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Thread: Kelvin Johnson Pleads Guilty and Gets LWOP for the 2009 GA Murder of Martha Greene

  1. #1
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    Kelvin Johnson Pleads Guilty and Gets LWOP for the 2009 GA Murder of Martha Greene


    Kelvin Johnson


    November 4, 2009

    District Attorney Ashley Wright will seek the death sentence for a suspect in the killing of a Hephzibah woman and the wounding of her husband during an August robbery.

    Ms. Wright filed notice of her intentions Friday in Richmond County Superior Court, where Kelvin S. Johnson faces charges that include murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and burglary.

    Mr. Johnson, 24, was indicted Oct. 27. He has been held in jail since shortly after Martha and Tilman Coley "T.C." Greene were attacked in their Plantation Road home Aug. 26.

    According to previous reports and court proceedings, Mr. Greene was working in his open garage when a man rode up on a bicycle and pulled a gun. Mr. Greene was shot in the face as he tried to wrestle the gun away.

    Sheriff's investigators believe the assailant then entered the Greenes' home, where he shot Mrs. Greene to death.

    The robber made off with a big-screen television and the couple's Chevrolet pickup.

    Mr. Johnson was arrested that night at his Boykin Road home. He had been released from prison in May after serving 16 months of a three-year prison sentence for forgery, according to an earlier report in The Augusta Chronicle .

    Now that Mr. Johnson's case has become a potential death penalty case, his defense will be assigned by the Georgia Capital Defenders' office in Atlanta, unless he is financially able to hire his own counsel.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/11/04/met_554456.shtml

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    August 4, 2010

    Murder suspect's hearings will stay open, judge rules

    An attempt to close pretrial hearings in a capital murder case failed Wednesday.

    Attorneys for Kelvin S. Johnson, 25, wanted Richmond County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper to close the hearings, which will deal with what evidence will be allowed at trial and what statements by Johnson will be admissible.

    Johnson has pleaded not guilty to charges that include murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault in an Aug. 26 home invasion in which a 69-year-old woman was shot to death and her husband was wounded.

    If potential jurors hear evidence that Johnson killed Martha Greene and wounded Tilman "T.C." Greene at their Plantation Road home, they would become biased against him, Teril Thompson argued for the defense.

    She said there are precautions set by precedent rulings by the Georgia Supreme Court, but that a man facing a possible death sentence cannot take much comfort in jurors' ability to search their souls for bias and honestly report that in court, or for them to give the same weight to the judge's instructions as lawyers and judges.

    "Again, how can you unring that bell?" Thompson asked.

    District Attorney Ashley Wright argued that the judge should heed the Supreme Court's words that he cannot close a courtroom without clear and convincing evidence that only that extreme measure will ensure a fair trial.

    A judge must also consider the extent and nature of news coverage, Wright said.

    In this case, only a few articles about the crime have been published in The Augusta Chronicle .

    By contrast, the case of Reinaldo Rivera -- a serial rapist and killer sentenced to die in a deadly attack on an Army sergeant -- generated hundreds of reports in the local media.

    Wright said knowing about a crime isn't the issue -- it's a juror's inability to set aside any fixed opinions that makes him biased. She noted that 20,000 people are potential jurors, and said surely 12 fair-minded people can be found.

    Roper asked how a person in Johnson's position is to prove his case before the damage might be done.

    Both Wright and Augusta attorney David Hudson, who argued against the motion on behalf of The Chronicle , pointed to the past.

    Hudson argued that the only cases ever reversed in Georgia based on a claim such as Johnson's were when a defendant requested a change of venue and it wasn't granted.

    Hudson said all of those cases took place in small communities where victims or defendants were well-known and there was misconduct by attorneys, witnesses or judges.

    There hasn't been a case in Georgia in 35 years where an appellate court upheld a judge's decision to close a courtroom, Hudson said.

    He argued that fair trials were held for numerous high-profile murder cases, such as for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing, Charles Manson and O.J. Simpson.

    Roper asked how many were acquitted. Hudson said none, but none of them had their convictions reversed because of pretrial coverage.

    Roper ruled that the pretrial hearings would remain open because he couldn't meet the legal standard set for courtroom closure.

    Still, he said, he worries that defendants such as Johnson are put in an impossible position of proving what could happen in the future.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/cr...en-judge-rules


    There has been minimal pretrial coverage in this case. Johnson's last court filing was a pretrial supplemental motion to bar the introduction of victim impact evidence on Dec. 10, 2010. A trial date has not been set.

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    Death penalty trial delayed

    A Richmond County judge filed a continuance order Tuesday to delay the start of a death penalty trial related to an August 2009 murder.
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    Superior Court Judge David Roper wrote that the trial was continued because the lead counsel for Johnson is scheduled to try an older death penalty case in Cobb County, Ga. that will begin on June 6, the day Kelvin Johnson's trial was scheduled to start.

    District Attorney Ashley Wright filed papers to seek the death sentence for Johnson, 26, in October 2009 after Johnson was indicted on charges of aggravated assault, armed robbery, burglary, and the murder of 69-year-old Martha Greene in her Hephzibah home on Aug. 26, 2009. Lawyers made their appearances for the case in December 2009, according to Tuesday's filing.

    Johnson rode up on a bicycle and pulled a gun on Tilmaan Coley "T.C." Greene in Greene's open garage on Plantation Road, according to previous reports and court proceedings. Investigators believe Johnson then shot Greene in the face before going inside and shooting Martha Greene.

    Following the shooting, Johnson fled the scene with a big-screen TV and the couple's Chevrolet pickup. He was arrested later that night in his home on Boykin Road.

    Johnson pleaded not guilty to all charges during pretrial hearings in February 2010. If a jury does convict Johnson, it could also sentence him to life in prison with or without parole, according to past reports in The Augusta Chronicle.

    In his filing Tuesday, Roper wrote that "the court abhors extraordinarily long delays" that can affect the memories of witnesses or "undermine public confidence in the judicial system." Roper added that the court and the defense counsel have been discussing the continuance for the last five to six months, and the court expects the defense to quickly address any remaining issues so the trial can begin soon.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-...-trial-delayed

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    Judge says murder trial takes precedence over burglary case

    A Richmond County Super*ior Court judge said Friday that the death penalty trial of Kelvin Johnson for a 2009 murder takes precedence over trying him for a 2010 burglary.

    Johnson’s attorneys requested a speedy trial and due process for the burglary charge June 4 and asked that it be tried before the murder. Superior Court Judge David Roper denied that motion and compelled the district attorney’s office to proceed with the death penalty case first; that trial is scheduled for August.

    Johnson is accused of shooting Tilman Coley “T.C.” Greene in the face Aug. 26, 2009, then killing his wife, Martha Greene, 69. Investigators say he fled the home with a big-screen television and the couple’s Chevrolet pickup. He was indicted Oct. 27, 2009, on charges of murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and burglary.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/cr...l?v=1341862677
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    Capital murder trial still on hold

    As the fourth anniversary of Martha Greene’s slaying passed this week, the man accused of killing her and shooting her husband was back in court Thursday for what is supposed to be his last pretrial hearing before his capital murder trial.

    Kelvin Johnson, 28, has pleaded not guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to a number of charges, including murder.

    But before Johnson’s death penalty trial can begin, the judge has allowed the defense team to appeal at least one issue to the Georgia Supreme Court — was Judge J. David Roper correct when he ruled the prosecution may introduce evidence that Johnson also stands accused in unrelated burglary and rape cases if a jury finds him guilty of murder in Greene’s death.

    Greene, 69, was at home the early evening of Aug. 26, 2009, and her husband Tilman “T.C.” Greene was working in his garage at their Plantation Road home when a man riding a bike stopped at their house. The man approached Tilman Greene and pointed a gun at him. Greene tried to wrestle the gun away and was shot in the face, according to earlier reports. The assailant entered the house, fatally shot his wife and stole a big screen TV and the couple’s truck.

    At the time of the attack on the Greenes, Johnson had been out of prison three months.

    Johnson was indicted separately on the unrelated burglary and rape charges after his arrest for murder.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/cr...d?v=1377782676
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  6. #6
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    Local judge asks Georgia Supreme Court to end delays in capital murder cases

    By Sandy Hodson
    Staff Writer

    The judge assigned to preside over a near 5-year-old death penalty case in Augusta has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to do something to end the inordinate delays and ineffectiveness of the capital defender office.

    Judge J. David Roper made the plea to the state’s highest court in his mandatory pre-trial report filed Monday in the case of Kelvin Johnson.

    Johnson, 29, has pleaded not guilty to charges filed in the Aug. 26, 2009, slaying of 69-year-old Martha Greene and the wounding of her husband, Tilman “T.C.” Greene, during a robbery of their Plantation Road home.

    Richmond County sheriff investigators arrested Johnson the day after the attack, a grand jury returned an indictment the following month and the prosecutor filed notice of seeking the death penalty Oct. 30, 2009.

    Roper noted in 2012 the two attorneys appointed by the Georgia Capital Defender office to represent Johnson “were not remotely ready for trial.”

    Roper then ordered the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council to appear in court to explain why he shouldn’t rule that there was a systemic breakdown in the defense of capital murder cases. The organization responded by appointing two local attorneys to his defense team.

    Two more years dragged by before Johnson’s case reached the point the Supreme Court would be asked to determine if one of Roper’s rulings is correct. Once that is decided, Johnson’s case should be ready for trial.

    Roper blamed himself for the delay in getting the issue – whether he was correct to allow evidence at trial that DNA tied Johnson to two unrelated burglaries and a rape – to the Supreme Court since Oct. 4.

    However, the current system for the defense of capital murder suspects is horrendous, the judge wrote.

    “The present capital defender system is denying defendants their right to effective counsel and speedy trial. Trial judges and appellate courts strain to find that delays of four or five years or more are not prejudicial, when in fact they are, to avoid setting a guilty person free,” Roper wrote.

    “The public and victims are, likewise, prejudiced because the death penalty system is fraught with frequent and lengthy delays and seemingly endless appeals, undermining confidence in the judicial system. A pool of attorneys defending only capital cases is simply not practicable, efficient or workable.”

    The judge cited case law stating the Supreme Court has the power to protect the judiciary and ensure the court system is capable of administering justice in an orderly and efficient manner. Roper asks the court to exercise that power or promulgating rules to ensure justice is served for all participants and the public.

    http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/cr...l-murder-cases

  7. #7
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    Suspect in fatal home invasion pleads guilty

    By Sandy Hodson
    The Augusta Chronicle

    Five years after Tilmon “T.C.” Greene was shot and wounded by a man who robbed his home and killed his wife, he finally heard Kelvin Johnson admit his guilt.

    Johnson, 29, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Richmond County Superior Court to all charges filed against him for attacking the Greenes at their Plantation Road home on Aug. 26, 2009.

    Johnson, who had faced a death penalty trial next month, agreed to a plea negotiation. He will remain in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole for the murder of 69-year-old Martha Greene.

    Johnson shot her through the neck then stepped over her body as she lay dying to steal the couple’s television set, said District Attorney Ashley Wright.

    Johnson then went back to Tilmon Greene, whom Johnson had shot in the face, and went through his pockets, taking the keys to his truck, Wright said.

    On the day he attacked the Greenes, Johnson had been out of prison for three months and 12 days, Wright said.

    Between his release and the attack on the Greenes, Johnson committed two burglaries and a rape, Wright said. DNA evidence tied him to the crimes.

    Wright agreed to dismiss the rape case as part of the plea negotiation. Wright said she talked with the victim in that case before agreeing to the negotiation.

    In addition to the sentence of life in prison without parole, Johnson was sentenced to an additional life term for armed robbery and 75 more years for highjacking a motor vehicle, aggravated assault, burglary, and three weapons charges, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

    Johnson had two prior forgery convictions in Richmond County, and he had convictions in Texas for indecent exposure, burglary and evading arrest, Wright said.

    Johnson apologized to Greene and his children for causing them such pain.

    “What I did is not excusable at all,” Johnson said. “I’m not a monster. I just did monstrous things.”

    http://beta.mirror.augusta.com/news/...y?v=1410915368

  8. #8
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    Martha Campbell Greene (Marty) was my teacher at Augusta Technical College. She also had a relationship with my father.

    Marty was a great teacher who loved her students and she new how to have a good time with everyone. I will never forget when she gave me my honor cord at graduation.

    Godspeed Marty. I love you!

    Enjoy your time in hell Kelvin!

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