated and had to be restrained by three correction officers. Johnson did not wish to discuss trial strategy and continued to scream that he would not work with Wolf. Wolf, seeing that Johnson refused to discuss his case, citing a total breakdown of the attorney-client relationship, moved the district court to withdraw. The government filed a response, in which it took no position on Wolf's motion to withdraw, but requested the district court to explain to Johnson that if he proceeded with representing himself but continued to engage in disruptive or erratic behavior at trial, he could be removed from the courtroom. Johnson separately made an oral motion to proceed pro se on May 23, 2019. The district court granted Wolf's motion to withdraw. The district court then issued another order appointing the FDO, for pretrial consultation and as second chair during trial.

During the pre-trial conference, Johnson began by accusing the AUSA of "intimidat[ing] people's mother, kidnapping and extorting them so that he can induce a Rule 11 plea." Johnson's mother was, in fact, in custody for threatening the minor children of the victim. After much back and forth on the accusations, the district court asked Johnson how he wished to handle his defense. Johnson responded: "I'll represent myself. I can do a better job ...." When the district court asked Johnson why he thought that he could adequately represent himself at trial, Johnson admitted that "[i]t would be a David and Goliath, but [he was] willing to take that opportunity." After clarifying that his right to self-representation is "constitutionally protected ... but [ ] not advisable," the district court explained that it would need to be clear as to who would be making the strategic decisions at trial, so that his counsel would not later be blamed for any inadequacies. Lastly, the district court asked Johnson if he understood that there would be "potential sentencing consequences, and that [Johnson was] potentially engaging in an area where [he didn't] have the expertise to evaluate all of the potential implications." Johnson replied: "I do, Your Honor." The district court concluded by informing Johnson that he would still have access to an attorney and the opportunity to review documents and evidence with their limited engagement. Johnson found this arrangement to be reasonable, and the district court then appointed a third counsel to assist Johnson during trial. In a separate order, issued a day after the hearing, the district court expressly stated that Johnson knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to counsel.

On July 8, 2019, Johnson filed a pro se motion for a bench trial. In the motion Johnson asked the court to waive a trial by jury. The district court denied the motion, citing the requirements for waiver: (1) in writing; (2) consent of the government attorney; (3) approval of waiver by the trial court; and (4) voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver. See United States v. Martin , 704 F.2d 267, 271 (6th Cir. 1983). Although the government consented to the waiver, the district court reasoned that jury trials are the constitutionally preferred method in criminal cases and denied his motion.

During voir dire on August 20, 2019, Johnson explained that he had a "slew of witnesses that [he] actually submitted to [his] co-counsel, however, to this point, [he was] unaware if they were subpoenaed or not." R. 100, Page ID # 663–64. The district court asked Johnson's standby counsel, Alan Crawford, if he had subpoenaed the witnesses, and Crawford explained that he had not. Id. Crawford admitted that he had received many letters from Johnson and had not had time to review all of them.

After opening arguments, the district court addressed the parties about any outstanding issues. Johnson's standby counsel again explained that he did not subpoena any witnesses that Johnson had mentioned on voir dire, and further stated that Johnson intended to call his mother, and that she was already included on the government's witness list. Crawford concluded that he would not be able to reach any other witnesses the day of trial. But Johnson insisted that he had provided the same witness list to Crawford and to his previous attorneys, and to the court, which were in sealed envelopes that the court returned to him. Johnson also stated that he had sent the witness lists to the district court and had "letters from [the] courtroom saying that [he was] trying to submit these lists."

The district court explained that Johnson would not be able to subpoena his witnesses to testify at his trial. The court further noted that Johnson's standby counsel confirmed that Johnson had not provided the list prior to that day and...