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St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 31, 2000
Ex-prosecutor in Waco case may face indictment
By Terry Ganey
Jefferson City Bureau Chief
William Johnston, a former federal prosecutor who later strongly criticized
the federal government's role in the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in
Waco, Texas, may be a target for prosecution by special counsel John Danforth.
Michael Kennedy, a lawyer for Johnston, said Thursday that Danforth had
threatened to indict Johnston on charges of obstructing justice, perjury and
giving false statements.
Danforth's Office of Special Counsel would not comment on Kennedy's
statement. While Danforth has absolved Attorney General Janet Reno and the
FBI of wrongdoing in the deadly 1993 siege on the Branch Davidians, he
continues to investigate whether Justice Department lawyers withheld
evidence.
Kennedy said he believes Johnston was "unfairly targeted for his frequent
criticism of the U.S. government and for blowing the whistle on the
government's efforts to mislead the public about the government's use of
pyrotechnic devices against the Branch Davidians."
Susan Kelly, Johnston's law partner, said the potential charge "has to do
with Bill not providing some of his personal notes at some point in time, and
that makes them mad. All of this happened after he blew the whistle. It looks
to me as major retaliation."
Johnston, 41, is the former U.S. attorney in Waco. He helped prosecute
Davidians who were involved in the confrontation that led to the deaths of
four federal agents and six Davidians. He was also partly responsible for
Reno appointing Danforth to investigate what happened.
It was Johnston who allowed a documentary filmmaker to look at Waco evidence.
The filmmaker discovered spent pyrotechnic tear gas casings. That prompted
Reno to confirm what the government had denied for years - that agents fired
at least two tear gas rounds that could start fires. After that, Reno
appointed Danforth as a special counsel.
Johnston also wrote to Reno in August 1999, saying government lawyers
had known for years about the use of pyrotechnic tear gas rounds. He
resigned in February, saying high-ranking Justice Department officials had failed to
inform Reno about the tear gas.
Both Danforth and an advisory jury in a civil trial have concluded that
the Davidians themselves - and not the tear gas rounds - started the fire
that helped kill about 80 members of the religious sect.
Danforth is investigating whether two federal prosecutors - Ray and
LeRoy Jahn - deceived Congress about the use of the tear gas and whether they
also hid that fact from the Davidians' defense lawyers in a 1994 criminal
trial. Johnston was a member of the prosecution team that included the Jahns, a
husband and wife team of assistant U.S. attorneys based in San Antonio,
Texas.
Courthouse sources in Waco said District Judge Walter Smith Jr., a
friend of Johnston's, threw Danforth's investigators out of the federal courthouse
there last week because of the way Johnston was being treated.
E-mail: tganey@postnet.com
Phone: 573-635-6178
© St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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