These are notes from an ongoing trial in my home county. A school board member is accused of attempted extortion against another local political figure. I've been documenting the trial for our local residents.
Morning:
Before the jury was brought in Judge Crosswhite addressed the Courtroom on two matters:
(1) With respect to testimony or discussion regarding Allyson Bond or Carolyn Rotondaro, Judge Crosswhite advised the State not to focus on sexual relationships between either person and the Defendant - Ronald Johnson, in that the information could be overly prejudicial to the jury.
(2) With respect to the appearance of Judge Paul Holcombe as a witness in the case, Judge Crosswhite clarified a statement he made previously, and stated he was resolved to treat Judge Holcombe exactly the same as any other witness before the court would be treated.
Richard Hoffman, who lead the investigation into Ronald Johnson for the Johnston County District Attorney was the sole witness in the morning. State's Attorney Zellinger walked Hoffman through methodical testimony on text messages and other records obtained from Ronald Johnson, Angie Barbour, Allyson Bond, Kevin Donovan and other individuals.
Substantial Points:
Hoffman carefully described applications purchased or used by Ronald Johnson, that could be used to send a text or phone call from numbers chosen by Johnson, including PINGR and SPOOFCARD. A person using the applications could make a text or phone call appear to come from any arbitrary number.
A Tracphone that Angie Barbour said was given to her by Ronald Johnson, was registered with Ronald Johnson's Smithfield Police Department email. Hoffman had the phone image and the data extracted by a NC State crime lab.
Hoffman described a visit to a Clayton Fitness, where the staff unlocked an office there used by Ronald Johnson. Looking through the door Hoffman observed an I-Phone on the desk, and Hoffman returned to the Johnston County Courthouse to obtain a search warrant for the office. Upon his departure a staff member at Clayton Fitness contacted Ronald Johnson. Video surveillance footage obtained from Clayton Fitness show's Ronald Johnson arriving at Clayton Fitness approximately an hour after Hoffman departed and removing a white box from the office. When Hoffman returned with the search warrant the I-Phone was no longer in the office. The box was eventually located in search of Johnson's car but the I-Phone was not present.
Hoffman recounted his interview process. Hoffman recounted that Devan Barbour was particularly agitated or nervous during the interview process and they briefly discussed a recording of Angie Barbour making a statement about Devan Barbour. During the interview Hoffman recounted that Devan used the term "blackmail" with respect to the meeting he (Devan) had at Clayton Fitness with Ronald Johnson. During today's trial the States Attorney's played a recording of Angie Barbour that was recovered from an email sent from Ronald Johnson to Allyson Bond.
The State's Attorney Zellinger walked Richard Hoffman through a number of text messages that seemed to indicated Johnson was maintaining simultaneous relationships with Allyson Bond and Carolyn Rotondaro. Carolyn Rotondaro is a former employee of Johnston County Public Schools (Central Office). Exchanges between Johnson and Rotondaro, appear to indicate that Johnson asked Rotondaro to access protected or privileged information about the children of Owen Phillips. One of the charges against Johnson relates to an attempt to reassignment of children as a potential act of reprisal. The text message to Rotondaro from Johnson read "I love you, when you get to school try find where Owen Phillips go to school."
A text message on April 18, 2022 from Ronald Johnson to Allyson Bond read "I think Devan is the key."
One of the text messages by Johnson read "I will be certain JoCo Report does a story on her ass!", this appeared to be referring to Angie Barbor.
Afternoon Session.
Ronald Johnson's Defense Attorney Tyndall briefly cross examined Richard Hoffman after lunch. The Defense Attorney appeared to be attempting to create some doubt with respect to Hoffman's investigative methods. Hoffman was released from the stand after a short redirect from the State's Attorney Zellinger.
This was only the highpoints or select examples of items brought out during Hoffman's testimony. The testimony itself was informationally dense with Hoffman recounting or summarizing many of the aspects of his investigation.
Judge Paul Holcombe was brought in to testify after a short recess. Holcombe's testimony was largely anti-climatic - he testified that Angie Barbour asked to speak with him when they were both at the same early voting location in the 2022 Primary Election. Barbour was an active volunteer for Holcombe's reelection campaign. Holcombe testified that Barbour told him Ronald Johnson was pressuring her to recant her statements that she had been in a sexual/romantic relation with Johnson. Johnson recounted he told Angie Barbour she should discontinue contact with Johnson, and reconcile with her husband. Holcombe testified that he encountered Ronald Johnson and Angie Barbour in the midst of a heated conversation with raised voices at an election watch party at a private residence. Holcombe testified he said hello briefly, then texted thanks to Angie Barbour for the assistance she had rendered in his campaign. From extrapolation the private residence was likely the CAAG watch party hosted by Dale Lands. Holcombe was only briefly cross examined by the Defense Attorney.
After Holcombe's testimony was complete Judge Crosswhite instructed the jurors, informed them the trial would likely be completed this week, and then released them till tomorrow.
After the jurors were cleared from the Courtroom, the Defense made two motions to Judge Crosswhite: the first to separate the charges against Johnson, and the second to dismiss all charges on the argument that the State had failed to present compelling evidence or substantially prove the charges. After counter arguments from the States Attorney, and additional questions, Judge Crosswhite denied(dismissed) both motions. Judge Crosswhite directed both the Defense and the State's Attorneys to arrive to the courtroom at 9:00 for coordination for any final witnesses that might be called by the Defense. The State's Attorney's rested their portion of the case.