A Juneau man was sentenced to serve eight months in prison in connection to a fight outside the Juneau Police Department downtown substation earlier this summer.
The April 28 incident, which several people at Merchant’s Wharf witnessed, left one man unconscious on the sidewalk, police said at the time. He was taken to the hospital for his injuries to his head, prosecutors said. Alcohol was involved, they said.
Judge Louis Menendez imposed 36 months with 28 months suspended Thursday in Juneau Superior Court for 28-year-old Brandon W.L. Johnson.
The sentence also requires three years of probation after his release and restitution in an amount to be determined later.
Johnson was indicted by a Juneau grand jury in May on two felony counts of first-degree assault and one felony count of second-degree assault.
He pleaded guilty last month to a reduced charge of third-degree assault, which prosecutors said was an appropriate level of charge given the conduct in the case. That’s a class ‘C’ felony punishable by up to five years in prison, with a presumptive zero to two years sentence for someone without prior felony convictions.
Johnson’s attorney, Assistant Public Defender Eric Hedland, told the judge his client doesn’t have any prior felonies and has a strong support system in the community as well as a family to help him with alcohol issues. He noted several people submitted letters on Johnson’s behalf.
The attack couldn’t be justified, Hedland said, but it wasn’t random. The two men knew each other and have had problems in the past, Hedland said.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (11)
Add commentIt sounds as if the perp in
It sounds as if the perp in this case threw the other guy a serious beating. I hope Mr. Johnson will use this incident to make some positive changes in his life.
When people have bad blood between them, a better outlet would be to get in the ring at Marlintini's and duke it out. I know the bar fight promoters are always looking for contestants. I have seen "differences" settled in the ring on a few occasions here in Juneau.
"Alcohol was involved"
Yet again.
Whew!!!
For a sec, while reading I was waiting for the "He was an abused child" crap defense. At least his atty was honest in that he couldn't justify the attack. Sure ya can! Instant idiot, just add alcohol. Mix in some youthful immortality and BINGO! Was in the mood to revamp lost meaningful relationships in Lemon Creek anyway!
Clean up our downtown area
They should throw all those drunken bums in jail. Our downtown area is a disgrace with all the drunks and foul language and that's just in the daytime. Can't tell you about nighttime. I don't feel it's safe down there at night. Why can't the police control the drunks on Seward? What a shame for tourists to get that impression of Juneau. I was down there last week at 3PM and the air was blue with foul language - and that was from a woman (drunk & smoking).
Downtown is shady.
Downtown is shady.
Brandon is a good kid
Just had one night of drinking that went bad. He was actually sober several months before this incident and I was very proud of him for that.
You also won't see him crying about his life because he is man enough to admit that what he did was wrong.. He took full responsibility for his actions.
Brandon, I know you're going to learn from this and if you dont, i'm going to slap you upside your head. I'm looking forward to hanging out with you when you are out.
From your cousin, Brad
I'm glad someone spoke up on
I'm glad someone spoke up on what kind of a man Brandon truly is. One that has admitted fault and will learn from this mistake. A true man.
I am not here to speculate on any of the other comments by other readers here. I just want to express to all of you that this sentence was a harsh punishment for the crime committed. Had this judge taken into consideration exactly who the "victim" of this crime was, the sentence may have been a little lesser. Mr. Guthrie has quite the record of ill behavior and excessive drinking. He has yet to learn from any of his mistakes and allowing him to play the victim in this situation only enables him to continue on with his idiotic behaviors.
Violence is not the way to resolve conflict and Brandon has acknowledged that. For our system to lock up someone up without any prior convictions and separate him from his family for as long as he has been away is RIDICULOUS! The only reason Mr. Guthrie ended up unconsious and at Bartlett is because for once there was someone bigger than he was that got sick of his antics and acted out of anger and obvious intoxication.
Maybe the courts should think of rehabilitation programs or 8 month jail sentences for those who think it smart to instigate at every turn!
My advice to Brandon would be
My advice to Brandon would be that the next time this Guthrie-punk gets out of line that he invite him out to Marlintini's. That way he could have the enjoyment of kicking his ass and not have to do time for it.
Sounds like Mr. Guthrie deserved some "unjustified"
attention. Bullies do not risk a fair fight at Marlintini's.
@ fin
Keeping your eyes down is a great way for someone to sneak up on you. Always be aware of whats going on around you.
hahhaa!
You know, the marlintinis boxing idea is pretty good but i have a feeling that Brandon is going to be a buddhist/saint when he is released...