-Caveat Lector-
Ex-prosecutor declares innocence in Waco case
By TIM BRYANT
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
November 14, 2000
ST. LOUIS - A former federal prosecutor says he'll "let the
process run its course" now that he has declared his innocence to
charges he obstructed the investigation into the siege at the
Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney William Johnston entered a not
guilty plea Monday in federal court in St. Louis. U.S. Magistrate
Judge Mary Ann Medler released Johnston on his promise to show up
for scheduled court appearances.
Johnston has a trial date of Jan. 2. But his lawyer, Michael
Kennedy of New York, said he will probably ask for a later one.
A federal indictment accuses Johnston, 41, of hiding his notes
about the FBI's use of incendiary tear gas rounds at Waco from
the Justice Department and Congress. He also is accused of later
lying about the notes to the grand jury and investigators for
John C. Danforth, special counsel in the case.
Johnston left the U.S. attorney's office in February. He has
admitted that he withheld several pages of notes from 1993
dealing with the FBI's use of pyrotechnic gas. He has said he did
it for fear that hostile colleagues would use the notes to
discredit him.
"My actions were foolish, regrettable and wrong, but they were
not criminal," he said.
Johnston is charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and
three counts of lying to investigators and to the grand jury that
returned the indictment.
Grand jurors returned the indictment the same day Danforth
released his final report clearing the government of crimes in
the siege of the Davidian compound.
Johnston helped draw up the search warrant that agents of the
Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms tried to serve
on Feb. 28, 1993, at the Branch Davidian compound. The incident
turned into a gunbattle in which four federal agents and six
Davidians were killed.
The resulting 51-day standoff ended in a fire that destroyed the
compound. Sect leader David Koresh and about 80 followers died.
In 1994, Johnston helped convict nine Davidians of crimes.
Danforth's final report criticized others who had withheld
information and evidence, but other than Johnston, no one is
being prosecuted. The criminal case is the final development in a
14-month investigation that cost $17 million. The final report
was the last of Danforth's findings.
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