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Court Overturns Marine’s Attempted Manslaughter Conviction in Barracks Room Knife Fight

By Hope Hodge Seck
A Marine sentenced to 18 months’ confinement and a bad-conduct discharge after a barracks confrontation turned bloody may now end up free, after a military appeals court determined that the presiding judge wrongly instructed jury members in the case.

Pfc. Mickey W. Johnson, an aircraft maintainer stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, was convicted on charges including attempted manslaughter in April 2018. After just three weeks living with his roommate, identified in court documents as Lance Cpl. V, the tension between the two was toxic and threats were common.

But even though a showdown one evening devolved into a knife fight that sent Lance Cpl. V to the hospital, the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Military Appeals determined earlier this month that it could have begun as justifiable self-defense — a point that may not have been made effectively ahead of deliberations on the case.

The full-court published decision, released April 15 and delivered by Senior Judge Navy Capt. Arthur Gaston, found that the judge should have told members that Johnson was within his rights to display knives in an attempt to deter aggression.

The judges pointed out the size difference between the two Marines: Johnson was 5 feet 9 inches and weighed 140 pounds, while Lance Cpl. V was 6 feet 5 inches and 200 pounds.

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Read the rest here: Military.com

“The constitutions of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people; that… it is their right and duty to be at all times armed;…” — Thomas Jefferson to Justice John Cartwright, 1824. ME 16:45.

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