Murderer of police officer, spared death - Law Enforcement Local and International Law Enforcement Community

**DoubleTap** · 05-22-2008

Quote:

By Susan Carroll
The Houston Chronicle
Officer Down: Officer Rodney Johnson

HOUSTON, Texas – In a decision that shocked the family of Houston police officer Rodney Johnson, jurors decided Tuesday that Juan Leonardo Quintero should spend the rest of his life in prison, rather than go to death row, for Johnson’s 2006 murder.

The decision came in the second day of deliberations for the jury, which convicted Quintero of capital murder on May 8 in the court of state District Judge Joan Campbell.

Quintero, 34, had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

In a news conference at the Houston Police Officers’ Union, Johnson’s widow, Joslyn Johnson, and other relatives shed tears as they expressed their disappointment and astonishment that Quintero didn’t receive the death penalty.

When the sentence was announced, “I was in awe. I was dumbfounded,” the widow said. “My husband’s life meant nothing, that’s what I felt.’‘

The widow, also an HPD officer, said, “We are very disappointed in the decision that the jury made. If any case ever warranted the death penalty, this certainly did.’‘

Breaking down into tears, she said, “The city lost a hero. I lost my husband.’‘

She said she didn’t agree with the jury’s decision, but wouldn’t criticize the jurors. “They showed mercy on him. He didn’t show mercy on my husband,’’ she said. “God is the ultimate judge, and if he didn’t want this decision to be made, it wasn’t going to be made.’‘

“We’re just very upset,” Lorraine Crawford, mother of Joslyn Johnson, said earlier.

“We wanted the death penalty,” Crawford said. “He had nothing but malice in his heart.”

She added that the jury did not seem to understand the difficulty of a police officer’s job.

The officer’s brother, David Johnson, was in the courtroom with his wife, Donna Mack, when the sentence was announced. He said he and his wife also had wanted to see Quintero sentenced to death.

“He shot him four times in the back, three times in the head,” Johnson said. “I can’t believe that. What’s mitigation?”

Quintero’s relatives left the courtroom without commenting. His wife appeared to be weeping as family members shielded her with their arms as she left the room.

After reading the sentence, Judge Campbell asked Quintero if he had anything to say.

He responded only, “I’m sorry.”

The slain officer’s sister, Susan Johnson, cried as she gave the only victim impact statement. She read, many times in an angry tone, from a piece of paper.

“You are a murderer, plain and simple,” she told Quintero while staring at him.

Johnson was on the stand for about five minutes. Quintero showed no emotion, and for a moment looked down. The judge then admonished him and told him to look at Johnson while she spoke.

Johnson belittled the defense team, looking at them and saying they had manipulated the system, especially with the insanity defense.

She thanked the jurors, some of whom wept while she was reading her statement.

Juror speaks out

Most of the jurors chose not to comment after the trial ended. One, however, acknowledged that she wept during Susan Johnson’s statement.

“I was torn up. I was crying,” said Tiffany Moore, a 38-year-old marketing director from Houston.

“I still feel we came to the right decision,” she said. “We could never bring Rodney back. I feel very sad for the family, losing a loved one.”

Moore said the entire trial was “a very difficult process.”

“I had no idea what I was going into,” she said. “I’m happy with the decision. It was very tense. There was a lot of discussion.”

Moore added that the guilt-innocence phase of the trial had been less difficult for the panel. Even so, she said, she went home and slept for almost a full day after the jury found Quintero guilty on May 8.

Now that the trial is over, she said, she was considering going to work rather than home, because she had fallen so far behind.

Copyright 2008 The Houston Chronicle

This makes me sick, this guy should be taken out back after being found guilty and shot in the F*CKING head!!!!!

**Swattie** · 05-22-2008

I say give them the death penalty for killing a cop. If you give them life they are seen as "heroes" by other criminals. Send a clear message. Hell make it a public execution!

**TimothyJ** · 05-24-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by HotTamale

She added that the jury did not seem to understand the difficulty of a police officer’s job.

I'm sorry, but, last time I checked, 99% of the human population takes the police for granted.

...Or they just say that the police aren't necessary.

Funny as hell, because those anarchist ****heads come running to the cops as soon as someone does something bad to them.

I personally believe that the release of death is not fit for this person. I am glad he has to spend the rest of his life in a jail cell, wallowing in his remorse, etc.

Serves him right.

Also, to be honest, I'm not sure that the death penalty is anything but stooping to their level.

I am aware that this opinion is unpopular.

**SaraJ** · 05-30-2008

Also, to be honest, I'm not sure that the death penalty is anything but stooping to their level.

I am aware that this opinion is unpopular.[/quote]

The death penalty is in the Bible. It was OK for the Jews. I believe that the death penalty is not about punishment, it's about getting a piece of sh!t off the face of the earth. It's knowing that THIS piece of sh!t will never hurt anyone again.

**E. Westely** · 12-23-2008

The death penalty is a no BS solution to a problem with only negative outcomes. Now I'm not sure of the particulars of the case or the regulations in Texas pertaining to a Capitol murder life sentence, but theoretically this piece of trash could be out of prison in 25 years. Depending on his legal team and our "awesome" endless appeal system, this piece of garbage could see less than that. Look it up, the average life sentence is 13.9 years.

You put him to death, its over. I don't like the term Death "Penalty" because, yeah TimothyJ is right, life in prison is a more intense "penalty".

But in a case like this I don't care about punishment. I don't want to give this low life the chance to do it again. Just get rid of him.

I realize my opinion may be harsh, but think about the type of person I'm talking about here. He doesn't deserve anything but to suffer until the day he dies, and you'll understand why I think it should be sooner than later.

**redbird** · 12-24-2008

'Pleading not guilty by reason of insanity?INSANITY is what the officers family now dwell in.That is so very sad for them.

**pinkcuffs** · 04-12-2010

Amen To That ----public Execution Is Defintaly The Way To Show Cop Killers That It Will Not Be Tolorated!!!

**Lord Flasheart** · 04-13-2010

We don't have the option of a death sentence here in the UK. Even a cop killer will only do around 25-30 years!


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