Santa Clarita Antelope Valley : Jury Selection to Begin Soon in Fire Attack

Attorneys are scheduled to begin selecting jurors today to decide the fate of a Val Verde man charged with pouring gasoline on his ex-girlfriend and setting her on fire in front of her three children.

Johnny Mack Finney, 38, faces life in prison if convicted of attempting to kill Janice Johnson, 30, who suffered life-threatening burns over 25% of her body in the Aug. 1, 1993, attack at her Val Verde home.

Finney also faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and spousal abuse, and is in custody in lieu of $1-million bail.

There is little dispute by Finney’s attorney that Finney committed the act, so the challenge will be proving that he intended to kill Johnson, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeff Jonas.

Jonas said Finney was convicted of misdemeanor battery against Johnson in 1993 and felony battery against another woman in 1987.

Deputy Public Defender Howard Waco, Finney’s attorney, said his client was not thinking clearly and got involved in a dispute that accidentally got out of hand.

“He’s not sure what he meant to do,” Waco said. “I don’t think he intended to kill her.”

Waco said that Finney’s 1987 conviction resulted from his striking a woman who hit him on the head with a metal object and that Finney never actually hit Johnson during the 1993 incident.

Finney’s trial began Friday in Superior Court in Van Nuys, but jurors have not been selected yet, Jonas said. Selection was delayed Monday because Judge Candace Beason was ill, but Jonas said opening statements could begin Wednesday if attorneys begin choosing jurors today.

Finney and Johnson dated intermittently for about three years. She has two children, who were 2 years and 10 months at the time of the attack. She also has a son, then 14, from a previous relationship.

The assault was allegedly sparked by Johnson’s breakup with Finney, according to sheriff’s officials. The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station received a call just before the incident from Johnson, who said Finney was coming over to burn her house down.

Johnson’s oldest son told sheriff’s deputies that Finney asked her to go into the bathroom to talk to him, emptied a two-liter plastic drink bottle filled with gasoline on her, then threw a lighter at her.

Authorities said Finney then lay down on Johnson in an apparent attempt to kill both of them. A neighbor who drove Finney to the house, not knowing his intent, heard Johnson screaming and rushed in to put out the fire with his hands.

Johnson suffered second- and third-degree burns to her upper body and head, and has permanent scarring on her face, upper back and arm, Jonas said.

Finney had third-degree burns to his arms, but was able to walk away from Johnson’s house. Sheriff’s deputies arrested him a short time later while he was walking toward his home.