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Jury finds man guilty of murder in third trial
| Thursday, Mar 27 2008 3:02 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Mar 27 2008 5:05 PM
The mother of the murder victim wiped away her tears, hugged the prosecuting attorney and left the courthouse.
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Glenn Maurice Johnson in Kern Country Superior Court at his third trial for the murder of Lamar Antawon Rufus in 2002.
She had endured three trials in six years against Glenn Maurice Johnson, the man accused of killing her son, Lamar Rufus.
On Thursday, for the third time in six years, a Kern County jury found Johnson guilty on all counts in connection with the shooting death of Lamar Rufus in 2002.
“I’m happy that Mr. Johnson didn’t get away with murder,” Deputy District Attorney Arthur Norris said afterward.
He added that he hoped the victim’s mother, Estelle Jarrett, could now go home and find some peace in her life.
Michael Lukehart, the attorney who defended Johnson, appeared stunned by the outcome. He had fought hard to impeach the credibility of star prosecution witness Curtis Rufus, the cousin of the victim.
Lukehart had argued — using a blend of logic and passion — that a not guilty verdict was the only appropriate outcome.
But the jury disagreed.
“We’re very disappointed by the verdict,” was all Lukehart would say as he left the courtroom Thursday afternoon.
Johnson, now 30, faced three felony counts — second-degree murder, conspiracy and accessory — in connection with the crime that left Rufus fatally wounded in an alley behind a South Chester Avenue convenience store. Johnson was accused of driving the getaway car, thereby enabling co-conspirator Arthur Lenix to shoot and kill Rufus in the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2002.
Lenix is serving 50 years to life in state prison.
Johnson is facing as much as 27 years to life in prison.
He was convicted in 2003, but that conviction was tossed the following year because the jury did not receive proper instructions by the judge. His second conviction in 2005 was thrown out in August 2006 by the 5th District Court of Appeal because the court said Norris withheld key evidence from the defense.
That evidence showed, in a later incident, that Curtis Rufus illegally possessed a gun, passed it to an suspected gang member who used it in a gunfight, and then initially lied to police about it.
In this trial, that evidence was used by the defense to call into question Curtis Rufus’ credibility.
As the guilty verdicts were read Thursday, Johnson hung his head in defeat. The jury had believed Curtis Rufus.
As difficult as it must have been for her, Mrs Jarrett sat through every day of the trial, and held vigil outside the courtroom over two days as the jurors deliberated.
The dark circles under her eyes attested to her burden.
“Over this six-year stretch of time, I have come to know my victim’s family very well,” Norris said. “I have to tell you, anytime you can give a small measure of peace to those people who absolutely deserve it, it’s a very good feeling.”