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Teacher cleared in bar shootings

She was accused of recruiting friends to kill her ex-boyfriend.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published June 24, 2006

TAMPA - A Cahoon Elementary School teacher has been cleared of all charges in a case in which she was accused of recruiting friends to try to kill her ex-boyfriend.

Betty Jean Johnson, 30, was arrested Jan. 11, four days after a brawl broke out at Gene's Bar that left three people wounded by gunfire.

With trial set for Monday, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said prosecutors agreed to drop all charges Thursday because witnesses gave conflicting testimony in pretrial questioning, leaving attorneys unable to prove Johnson assisted the shooter.

"She's elated," attorney Timothy Fitzgerald said Friday of his client. "She's excited to go back to teaching."

At the time of her arrest, Johnson was a special-education teacher who had worked for the Hillsborough County school system for five years. School officials suspended her without pay after the arrest.

School spokesman Stephen Hegarty said Friday that although the charges against Johnson have been dropped, the school district still must review the facts of the case before deciding whether to reinstate her or terminate her employment.

"We look at people's judgment," Hegarty said. "We look at people's moral character. ... It doesn't mean she's automatically out. It doesn't mean she's automatically back. We're going to apply our own standard."

Tampa police first charged Johnson with attempted murder and aggravated battery. Officers said Johnson recruited three friends from Belle Glade to assault Tommy Mathis, 33, her former boyfriend.

But a few days after Johnson's arrest, prosecutors lowered those charges to felony accessory to attempted murder.

"I think she was arrested in error," Fitzgerald said. "They didn't think they had a case to go forward."

Police said a fight broke out outside Gene's, 2932 N 22nd St., and someone pulled a gun, aimed at Mathis and started firing.

Though Mathis was uninjured, the shooting injured Levi Dukes, 37, Darrell Simmons, 33, and Lewis Jackson, 28. Bondi said Marquel Brown, 30, is charged with being the shooter that night. Brown is being held at South Bay Correctional Facility in Palm Beach.

On Thursday, prosecutors also cleared Felton Millner, 31, of 624 64th St. in Belle Glade of any wrongdoing the night of the shooting. Like Johnson, Millner had been charged with being an accessory to attempted murder.

Fitgerald said he expects Johnson, who lives at 2613 Pioneer Days Lane, Apt. 11, in Tampa, to request the opportunity to return to the teaching field.

"She's an excellent teacher," he said. "Hillsborough County needs her back in the classroom."

Times reseacher Cathy Wos contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 25, 2006, 11:32:53]