People v. Johnson

Opinion

RICHLI, J.

One SUV rear-ended another SUV that had stopped at a red light. All five occupants of the vehicle that was hit were injured, to varying degrees; one was crippled.

When the police arrived, they found defendant Lionel Fredrick Johnson, Jr., at the scene, blatantly drunk. He admitted that he had been driving and that he hit the other vehicle.

As no eyewitness could identify defendant as the driver, however, defense counsel argued that there was reasonable doubt as to whether defendant was driving. He also argued that defendant’s admissions were not credible because “drunk people…