After two and a half days of testimony, it took a jury less than two hours to reach a verdict of guilty against the man accused of shooting and wounding two Orangeburg County Sheriff’s deputies in 2005.

The jury found Roger Johnson, 29, of Hartwell Street, Orangeburg, guilty on all counts of his indictment Thursday in General Sessions Court at the Orangeburg County Courthouse.

First Circuit Court Judge Williams sentenced Johnson under the two-strikes law.

“I felt sorry for you when this all started,” Williams told Johnson. “You were only 16 when you were sentenced on the 1994 charges. You’ve spent most of your life in prison. But you’ve demonstrated an attitude in this court that is both puzzling and frightening. 

“You will be committed to the State Department of Corrections for the balance of your natural life without the possibility of parole,” on the two counts of assault and battery with intent to kill.

On the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent crime, Williams sentenced Johnson to five years in prison and on his probation violation he was sentenced to three years. All the sentences are to run consecutively.

Johnson also faces murder charges in connection with the August 2005 deaths of 63-year-old Cecil Bennett and 67-year-old Shirley Wiles in Bennett’s barbershop. He and codefendant Baru Allah Trump of 3159 Hill St., Orangeburg, will go on trial in the barbershop deaths at a later date.

The charges Johnson was convicted of Thursday stemmed from the Oct. 18, 2005 shooting of Lt. James Shumpert and Deputy Kenneth McCaster.

Shumpert and McCaster were investigating four individuals around a bonfire at an abandoned house on Stilton Street in Orangeburg at about 2:30 a.m. When the deputies approached the individuals and singled out Johnson for questioning, they testified that he shot Shumpert in the side and McCaster in the arm. Shumpert was wearing a bulletproof vest, so the bullet did not penetrate his body. 

After the shooting, Johnson fled to Sumter, where he was arrested approximately 16 hours later in a motel room by Sumter County deputies and State Law Enforcement Division agents.

When court resumed Thursday morning, Johnson once again took the stand for 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe to complete his cross-examination.

“Do you remember yesterday you said you’d never shoot anyone,” Pascoe asked Johnson.

“Yes,” Johnson said. “And I wouldn’t.” 

“Well, what about your 1994 convictions for assault and battery with intent to kill and armed robbery,” Pascoe asked. “I have no further questions for the defendant.”

Johnson pleaded guilty to the 1994 charges and was sentenced to 18 years, suspended to 15 years.

Scott Palmer, Johnson’s court-appointed attorney, had only a few questions for his client.

“Are you the same man you were in 1994,” Palmer asked. 

“No sir, I’m not,” Johnson said. 

“In what way are you different,” Palmer asked. 

“In a lot of ways,” Johnson said. “Age brings about maturity. I’m wiser.”

Closing out the questioning, Pascoe had one more question of the defendant.

“Why were you in possession of that .45-caliber handgun,” he asked. 

“I explained to you what I was going to do, what was going down,” Johnson said.

Johnson admitted Wednesday that he was at the Stilton Street location to conduct a drug deal. 

“Were you wiser when you shot Lt. Shumpert and Deputy McCaster,” Pascoe asked, not waiting for an answer.

At the end of testimony, Palmer requested Williams give the jury the option of convicting Johnson on the lesser offense of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, which is a 10-year felony offense. The judge refused to do so. 

“This is the most malicious crime a man could imagine,” Williams said. “I find that there is sufficient evidence for all these charges.” 

In closing arguments, Palmer addressed Johnson’s character first. 

“It’s not my intent to stand here and tell you what a good guy he is, because he’s not,” Palmer said. “But he’s not on trial for being a good guy. He has made some bad choices.”

Palmer said Johnson admitted to the charge of possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent crime.

“Now, the assault with intent to kill,” he said. “There’s no dispute that the shooting took place. My client admitted that. The question is why.

“Go to Stilton Street,” he said to the jury. “He’s in a situation where he’s not abiding by the law. Lt. Shumpert shows up and says, ’I’m going to go up on the porch and mess with these guys. These people are not like you and me. They don’t go to offices everyday. They don’t go by the same rules as you and I. They’ll do anything to survive, even throw the other person under the bus.’”

He recalled for the jury that Shumpert grabbed Johnson by the collar and pulled his weapon.

“I can think of few acts more hostile than somebody grabbing you and putting a gun in your face,” Palmer said. “Did Mr. Johnson think his life was in danger? That’s for you to decide. But I would submit (Lt. Shumpert’s alleged statement) ’I’m going to light your ass up’ would put anybody in fear.”

As to Johnson’s assertion that he did not shoot McCaster, Palmer said there is not only reasonable doubt, but a lot of doubt. He pointed out on a diagram where the spent bullet casings were found on the scene, telling the jury there is some doubt that the defendant shot McCaster because of where the casings were found. 

“If Lt. Shumpert was shooting without taking aim, isn’t it possible that he could have hit McCaster,” Palmer asked. Showing the pictures of Shumpert’s wound, he said to the jury, “If my client’s weapon did this through a bulletproof vest, imagine what it would have done to an unprotected arm.

“We’re looking for justice in this case. If you convict him, don’t do it for something he didn’t do or to please the police.”

Pascoe’s first remark was also about character. 

“I thought how Tuesday and Wednesday contrasted,” he said. “On Tuesday, we had two men of courage who put their lives on the line to serve and protect the public. Then Wednesday, we had a man who has no respect for life get up and slander those two brave deputies. How can there be any doubt in this case? If I’m wrong, give him back his gun and find him not guilty.”

Pascoe told the jury the defense did not want them to base their verdict on the evidence.

“He (Johnson) will do anything to get off, even lie,” Pascoe said. “We know he’s a gun-toting drug dealer. His own testimony convicts him. Even an unreasonable person would have to convict Roger Johnson.” 

He proceeded to recount the testimony of witnesses from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and SLED who testified that Johnson confessed to shooting both deputies. And he recounted McCaster’s testimony that he saw Johnson shoot Shumpert and then turn the gun on him and pull the trigger.

“On October 18 last year, that man shot these deputies and called his friends to help him hide. He thought he got away with assault with intent to kill,” Pascoe said. “He’s sitting there thinking he’ll get away with it now. You prove him wrong. Wipe that smirk off his face with one word; and that word is guilty.”

When the jury returned the verdict, Johnson’s mother, Shirley Johnson, addressed the court on behalf of her son.

“I feel life without parole is a stiff sentence because he didn’t take a life,” she told the judge. “I beg you not to give my son life in prison. Please sir, I’m begging you, I’m begging you.”

When Williams pronounced sentence on Johnson, his mother buried her head in her hands and silently wept. Other members of Johnson’s family could also be seen wiping their eyes. 

“I am very pleased with today’s verdict and the life sentence of the defendant,” Pascoe said after the trial. “I hope it sends a message that the citizens of this county will not tolerate violent behavior and that my office will do everything possible to put these violent offenders away for a long time.”

Johnson is the fifth defendant Pascoe has personally tried under the two-strikes law as 1st Circuit Solicitor. All five were convicted by a jury and sentenced to life without parole. 

Palmer said the evidence in this case was overwhelming.

“Any defendant who waives his right to self-incrimination makes a trade-off,” Palmer said. “He subjected himself to cross-examination and he made that choice because he felt compelled to present his defense. The only evidence we had was his testimony.”

After seeing his deputies through the ordeal of the assault and their recovery, Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams was both relieved and bewildered by the verdict and sentencing. 

“It’s said that a person is assumed innocent until proven guilty,” Williams said. “I guess today’s verdict unravels that cloak of innocence for Roger Johnson.

“But he made adult decisions and must suffer the consequences. I hold his family in prayer for the ordeal that they have been through and will continue to go through. In a perfect world, no family would have to suffer that kind of loss.”

 

T&D Staff Writer Thomas Brown can be reached by e-mail at tbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.