The attorney for Tony Johnson says the Wake District Attorney's Office was trying to punish his client, who'd requested a trial for a first-degree burglary charge and robbery with a dangerous weapon charge.
Johnson now faces four counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, four counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree burglary.
Two weeks ago, Timothy Johnson pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and robbery with a dangerous weapon for his role in the break-in.
The felony home-invasion charges are pivotal because under North Carolina law, a person is eligible for a death sentence if he has a prior violent felony conviction.
Officials charged the Johnsons in the shooting deaths of two men in a tailgate area outside an N.C. State University football game.
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