People v. Johnson

Anthony L. Johnson was convicted of numerous violent sexual offenses, kidnappings and robberies. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms plus four hundred forty years. On appeal, he contends he was denied his right to testify in his own defense, one count was not supported by substantial evidence, he should not have been convicted of both kidnappings and kidnappings for robbery based on the same conduct and he contends the abstract of judgment must be modified to conform to the oral pronouncement of judgment. We conclude the court erred in denying Johnson his constitutional right to testify but find the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. We also agree the simple kidnapping convictions on counts 9, 14, 40, 48 and 67 should be reversed and the abstract of judgment should be corrected to conform to the oral pronouncement of judgment. .In all other respects, we affirm.

Facts

Because of the nature of the issues on appeal, it is not necessary to set out a detailed recitation of the facts of each of the sexual assaults, except as to one victim which we discuss in more detail in the unpublished part of this opinion. The evidence shows Johnson kidnapped, robbed…