KINGMAN — A defendant from Texas who tried to gain freedom by bolting through the doors of a Mohave County Superior Court courtroom in Kingman nearly six years ago has been sentenced to the Arizona Department of Corrections.
Public Defender Marcus Spradlin pushed for probation for Sideon Johnson, 27, Pflugerville.
“There was no intention by Sideon to cause injury. He just panicked and was trying to flee,” Spradlin said. “He could have handled it better, should of handled it better.”
Johnson was 21 years old in October, 2019 when Judge Derek Carlisle ordered him to remain in the courtroom to be taken into custody in a marijuana transportation case. Instead, he avoided being handcuffed and pushed through the doors before he was secured in the hallway during a struggle with a detention officer, a probation officer and a constable.
The Mohave County Sheriff’s Office said the detention officer was bitten on the forearm.
Johnson said he’s a new man who wants to raise his infant daughter, but has missed her first steps and words while serving time in prison in Texas.
“I’ve really grown,” Johnson told judge Camacho during the April 28 sentencing hearing for two aggravated assault convictions achieved by plea agreement. “I have matured and I have changed and I’m willing to put in the steps to do what’s right. I’m asking for probation.
Deputy Mohave County attorney Karolina Czaplinska countered that his lack of respect for authority and his violent criminal history should bring prison for Johnson.
The Court concurred with Czaplinska’s assessment.
“I just can’t justify probation,” Judge Camacho said. He imposed a 2.5-year prison term.
