D.A. to Seek Mental Files in Aguirre Case
The district attorney’s office, which has been unable to obtain the military and mental health records of accused killer Michael Raymond Johnson, will ask a judge to release the documents, prosecutors said Monday.
Johnson, 49, a former drug counselor, is accused of fatally shooting Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Peter J. Aguirre in Meiners Oaks in July.
Prosecutors say they need to review the health files to decide whether they should seek the death penalty in the case. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 24, at the same time Johnson is scheduled to be arraigned.
Defense lawyers have suggested that Johnson suffers from a delusional disorder brought on, in part, by a tour of duty in Vietnam that caused him to attack Aguirre.
The military and mental health records are sealed in a court file, and although defense attorneys are familiar with the contents, prosecutors have said they want to see the papers.
“The public defender’s office has said we cannot see them and the court has them in its possession, [so] we have to justify their release,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Matthew Hardy.
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