By Nicholas Kusnetz
Right before Earl Johnson, 37, was arrested last November, he had on his body about two ounces of cocaine salt, a gram of base, and an extended magazine of .45 caliber ammunition, which police saw him throw as he was being chased, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing. Johnson’s attorney, Colin Cooper, does not dispute these facts. At issue, though, is whether these items, especially the ammunition, connect Johnson to the cocaine base production and dealing operation at the safe house from which he ran as the police came that day.
In a preliminary hearing in Richmond on Wednesday, a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge decided that Johnson could stand trial in connection with the house and the operation, which was run by Johnson’s brothers Antione and Damien, among others. Johnson, who is charged with five drug and gun related felony counts, must now come before the court on Nov. 6 to enter a plea. Cooper said he plans to plead innocence.
“They’re punishing him for what was going on in that house, and it’s not his house,” Cooper said.
When police raided 4100 Leke Way in Richmond on Nov. 9, 2006, they found cocaine base boiling on the stove and two guns and an ammunition magazine in the broiler that matched the one in Johnson’s pocket, according to court testimony . They also found more than a kilogram of cocaine in various cars outside the house, one of which was registered to Damien Johnson. Police say the ammunition found was rare enough to link Johnson with the house and the production inside. This piece of evidence is key to the prosecutor’s case.
“It’s kind of like a fingerprint,” said Gary Koeppel (cq), the deputy district attorney who is prosecuting the case, in an interview after the hearing.
Five codefendants, including the two brothers, have already pled guilty and are serving sentences of up to six years in state prison. Prosecutors offered a nine-year sentence to Johnson, but Cooper said that was too much. Ezra Chatman, who is serving two years, admitted to cooking the cocaine base and said he was the only one involved in its production. But the prosecution alleges Chatman was told to take the fall for the others.
