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Date Posted: 10:51:55 11/12/01 Mon
Author: Shar
Subject: Johnston Gets Slap on Hand

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Waco Tragedy News

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Attorney in Waco case gets probation-
Prosecutor admits lying to superiors
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http://www.dallasnews.com/waco/388365_waco_08tex.ART.html

ST. LOUIS Former federal prosecutor Bill Johnston was sentenced Thursday
to two years of probation for withholding information about exploding
tear-gas canisters used during the 1993 Branch Davidian siege near Waco.

In refusing a federal prosecutor's recommendation of a jail sentence, U.S.
District Judge Charles Shaw said Mr. Johnston's motivation did not appear
to be devious and also ordered him to perform 200 hours of community service.

"Maybe you need to talk to some high school students," Judge Shaw told Mr.
Johnston at the sentencing. "Maybe you can help somebody not to make a
similar mistake."

Mr. Johnston was the federal prosecutor who set in motion renewed scrutiny
of government missteps in the 1993 Branch Davidian siege. He drew national
attention when he warned then-Attorney General Janet Reno in 1999 that she
and the public were being misled about the FBI's handling of the Waco tragedy.

After Waco special counsel John Danforth released his report exonerating
the government for its role at the end of the siege that left about 80
Branch Davidians dead, the special counsel sought and received a November
indictment of Mr. Johnston.

"Bill Johnston's behavior is not atypical of other people that claim to be
whistleblowers, often blowing the whistle to cover their own tracks,"
federal attorney Jim Martin said after the hearing.

"He was held in very high esteem in Waco, Texas, as a prosecutor," Mr.
Martin said. "Now he's a broken man with little or no income."

Mr. Johnston, 42, declined to comment after leaving the courtroom. But
standing before the judge Thursday, he again admitted guilt.

"Whatever my reason, it was wrong," he said. "It will never be right to
withhold something in fear or panic or whatever reason because that is
against the law. This is not what I stood for or what I tried to be, and
that is wrong."

Mr. Martin said that wasn't good enough and argued for jail time.

"Our concern is that that is contrary to what he's said in public and
that's contrary to what he'll say in public when he walks out of here," Mr.
Martin said.

Mr. Johnston pleaded guilty to withholding evidence in February, in
exchange for the special counsel's agreement to drop a five-count felony
indictment against him. At the time, Mr. Johnston said Mr. Danforth's
commitment not to seek jail time was key to his plea decision.

In his guilty plea, Mr. Johnston admitted to withholding several pages
indicating that he was told in the fall of 1993 about the use of
pyrotechnic tear gas during the Branch Davidian siege. He also admitted
that he lied to Justice Department superiors when he signed a statement in
1999 certifying that he had surrendered all his Davidian materials to them,
and later lied to the special counsel's office when he said he had no
knowledge of the use of pyrotechnic tear gas.

His withheld notes included the word "incind" an apparent reference to the
military tear gas rounds fired by the FBI during their final tear gas
assault on the sect's compound.

Mr. Johnston has said he scribbled notes in 1994 and forgot about them
until later. He then did not reveal them immediately because he feared he
would be targeted by enemies within the Justice Department.

The government recommended probation for Mr. Johnston after the plea
agreement was reached. But prosecutors recently dropped the
recommendation setting him up for possible jail time after Mr. Johnston
made statements to the publication Texas Lawyer.

In the Feb. 19 issue of the publication, Mr. Johnston was quoted as saying,
"I didn't plead guilty to anything they indicted me for. They charged me
with obstruction of justice and five counts of false statements. I did not
plead guilty to that and was not guilty of that."

Mr. Johnston's lawyer, Michael Kennedy, said Thursday that the statement
was "technically true." But he said he was disappointed in his client
because it contradicted the plea agreement, in which he admitted felonious
wrongdoing.





Ben Franklin said, "They that can give up
essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety, and ultimately will have neither."


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