Prosecutors Drop Charges in Death of Michigan Lawyer
Prosecutors have dropped a second-degree murder charge against the wife of Michigan lawyer Lloyd Johnson after an autopsy indicated that an unhealed wound from an old boating injury contributed to his death.
The autopsy also attributed Johnson’s death to other ills, including diabetes, heart problems and obesity, the Detroit Free Press reports. The Associated Press and the Detroit News also have stories. Johnson’s wife, Laura, had been charged last week after police searched their Farmington Hills home and seized scalpels, possible human tissue in the refrigerator, bloody sheets and a dead dog.
Prosecutors had believed Johnson died as a result of surgery performed on him by his wife, prosecutor Paul Walton told a judge on Wednesday. Walton said that Johnson indicated while he was hospitalized in the days before his death that his wife had conducted surgery on him. Johnson couldn’t speak, Walton said, but he nodded “yes” in response to questions about the medical procedures. Lawyers for Laura Johnson had said she was merely caring for his wounds, and had done so for two years.
Walton said charges could be reinstated after investigators consult independent medical experts about conflicting medical opinions in the case.
