Johnson trial begins

The trial of Jessie Johnson began as scheduled on Monday morning for charges related to the death of local man Doug Haar. Contrary to concerns expressed by defense attorney Don Fuller that it might not be possible, given the limited population in the local community, to find a fresh pool of potential jurors “untainted” by involvement in the Marty Smith trial, the selection process was successful and a jury was seated on Monday morning.

Opening statements from the prosecution suggested that Deputy County Attorney Linda Black would focus on the fact that the incident at Sundance Travel Center in...