Man Convicted of First-Degree Murder for Shooting Deputy
VENTURA — After one day of deliberation, a jury found a Ventura County man guilty of first-degree murder and all other charges Thursday for fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy more than a year ago.
The verdicts against Michael Raymond Johnson were returned to a tense courtroom packed with relatives of slain Deputy Peter J. Aguirre Jr. and law enforcement officials, who lauded the decision.
The jury also found Johnson, 50, guilty of four other criminal charges, including attempted murder and spousal rape. And the panel determined Johnson to be eligible for the death penalty because of two special circumstances: He committed a murder in the course of a kidnapping and killed an on-duty police officer.
The jury will next decide whether Johnson should be executed or sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The penalty phase is set to begin Feb. 11.
Aguirre, 26, was gunned down while responding to a domestic disturbance call at the home of Johnson’s estranged wife in Meiners Oaks, near Ojai.
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