The confession of a Screven County jailer accused of getting oral sex from an inmate for a promise of cigarettes was thrown out and the district attorney’s office has declined to prosecute without the confession.
Antonio Deon Johnson of Sardis was 32 when he was accused in November 2009 of sexual assault against persons in custody. Superior Court Judge John R. Turner recently ruled Johnson’s statement inadmissible and transferred the case to the “dead docket,” striking it from the list of present pending criminal cases.
“Without the confession, there was no way to prove the allegation beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Keith McIntyre, assistant district attorney.
Sheriff Mike Kile said four inmates would testify that an inmate gave Johnson oral sex. “I admitted to doing it in the dark through the bars,” Johnson said in the confession.
Kile said the inmate complained when she didn’t get the cigarettes she had been promised. McIntyre said testimony of inmates alone would not be enough to get a conviction.
Johnson’s attorney, David Hoffer, an assistant public defender, argued that his client was told he might get an easier sentence or perhaps even avoid jail time entirely if he confessed. Offering the “hope of the benefit of a lesser punishment” makes a confession illegal, he said.
In the videotaped interview, the investigator questioning Johnson told him, “I’m not promising you anything. I can’t promise you anything.” But he also said, confessing “might make the difference between going to jail and not going to jail.”
Hoffer said Johnson lost his job the day he was accused and has struggled ever since to find work.