Suspect in two deaths, now charged in third after release on clerical error, is in custody

A man suspected in two Columbus homicides was released from jail in late November because Franklin County Common Pleas Court staff made a clerical mistake, and while at large, he was involved in a third homicide last week, according to Columbus police.

David A. Johnson III, 20, was arrested Monday night, police said.

How did Johnson get released from Franklin County jail? A Franklin County Common Pleas Court employee clicked the wrong option when filing a form, according to a court administrator, resulting in the form notifying deputies to keep the suspect in detention not getting sent to the jail.

Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O'Shaughnessy's office and the court administration now say they will discuss possible safeguards to prevent something like this from happening in the future, though no immediate change has been implemented.

Whether the court employee responsible for the error will be reprimanded or disciplined is up to the judge on the case since it's her staff involved, court administrators said. The judge, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jaiza Page, could not be reached by The Dispatch for this story.

More:Homicide suspect accidentally released from jail now a suspect in third death

What is Johnson accused of?

Columbus police have accused Johnson of fatally shooting 26-year-old Derek Ponder and wounding his own mother on April 28, 2021, during an altercation at a South Harris Avenue home. He is charged in Franklin County Common Pleas Court with murder, felonious assault and having a weapon under disability.

Court records show he was released on house arrest on July 2, 2021, with work privileges and the ability to go to doctor's appointments and meet with his attorney.

On Nov. 18, Johnson and 20-year-old Destiny Strickland, of the South Side, were caring for Johnson's 1-year-old son when the boy ingested drugs and died, police said. Large quantities of drugs were found in Johnson's home, according to court documents.

Johnson was charged with drug possession and child endangerment. Later, after the Franklin County coroner's office found fentanyl in the boy's system, Johnson was charged with involuntary manslaughter.

In light of the new charges, Johnson was rearrested and Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Jaiza Page revoked his bond in the murder case on Nov. 21. But a paperwork snafu allowed Johnson to get out of jail on Nov. 29.

Johnson's attorney arranged for Johnson to turn himself in to authorities, but Johnson did not do so.

On Dec. 13, Johnson was among three people involved in an attempted robbery at a Hilltop gas station that ended with the shooting death of 21-year-old Andrew Combs, according to Columbus police.

More:Columbus man on house arrest in 2021 murder facing new charges after 1-year-old son dies

The mistake: one wrong click

When a judge in Franklin County Common Pleas Court makes a decision on a bond, their staff, usually their bailiff, digitally files a form sometimes called a criminal disposition sheet.

When filing the form electronically, the filer chooses from a dropdown menu of three options: one option sends the document to the Franklin County Sheriff's office which operates the jail, a second option sends the document to Twin Valley Behavioral Healthcare Hospital and a third option just files the document with the County Clerk of Court's office. This last option is for defendants who are not in jail or the hospital.

A member of Page's staff mistakenly clicked this third option, Stacy Worthington, director of court services at Franklin County Common Pleas Court, told The Dispatch.

The form filed on Nov. 21 in Johnson's case, under the special instructions section, states "bond revoked due to new charges."

David Johnson Criminal Case Processing Sheet by The Columbus Dispatch on Scribd

Maureen Kocot, a spokeswoman for the Franklin County Sheriff's office, said the sheriff’s office did not receive any paperwork authorizing Johnson's continued detention.

"Prior to the release of every inmate, the Sheriff’s Office verifies through city, county, and federal databases that there is no lawful order of detention pertaining to the inmate," Kocot said. "Correction staff cannot double-check paperwork that was never received."

A motion to dismiss Johnson's case in Franklin County Municipal Court related to his son's death was filed on Nov. 29. The jail released him the same day.

The case dismissal should have been unremarkable. Municipal court handles misdemeanor charges only and Common Pleas Court has jurisdiction over more serious, felony charges like those involved in a death. Franklin County prosecutors routinely have felony cases that are initially charged in municipal court dismissed and they bring the same case before a grand jury in Common Pleas Court for indictment.

Usually, prosecutors rush to get an indictment in a homicide case before dismissing the municipal case so the defendant isn't released from jail. But since Johnson's bond was revoked in the case related to the shooting of Ponder, there was no pressure to immediately get an indictment in the case related to his son's death.

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What is being done to prevent this from happening again?

Franklin County Common Pleas Court Administrative Judge Stephen McIntosh said it is up to Judge Page’s discretion whether to reprimand or discipline any staff members involved in this paperwork snafu.

Page is out of the office until Dec. 27 and could not be reached. She told The Dispatch previously this was a case of “human error.”

McIntosh said Monday he had not yet spoken with court administration about any plans to retrain staff or add safeguards so something like this doesn’t happen again.

“Obviously we don’t want to see anything like this happen,” McIntosh said.

Franklin County Common Pleas Court and the Franklin County Clerk of Courts office plan to discuss how they can work together in the future to prevent this from happening again, according to Worthington and Sharlene Chance, director of legal compliance for the Clerk’s office.

No discussions have happened yet.

Chance said the procedure in the clerk’s office was followed.

“It’s not the clerk’s responsibility to reach out to the filer or the court to ask questions like ‘is this how you meant for it to be filed?’” Chance said. “We have not had any discussions in depth (with the court) as yet, but we will be.”

Chance said this process for filing forms related to bond revocations has been in place for years, but it could be reviewed.

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jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Court, clerk considering changes after suspect released accidentally