The People v. Johnson CA1/3

BACKGROUND

Eight-year-old M.R. and six-year-old B.H. were best friends and neighbors at the time of the relevant events. Jamie J. is M.R.’s mother. Her boyfriend, Ken, is Johnson’s nephew. On the afternoon of June 14, 2009, Jamie and Ken took M.R. and B.H. to a barbecue at the home of Johnson’s friend, Patty. The barbecue lasted late into the night. The adults, including Johnson, watched the NBA playoffs and drank. The girls were jumping around and acting rowdy, “Just, you know, just doing silly things.” The girls wanted to spend the night at Patty’s house, and Jamie agreed. By the time Jamie and Ken went home around midnight, Johnson had gone upstairs to bed. Jamie assumed the girls would sleep downstairs in the living room. From this point the witness accounts diverge until Jamie and Ken returned to pick the girls up the next morning. M.R.’s Testimony M.R. was 10 years old at trial. She testified that she and B.H. spent the night of the barbecue in Patty’s room with Patty and Johnson. The girls slept “in the end of the bed.” She wore her underwear and a big t-shirt to bed because she did not have pajamas with her. When M.R. and B.H. woke up the next morning, Patty was gone and…