State vs Johnson - Both sides rest after jury hears final evidence

The jury learned of fingerprint and DNA evidence that the prosecution said pointed to the defendant during the last day of evidence in the murder trial of the State of Nebraska vs. Craig Johnson.

Johnson, 48, is charged with first-degree murder, a class IA felony, use of a weapon to commit a felony, a class II felony, possession of a deadly weapon by a felon, a class III felony and habitual criminality for the Dec. 11, 2011 death of 42-year-old April Smith. Johnson and Smith were in a relationship and lived together at Sioux Meadows eight miles west of Sidney at the time of her death.

The state's first witness Friday was Corey Lenstrom of the Sidney Police Department. He testified about his encounter with Johnson on the day of the incident. At that time Lenstrom was working for the Cheyenne County Sheriff's Office.

Just before noon that day, Lenstrom responded to a burglary alarm at the Sidney Industrial Park Convenience store, where Smith was the manager. Johnson pulled up driving a white van and told Lenstrom that his girlfriend was the store manager and they'd received a call about the store's alarm, Lenstrom said. Johnson entered the code for the alarm, Lenstrom checked the store and then they both left. Lenstrom did not notice any unusual marks on Johnson or that he was acting suspiciously at the time, he said.

The next state's witness was Bridget Driver, a forensic scientist and fingerprint analyst with the Nebraska State Patrol crime lab. She processes objects with prints or possible prints and then compares them with reference prints for those possibly involved with a case.

She tested a white trash bag, the one discovered on top of the kitchen trash in Smith's apartment, and an eight inch knife found in the kitchen sink at the same location. Driver found one usable print on the bag.

She identified more than a 10 point match on the trash bag for Johnson's prints.

"My conclusion was that this imprint was made by the same individual," Driver said.

Driver did not find anything of value on the knife, just swipes and smudges. There were no usuable prints so she wasn't able to compare anything she found on the knife to any prints provided to her.

Whether or not prints were left on an item depends on how an item was touched and how much oil was on a person's fingers at the time it was touched, Driver informed the court.

On questioning from the defense, she confirmed that she couldn't determine at what time a print was left on an item or for what purpose the item was touched. The defense asked if a trash bag was an undesirable item for finding prints.

"They may not be the best, but they still have potential," Driver said.

She admitted that finding a person's prints in their own home would not be surprising.

Prints can break down over time and some surfaces preserve prints better than others, she explained.

Melissa Kreikemeier, another forensic scientist with the Nebraska State Patrol crime lab, followed Driver on the stand. She tests unknown DNA samples found on evidence against known samples of DNA provided her by law enforcement to determine if the samples are a match. In this case she tested 43 of the estimated 65-75 items of evidence that investigators sent to her office.

Kreikemeier found only April Smith's blood on many items she tested, while Johnson and Ed Smith, April Smith's husband, were ruled out as DNA contributors on most of the items.

The victim's blood was confirmed on the eight inch knife found in her kitchen sink after her murder, as well as on a trash bag found on top of her kitchen trash. April Smith's blood was also found on a black t-shirt and on one of the black shoes discovered within the vehicle in which Johnson was apprehended four days after Smith's death.

There was a white hair recovered from the victim's right hand with enough DNA to generate a partial DNA profile. No one involved with this case was a match for that profile. This unknown person's DNA was not found on any of the other items tested.

All DNA found underneath April Smith's finger nails was confirmed to be her own DNA alone. One acrylic nail found in her residence contained a mixture of DNA for which the victim contributed the majority of the DNA. Johnson was unable to be included or excluded as the minor contributor of DNA. Ed Smith was ruled out as a contributor.

One swab, from a tile floor in April Smith's residence was found to be a mixture of the victim's blood and Johnson's blood.

On questioning from the defense, Kreikemeier said she couldn't tell when the DNA she tested was deposited.

"I can't determine when it was mixed," Kreikemeier said.

After Kreikemeier's testimony Friday afternoon, the state rested its case. The defense then asked for a directed verdict, which means that the decision would be made by the judge because there is no way that the jury could possibly come to any other conclusion besides acquittal.

This was denied by Cheyenne County district court judge Derek Weimer and the defense rested as well.

Closing arguments were scheduled to begin Monday morning.