On October 6, 2012, Brandon Johnson died at the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex, as a result of complications from a broken neck. During the first week of March 2013, an open-court John Doe investigation was conducted into Mr. Johnson’s death. Slightly more than one week ago, the medical examiner’s autopsy and investigative reports were released, which indicated that Mr. Johnson had a roommate for most of his stay at the Complex. The roommate, Frederick Williams, for some reason was not called by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office to testify at the John Doe hearings.
Samster, Konkel & Safran Milwaukee personal injury attorney Jonathan S. Safran, who represents the parents of Brandon Johnson, asked prosecutors to subpoena Mr. Johnson’s roommate to testify. Although prosecutors attempted and failed served a subpoena on Frederick Williams, they instead served Mr. Williams’ father. Mr. Williams, however, did not appear at the John Doe hearing yesterday, March 25, 2013. As a result, Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department Detective Mark Gaudynski testified regarding his interview of Mr. Williams on October 9, 2012, three days after Mr. Johnson’s death. Detective Gaudynski testified that, according to Mr. Williams, Brandon Johnson called for help, repeatedly coughed and made gagging sounds, and sounded as though he might be vomiting the night before he died. Mr. Williams also said that Brandon Johnson had asked to be moved from a geriatric chair to a bed, but Complex staff claimed that they could not move him. WISN Channel 12 News found Mr. Williams and interviewed him yesterday regarding his potential information and willingness to testify if subpoenaed. Read more about the John Doe investigation into the death of Brandon Johnson in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here.
Because the roommate might have additional information that could shed light on the circumstances surrounding Brandon Johnson’s death, SKS Attorney Safran has once again asked prosecutors to attempt to subpoena and obtain Frederick Williams’ direct testimony. We will continue to update the status of the John Doe investigation into the death of Brandon Johnson on this website, and on our Blog, which can be found here.
