By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Shane Clark Johnson has been sentenced to 50 years in the Montana State Prison, followed by a five year consecutive sentence for weapons enhancement after being found guilty of negligent homicide in a retrial over the 2013 shooting death of his brother, Travis Johnson.
Johnson was sentenced last week in Hill County District Court by Judge Matthew Cuffe. He will receive credit for 2,827 days of time served, which equates to about 7 3/4 years.
In letters written to the Court since the sentence was handed down, Johnson continued to plead his innocence, arguing that he “never pulled the trigger,” accused the prosecution and state crime lab of mishandling the case, and said his lawyers were “worthless.”
Johnson had previously attempted to represent himself in court, but ended up having a public defender assigned to his case.
County Attorney Karen Alley prosecuted the case, and did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication of this story.
The retrial was held in June, with the jury deliberating for around 90 minutes before coming to a unanimous guilty verdict.
The Montana Supreme Court vacated the initial negligent homicide conviction in September 2020, stating that a reversible error was committed “when it allowed the jury unrestricted access to the State’s audio and video exhibits.”
In the initial 2014 trial that has since been vacated, Johnson was charged with deliberate homicide, but the jury was unable to come to an agreement on that charge and instead convicted him of a negligent homicide charge that was added during the trial. The sentence that was handed down but has since been vacated was for 50 years of incarceration, with 10 suspended.
