-Caveat Lector-
Nation: Davidian prosecutor sentenced to probation for withholding
information
By JOE STANGE, Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (June 7, 2001 12:58 p.m. EDT) - A former federal prosecutor
was sentenced to two years' probation Thursday for withholding
information that exploding tear gas canisters were used during the 1993
Branch Davidian siege that ended in the deaths of some 80 people.
U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw also ordered Bill Johnston to perform
200 hours of community service.
"Maybe you need to talk to some high school students," Shaw said. "Maybe
you can help somebody not to make a similar mistake."
Johnston, standing before the judge, said: "Whatever my reason, it was
wrong. It will never be right to withhold something in fear or panic or
whatever reason."
Whether Johnston would get probation or jail time remained up in the air
prior to Thursday's hearing, despite an earlier agreement reached with
prosecutors after Johnston pleaded guilty in February.
Prosecutors withdrew their pledge to recommend probation because they
said Johnston violated his plea agreement when he made statements to the
publication Texas Lawyer after his guilty plea.
At the hearing, the judge allowed prosecutor Jim Martin to withdraw the
probation recommendation.
Johnston was convicted of withholding information about the use of
pyrotechnic tear gas on April 19, 1993, the day the compound burned.
It was Johnston himself who set in motion renewed scrutiny of government
missteps in the siege by warning then-attorney general Janet Reno in
1999 that she and the public were being misled about the FBI's handling
of it.
Johnston admitted withholding one page of pretrial notes related to the
1994 prosecution of several surviving Branch Davidians.
"Bill Johnston's behavior is not atypical of other people that claim to
be whistleblowers, often blowing the whistle to cover their own tracks,"
Martin told reporters afterward.
Johnston pleaded guilty to one charge of "misprision of a felony," a
crime similar to obstruction of justice that carries a lesser penalty.
Prosecutors agreed to drop two counts of obstruction of justice and
three counts of lying to investigators and a federal grand jury.
In the Feb. 19 issue of Texas Lawyer, Johnston was quoted as saying, "I
didn't plead guilty to anything they indicted me for. They charged me
with obstruction of justice and five counts of false statements. I did
not plead guilty to that and was not guilty of that."
Johnston was indicted by a grand jury in St. Louis on Nov. 8, just
before former Sen. John Danforth, assigned by then-President Clinton to
look into the Waco siege, released his final report absolving the
government of wrongdoing in the siege.
The Johnston case was heard here because Danforth conducted his
investigation from his office in downtown St. Louis.
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Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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