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Published: 2007-07-23 06:56:00
Updated: 2007-07-23 08:07:56

Controversial Trial in Teen's Slaying Delayed


Brittany Willis
Brittany Willis
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The trial of a man charged with the 2004 kidnapping, rape and murder of a Wilson teenager has been delayed for at least a month.

James Arthur Johnson is one of two men charged with the slaying of 17-year-old Brittany Willis. His trial was set to begin Monday, but the state Court of Appeals granted his attorney a month's delay because she was recently involved in a capital case in Raleigh.

In that case, Byron Waring was sentenced to death for the November 2005 stabbing death of Lauren Redman.

Willis had just graduated from Hunt High School in June 2004 when she was kidnapped from a shopping center parking lot. She was later found shot to death in a nearby field.

Authorities said Johnson and Kenneth Meeks were looking for money and targeted Willis at random.

Meeks pleaded guilty to the crime in April 2006 and is serving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. He was 16 at the time of the incident, so he was ineligible for a death sentence.

Meeks has since claimed sole responsibility for Willis' death and said Johnson shouldn't be held -- let alone tried -- for the crime.

Johnson's family and others in Wilson have rallied for his release. Arthur Johnson said he hopes a jury will finally provide justice for his son.

"It's been a long time coming, but we're ready for the fight," Arthur Johnson said. "As you will see the evidence proves he's innocent, and they have the person who committed the crime."

Prosecutors have declined to discuss the case.


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"you need to understand that the police and DA would not have kept him locked up for 3 years in jail unless they had some kind of valid evidence. end of discussion."

I understand that's how it should work, but I'd be surprised if I were the only one on this board who knows the justice system doesn't work.

I'm not attacking anyone and I'm not demeaning anyone. Several news stations have said there is no evidence linking Johnson to the crime scene - he even took polygraphs and submitted DNA. It's written in court documents and those aren't wrong.

browneyedemily you think the editorial could be passed as a news article because that is your opinion not a fact. i have kept up with all the articles about this case, heard all of the rumors and i am also from wilson and a brittany was my friend. you need to understand that the police and DA would not have kept him locked up for 3 years in jail unless they had some kind of valid evidence. end of discussion.

I knew you'd use that.

Editorials are based on facts. In terms of journalism, writers formulate opinions based on those facts. What I posted is a fact. If it weren't, that newspaper could be in trouble.

Take out the first and last two paragraphs in that editorial and it could pass for a news article.

Also, it attributes the source - court documents. Court documents aren't opinions. If you're really concerned that that's an opinion, get a copy of the court documents. Either way, it's fact.

browneyedemily...that is an editorial...it is no different than you and I giving our personal opinion. Just because someone writes something does not make it true.

"Johnson's account closely resembles Meeks', and there appears to be no physical evidence linking Johnson to the murder. DNA evidence from the scene implicated Meeks but not Johnson, according to court records and the Johnson family."

http://www.wilsondaily.com/Opinion/Editorials/288831592173289.php

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