The Latest:
A Maryland judge has acquitted the man charged with murdering a Monroe, North Carolina teenager eight years ago.
Judge Peters said on Friday, that there was not enough evidence to find Michael Johnson guilty of the murder of Phylicia Barnes, despite his empathy for the family.
Barnes was visiting family in Baltimore in 2010 before she went missing. Her body was found in a Maryland river months later.
This was the third trial for Johnson. His initial conviction was overturned and his second trial ended in a mistrial.
Original Story:
BALTIMORE, M.D. — The man who has stood trial twice for the murder of a Monroe teen has been indicted again.
Baltimore prosecutors have re-filed second-degree murder charges against Michael Johnson. He’s accused of killing 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes in 2010, and dumping her body in a Maryland river. A judge dismissed charges against Johnson last month, citing a lack of evidence.
“This is not double jeopardy,” said Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. “What we’re doing is essentially placing this case in the posture it was in at the moment a judge declared a mistrial. We are entitled to prosecute this case, and that’s essentially what we’re doing now.”
Johnson has been served with a summons, not an arrest warrant, because the presiding judge refused to sign one.
