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Posted on Fri, May 31, 2013 : 5:58 a.m.

Judge: Woman accused of drunken driving in baby's death will continue daily substance tests

By John Counts

Constance_Johnson.jpg

Constance Johnson

Courtesy of WCSO

The 37-year-old Ypsilanti Township woman charged with driving while intoxicated when she was in the crash that killed her 6-week-old son will continue to undergo daily alcohol and drug testing, a judge ruled Thursday.

Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge David Swartz made the ruling after agreeing to a two-week adjournment in the case of Constance Johnson, who will next appear before him June 13.

James Gallagher, Johnson's court-appointed attorney, requested a change in the bond conditions, specifically relaxing the daily testing for drugs and alcohol.

"She's been testing negative," he said, adding that the $10 cost per day for the testing is a burden on Johnson.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Vella objected, saying that the charges could potentially send her to prison for 4-8 years.

"The people are highly opposed to any change in bond," he said.

Vella said that per the police report, Johnson had opiates, marijuana and alcohol in her system the morning she was accused of crashing her vehicle with her 6-week-old son in the front seat.

"She is a danger to the community," Vella said.

Swartz ordered Johnson to continue the daily testing.

Police say Johnson was driving a mini-van east on Foley Avenue in Ypsilanti Township around 5:30 a.m. Oct. 7 when her vehicle struck a pickup truck parked on the side of the road. Johnson and her 6-week-old son, Isiah Caddell, were the only two people in the vehicle. The baby was in a standard car carrier, but it was in the front seat and not strapped in, police said. Caddell died a week later from injuries sustained in the accident.

Johnson received a $1,000 personal recognizance bond last month when she was arraigned on charges of homicide with a motor vehicle, involuntary manslaughter, operating while intoxicated causing death, operating with a suspended license causing death, second-degree child abuse and open alcohol container in a vehicle.

She appeared briefly in court Thursday, but did not speak. She remains free on bond and quietly left the courtroom after the proceedings.

Johnson has been charged in three criminal cases in the past 13 years, two of which were dismissed, according to court records. She received a stiffer bond in all three cases than she did this time.

In 2000, Ypsilanti police said she clubbed a man on the head with a table leg and took his vehicle. Johnson was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and unlawful use of a motor vehicle and was given a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. The case was eventually dismissed.

Four years later, Johnson was accused of forgery and uttering and publishing. She eventually pleaded guilty to an added misdemeanor charge of false pretenses between $199 and $1,000. When she was initially arraigned on the charges, she was given a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.

Johnson was charged in 2008 with failure to return rental property, but that was also dismissed. When arraigned on that charge, Johnson was given a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.

Johnson is also listed as the plaintiff in six paternity suits and two child support suits between 1998 and 2009 in circuit court records.

John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

Comments

BhavanaJagat

Sun, Jun 2, 2013 : 4:31 p.m.

Whole Dude - Whole Calculator: I share the same concerns as stated by Sue and would like to examine the costs and money spent by State if it has provided some benefits to this person. The story says that this 37-year old lady is involved in six paternity suits and it is reasonable to assume that she is the mother of those children. To deliver these children she may have used one or the other health care provider. The payment for her health care service is paid by either private insurance or by providing economic assistance through a program like Medicaid. The money goes into the pockets of the service provider and not to this beneficiary. It appears to me that the health care service has taken no initiative to prepare her for the role of motherhood while billing the system for delivering her babies. We basically do not have a health care provider who could treat a person as a whole person and support the well-being of that person in all its aspects. This disorganized health care system is spending health care dollars leaving behind people with unresolved health issues, and thereby increasing the social costs in the operation of other services like those provided by courts and prisons.

Sue

Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 5:35 p.m.

Nice to know what she's doing with her taxpayer funded welfare money...buying drugs and alcohol for herself rather than seeing that all her different baby-daddy children are being properly loved and cared for. She's proven herself to be an irresponsible, immature law breaker with a victim's mentality of entitlement. Her children deserve better and so does society. Lock her up for a few years, she's already killed one innocent child because of her actions.

BhavanaJagat

Sat, Jun 1, 2013 : 5:04 p.m.

Whole Dude - Whole Compassion: It is indeed a very disturbing story to learn about the loss of life. There is a much bigger problem that we have to uncover and find solutions. She got exposed because of this motor vehicle accident that resulted in injuries. There could be several others at a similar risk. We have to carefully evaluate the benefit of daily drug tests and its costs. We need some reliable numbers to assess the costs. The costs of imprisonment, and rehabilitation therapy in a prison must be estimated to approach this problem of substance abuse. There are risks to the community if substance abusers are not found and if there is no intervention until there is some violation of law. Criminal behavior and actions attract retribution, but the problem of misuse and abuse of chemicals could be approached using the uplifting power of compassion. If mental, or emotional pain is the driving force for the use of drugs, sympathy, and compassion could provide some pain relief and reduce the problem of drug dependence.

music to my ear

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 11:47 p.m.

yes the anger, I am finding out "ANGER" is a growing epidemic. people life is too short do you not want to be "HAPPY"

music to my ear

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 11:43 p.m.

Too much, too little. too late, good luck.

fanny

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 5:25 p.m.

I agree with the Prosecutor, she is a danger to society. I think that the only way this woman will stay clean is if she is mandated to continue her drug testing. Good for the Judge.

Veracity

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 3:34 p.m.

Because of her irresponsible actions and drug addiction I hope that Protective Services considers removing the remaining children from her home. Only jail time will allow her to recover from her drug addiction and provide her with time to gain some insight and redirect her life, hopefully.

Jim Osborn

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 11:13 a.m.

I see two issues here: 1) she is already being punished, althugh she has not yet been found guilty in a court. It does look bad for her and she does look guilty and if so, shd needs to lose her license as she is a menance and will likely drive anyway. How can a presumed innosent person be made to do a daily test? As a condition of a low bond? 2) This is so sad, she treated her child like a sack of grocries and did not even strap him in. If guilty of her past crimes, she doesn't apear to be a nice person and she has anger issues; she hit someone on the head with a club.

M-Wolverine

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 1:11 p.m.

I'd say if she's not contesting the results of the inotixcation tests (for which she would have already been "proven guilty") it wouldn't matter. And in any case you can be punished before trial; if you're held without bond (as a danger to society in a murder trial, or a flight risk) you're locked up and being punished without having been convicted of anything yet. You can even use that time as "time served" if convicted, but you really don't get anything back if found innocent.

Jim Osborn

Fri, May 31, 2013 : 11:14 a.m.

yikes - bad spelling no coffee yet