In Dec. 2022, Hailey Johnson, 21, died after getting shot in the head with a shotgun. Prosecutors said Cleary originally told first responders she fell or had a seizure.
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Prosecutors said when first responders arrived, Cleary covered the shotgun with clothing and sat on top of it. During his sentencing hearing, Cleary testified that he was blackout drunk, and he didn’t remember.
Cleary said he tried to get her to respond.
“She wasn’t responding. I only remember little clips of running and getting help, telling them to call 911,” said Cleary.
Last Thursday, a jury found him guilty of concealing the death of another, making false statements, and two counts of interference with government property.
Judge Jason Marbutt considered ordering a re-trial for the charge of concealing the death of another on Wednesday.
He said that charge is more appropriate in cases in which bodies are dismembered or hidden. He said tampering with evidence would have been a more appropriate charge in this case.
However, Marbutt kept the charge in place.
He said Cleary would serve one year for that charge and 10 years for the others.
“I’m devastated. She didn’t get justice,” said Barbara Johnson.
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Legal analyst and former prosecutor, Chuck Boring said a judge has the right to alter a jury’s verdict due to the 13th juror rule. A judge is considered an extra juror in each case.
“That means the judge, after a jury renders a verdict, sits as a 13th juror in assessing the case, and he the judge finds that he independently thinks that there was insufficient evidence to convict based on a number of reasons that it can be, then he has the authority to reverse the jury’s decision,” said Boring.
After hearing from the family on both sides of the case on Wednesday, the judge decided to keep the concealment charge.
It could have had a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
In response to the one-year sentence on that charge, Johnson’s mother said, “For a year sentence on what should have been 10 at the bare minimum, it’s just, it’s not good enough.”
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