On Dec. 1, 2022 the Appellate Division of the Superior Court issued the unpublished opinion of State of New Jersey v. Dana Johnson that reversed and vacated the defendant’s conviction of possession of a handgun without a permit. The decision was correct and favorable to the defendant. The factual background of the case demonstrates flaws and failures in the prosecution of criminal cases that can result in the miscarriage of justice. The defendant is an African American woman, who was employed as a law enforcement officer in the Federal Bureau of Prisons Correctional Center in Philadelphia. She never had a criminal record, was previously a military police officer and was a decorated combat Iraq War veteran. Her character and reputation is not challengeable. She was wrongfully and unnecessarily incarcerated for three and a half years. Eight months after her release from prison, she was exonerated because the court found that the offense that she was convicted of was not a crime.

She had resided with her wife and her two children from a previous relationship until their separation. On March 26, 2018, she received a call from her wife’s son’s school and on that evening she went to the home to discuss with her son what happened with him at school earlier in the day. The wife was now residing with another woman with whom an argument occurred. It was alleged that the defendant pulled a gun from her pocket, cocked it and aimed it at her. The defendant denied that that ever happened. After the defendant left, the police were called and subsequently they went to her home, where she consented to a search and advised them that she was a federal correctional officer and that she had a firearm locked in the console of her car and voluntarily permitted the police to retrieve it. She was arrested and indicted for three counts of possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, possession of handgun without a permit and an aggravated assault by the pointing of a firearm.