YOUNGSTOWN Man involved in death of girl is back in prison

Leslie Johnson's conviction was reversed a year ago and reinstated last week.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- When Leslie Johnson was led out of a courtroom in handcuffs, bound for prison, three people who watched were happy to see him go.
"I guess there's closure now," said Connie Ressler of Hubbard. "My faith in the justice system is restored."
It was the second time Ressler and her parents, Virgil and Beatrice Ballew of Youngstown, had watched Johnson be taken to prison for his role in the June 1996 shooting death of 3-year-old Jessica Ballew.
Ressler was the little girl's aunt; the Ballews, her grandparents.
Background: A Mahoning County Common Pleas Court jury convicted Johnson of several charges in September 1996, including complicity to aggravated murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
The 7th District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction with a 2-1 decision in June 2000, ruling that his mere presence at the scene was not enough to consider him an accomplice, even if he had approved of what happened.
County prosecutors appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, which reversed the appellate court's decision last week and reinstated Johnson's conviction and life sentence.
The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the appellate judges misapplied the innocent-bystander legal concept.
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of common pleas court had a hearing Thursday to reimpose the sentence and ordered Johnson returned to prison.
In custody: Johnson, 29, of Glenwood Avenue, was released from prison after the appellate court's decision. When the matter was appealed to the high court, Judge Krichbaum ordered him picked up and held without bond in the county jail until the appeal was resolved.
Ressler and the Ballews said they felt confident that the Supreme Court would uphold the original verdict.
"I had just put it in the hands of the Lord," Beatrice Ballew said. "I did not believe he would let a man walk free who done what he did."
Johnson's attorney, Sherman Miles, asked that Johnson be placed in a prison near the Youngstown area so it would be easier for his mother to visit him, but Judge Krichbaum said he has no control over inmate placement in the state prison system.
bjackson@vindy.com