Trooper who shot Dion Johnson will not face criminal charges, county attorney says

Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel announced Monday she will not criminally charge Department of Public Safety Trooper George Cervantes in the killing of Dion Johnson.

"That is something that just can not be done under the facts of this case," Adel said at a news conference. "Instead, the evidence, in this case, shows that the trooper was attempting to effect a lawful arrest of an impaired driver who was asleep behind the wheel of a car with the key in the ignition while stopped on a busy freeway."

Johnson, 28, died after Cervantes shot him on May 25 on Loop 101 near Tatum Boulevard. Johnson was killed on Memorial Day, the same day George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. 

Their deaths led to weeks of protests in the Phoenix area demanding equal treatment for people of color. 

"While this is a tragic outcome, criminal charges against the trooper are not warranted," Adel said.

Phoenix police reviewed the trooper's fatal shooting of Johnson and in July sent their report to the County Attorney's Office for review.

The police documents released publicly did not reach a conclusion about Cervantes' actions, nor did they make recommendations to the County Attorney's Office on whether Cervantes should be charged.

Supporters of the family have called on Cervantes and another officer who arrived later at the scene to be fired. Federal authorities are looking into the case.

Johnson's family demanded transparency. Erma Johnson, Dion's mother, told The Arizona Republic in June that she wants justice. 

"I just couldn't believe it. How they had him, how they treated them," she said. "Why? As human beings having feelings, do you just not have feelings? Was it because he was a Black man that had tattoos? What was it?"

His family has seen footage from an Arizona Department of Transportation live feed. Erma Johnson said she watched one of the troopers in the video kick her son while he lay dying.

According to a 911 caller, Cervantes was struggling with Dion and tried to restrain him moments before the officer shot and killed him. 

After the announcement was made, advocates to end police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system demonstrated outside the County Attorney's Office.

Erma Johnson said she has lost trust in the legal system.

“I knew they weren’t going to charge him for my son’s murder,” she said. 

90% of police shooting cases cleared of criminal  charges

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will review at least 470 police shooting cases from Jan. 1, 2011, through Aug. 19, 2020, according to an analysis from The Arizona Republic. 

Of the cases that have already been reviewed, 426 cases, or 90% percent, have been cleared with no criminal charges against the officers. The rest were pending a decision from prosecutors.

Of the 428 cases already reviewed, two officers have been charged in a police shooting in Maricopa County.

Former Mesa police officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford was charged with murder in the killing of Daniel Shaver under former County Attorney Bill Montgomery.

In December 2017, a Maricopa County jury acquitted Brailsford.

On June 26, Adel’s office charged Mesa police officer Nathan Chisler with aggravated assault in the Dec. 6, 2019, shooting of Randy Sewell. 

Chisler has pleaded not guilty and was released on his own recognizance last month, according to court records. The case is pending.

Both victims were unarmed.

"In discussions of police brutality over the last several months I've heard that prosecutors won’t charge police officers," Adel said "I can’t speak for every office. But we here in Maricopa County, as the third-largest prosecution agency in the country, I can tell you that’s absolutely not true."

She added that her office has charged officers in the past.

"When the facts and evidence justify a criminal prosecution against an officer, this office has charged those cases and will continue to do so," she said. "Officers do not get a greater benefit of the doubt than any other person facing criminal prosecution."

In Maricopa County, when a law enforcement officer shoots a person, usually that agency will criminally investigate the shooting and present the evidence, along with a recommendation on whether to prosecute, to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Sometimes, the police agency will ask another police agency to handle the investigation.

A panel of prosecutors then reviews the evidence and makes a recommendation to Adel, who determines whether the officer or officers will be charged.

"This is not a case where we simply took the officer's word to determine what happened,” Adel said. "Instead, we had substantial corroborating evidence. This included multiple eyewitnesses whose observations supported the account given by Trooper Cervantes.”

She said the evidence included multiple eyewitnesses who saw the struggle and later told detectives about it. She said two people called 911 to report it.

Two state employees saw the events unfold on a live feed being streamed from a state Department of Transportation camera at the scene, she said.

'You ain't gotta do all that!'

DPS asked Phoenix police to investigate Johnson's shooting.

Cervantes did not have a body-worn camera because DPS has not been supplied with them. Gov. Doug Ducey previously has asked lawmakers to appropriate money for troopers to have cameras.

Adel, at the news conference, said the cameras are "good public policy" and would help her and "anyone who is committed to keeping our community safe."

Cervantes had told investigators that he was on his way to meet another trooper at the 64th Street exit of the Loop 101 freeway when he came across Johnson's 2007 Toyota Prius parked in the gore area near Tatum Boulevard. Johnson was unconscious when the trooper found him, Cervantes said.

Cervantes found a gun in Johnson’s vehicle, removed it and put it in the trooper’s motorcycle saddlebag, according to the police report.

The trooper called for backup. Meanwhile, Cervantes tried to remove the keys from the ignition in Johnson’s vehicle but he couldn’t, the report says.

Cervantes then handcuffed Johnson’s left wrist after Johnson woke up. Cervantes asked him to get out of the vehicle, the report says. Johnson then brought his knees and feet toward his chest "with the ability to thrust Trooper Cervantes backward into the traffic lane(s) if he forcefully extended his legs," the report said.

Cervantes then removed his handgun from his holster and twice told Johnson to "stop resisting or I'm going to shoot you," he recounted to investigators. 

"The male (Johnson) stated, 'You ain't gotta do all that! You ain't gotta do all that!' several times, then relaxed his body and placed his feet on the sill of the driver door," the report said.

Cervantes had started to put his handgun back in the holster when Johnson used his left hand to grab Cervantes' vest and his right hand to grab Cervantes' wrist. Johnson pulled Cervantes toward him and into his vehicle, and Cervantes' feet came off the ground, the report said.

The trooper told detectives he fired because he was afraid he was going to be killed or seriously injured, the report says. 

The trooper fired twice, striking Johnson once.

'You have to hold them accountable'

Adel's decision comes amid the race for Maricopa County Attorney's Office. Adel was appointed to the position after Montgomery was appointed to the state Supreme Court in September 2019. 

Adel is seeking her first elected term and is facing Democratic nominee Julie Gunnigle.

On Monday, Gunnigle criticized Adel for not filing charges against Cervantes.

“Her decision today was an act of cowardice, and the family of Dion Johnson deserves better," Gunnigle said. "We should all demand swift reforms that require transparency, accountability and community partnerships to ensure this never happens again.”

Jocquese Blackwell, the attorney for Johnson's mother, also criticized Adel for not pursuing charges, saying that a jury should decide if Cervantes is guilty.

He also said that Adel should have considered Cervantes' past history. He previously was reprimanded for leaving a threatening note on a former romantic partner's car and using a stun gun to discipline his puppy, according to a 2012 internal affairs report.

“You have to hold them accountable when they do wrong and praise them when they do right," Blackwell said.

Adel said neither Cervantes' nor Johnson's past was "taken into consideration at all."