Opinion ID: 2157140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: State v. Scott Johnson

Text: On November 3, 1992, twenty-three-year-old Scott Johnson saw Gail Shollar in the parking lot of the Middlesex County Mall. Although the victim's three-year-old daughter was with her, Johnson approached the victim with a folding knife, grabbed her by the hair and forced her to drive around for two hours. Johnson then abandoned the daughter on the property of a day care center that had closed for the day and proceeded to rape and rob his adult victim. In order to prevent her from identifying him, he stabbed her over thirty times and dumped her body in a drainage ditch. The daughter was discovered the next morning on the grounds of the day care center, cold, wet and in shock. She told police that a man with a knife grabbed her mother by the shirt and got into their van. She also said that her mother was crying and seemed scared. While the girl was being interviewed, police officers found the victim's van nearby. The keys were in the ignition, Mrs. Shollar's driver's license was on the floor, and there were bloodstains on the door and inside the van. The next morning, her body was found in the drainage ditch near Johnson's former girlfriend's house. She had been stabbed over forty times in her chest, forearm, neck and face. An autopsy revealed that she died from hemorrhagic shock and severe trauma to the vital organs from the stabbing. A vaginal smear revealed the presence of sperm. Witnesses, with whom Johnson had discussed the offense, informed the police about Johnson and he was arrested. His palm prints matched those found on the victim's van. Johnson described the carjacking and murder in detail to the police but denied raping Mrs. Shollar. He said that the victim tried to get away, so he chased her. When he caught her, he repeatedly stabbed and killed her because she could identify him. Police found the murder weapon where Johnson said it was located. Johnson said that on the day of the offense, he had smoked eighteen vials of cocaine, half of a bag of marijuana, snorted heroin, and drank six miniature bottles of liquor. His former girlfriend said that he had one beer and a hit of cocaine that night. Johnson was charged with purposeful or knowing murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of kidnaping, two counts of robbery, and one count each of burglary, aggravated sexual assault, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. A jury convicted Johnson of all charges, and the State sought the death penalty based on aggravating factors c(4)(f) (escape detection) and c(4)(g) (concurrent felony). He had one previous conviction for robbery. At the penalty phase, Johnson presented evidence about his troubled childhood, severe physical abuse by his father, hospitalization for pneumonia and seizures, behavioral problems associated with drug use, delusions, low intelligence, neurological problems, and diminished capacity during the offense. DYFS became involved with Johnson's family when he was five because of his mother's excessive use of corporal punishment and failure to send her children to school. Johnson was evaluated at age fifteen because of disruptive behavior and poor academic achievement. It was reported to DYFS that Johnson had been abused, burned with cigarettes, and hung by his neck with a rope. Further investigation determined that his IQ was in the borderline/educable range. He was diagnosed as having a conduct disorder and a development disorder, as well as having a socialized-aggressive personality. A clinical psychologist testified that this abuse resulted in brain impairment, and that Johnson suffered from delusional disorder of the persecutory type, paranoid personality disorder with antisocial and passive/aggressive traits, and intermittent explosive disorder, which caused him to suddenly lose control or become aggressive, and then to blackout about what had occurred. The psychologist also testified that Johnson's history of substance abuse stretched back to age five and included alcohol, marijuana, crack, and heroin. He indicated that the description of Johnson on the night of the murder was consistent with a person high on crack, and that his behavior showed signs of intoxication and early cocaine withdrawal. Looking also at Johnson's intellectual inadequacy, neurological dysfunction, alcohol intoxication, residual cocaine intoxication and emotional disturbances, the psychologist testified that these factors severely impaired his cognitive judgment and behavior controls, possibly resulted in emotional disturbances and major depression, and severely diminished Johnson's ability to purposely or knowingly carry out the murder and sexual assault. He also opined that Johnson's behavior was no longer voluntary after he released the daughter from the van. A neuropsychology expert corroborated the diminished capacity theory by explaining how defendant's brain damage, intoxication, cocaine withdrawal and severe psychological stress prevented him from knowing what he was doing when he murdered Mrs. Shollar. The neuropsychologist also testified that Johnson suffered from dissociative disorder, organic personality disorder, and brain dysfunction. A State expert testified in rebuttal that he found no evidence of organic brain syndrome or brain damage, and that based on the evidence, defendant acted knowingly and purposely throughout each step of the offense. Also during the penalty phase, Johnson expressed his remorse for committing the crimes. His daughter testified about her love for her father. The jury found all of the aggravating factors submitted by the State and the c(5)(d) (diminished capacity) and c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors submitted by Johnson. The jury rejected the c(5)(c)(age) mitigating factor. It was unable to agree on a capital sentence. Accordingly, the court sentenced Johnson to life imprisonment with a thirty-year period of parole ineligibility for the murder. An aggregate sentence of life plus seventy years with sixty-five years of parole ineligibility was imposed.