The Judge Was Listening… Until She Heard “There Was a Child in the Car”

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]If somebody holds somebody at gunpoint and they want to steal their vehicle, they would say, "Oh my gosh, shucks. I didn't know there was a child in this car. Let me pause."

[00:00:12]But they gave nobody pause. Everybody just still continued with what they were going to do. That's a problem for the court.

[00:00:19]>> She thought good grades, college plans, and 5 months in jail had earned her a second chance. But Judge Boyd couldn't forget one horrifying detail. A mother and her four-year-old child were trapped during the robbery and nobody stopped.

[00:00:33]Then the judge asked one question that changed everything. What happened next?

[00:00:37]Turn this courtroom completely silent.

[00:00:39]>> Court is calling 2023 CR 3848, State of Texas versus Michaela Elise Johnson. Can I have parties announce for the record for the state defense?

[00:00:50]>> Patrick Hancock for the defendant.

[00:00:53]>> All right. And are you Miss Johnson?

[00:00:54]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:00:55]>> All right. We're here for sentencing.

[00:00:58]You entered a plea of no contest to robbery on December 4th. According to the plea bargain agreement, punishment is to be assessed at a cap of 8 years in the prison. The state is opposing your application for community supervision or deferred adjudication. They're taking certain items into consideration.

[00:01:18]All right. Did uh you all have a chance to review the PSI report, state?

[00:01:23]>> Yes, judge. Defense, >> I did your honor.

[00:01:26]>> Any objections to the PSI report? State?

[00:01:28]>> No.

[00:01:28]>> Defense?

[00:01:29]>> No, ma'am.

[00:01:30]>> All right. Uh, state, any witnesses?

[00:01:33]>> Uh, no, your honor.

[00:01:34]>> Defense, any witness?

[00:01:35]>> Yes, your honor, I do. I have Miss Alicia Franklin, Michaela's mom.

[00:01:40]>> All right. Miss Franklin, >> can you raise your right hand? Do you solemnly swear affirm the testimony you give will be the truth that nothing but the truth will help you guide?

[00:01:49]>> I do.

[00:01:49]>> All right. You can lower your hand. Make sure you keep your voice up so the court reporter can hear. If you can state your name for the record.

[00:01:55]>> Elisia Franklin.

[00:01:57]>> All right. Defense.

[00:01:58]>> Miss Franklin. Good morning.

[00:01:59]>> Good morning.

[00:02:00]>> Um, you and I have spent a lot of time together regarding Michaela. Is that correct?

[00:02:05]>> Correct.

[00:02:06]>> And you are aware that Michaela has accepted responsibility for a robbery here in Bur County.

[00:02:13]>> Correct.

[00:02:14]>> And today is the day that the judge can either send her to prison or entertain her application for probation or deferred adjudication.

[00:02:23]Correct.

[00:02:24]>> Miss Franklin, let me just ask you. Um, how old is Michaela?

[00:02:29]>> As of now, she is 18. When the case started, she was 17.

[00:02:33]>> And when did she turn 18?

[00:02:35]>> November 3rd.

[00:02:37]>> And um, where is she a student at?

[00:02:41]>> At Roosevelt High School.

[00:02:43]>> She what grade is she in?

[00:02:44]>> She's a senior. And being in Roosevelt High School, has she uh made future plans, applied to any universities, or done anything at this point in her senior year?

[00:02:56]>> Yes, she was accepted to UTSA and we're pending um >> Excuse me, please whisper.

[00:03:04]>> Say it again, ma'am.

[00:03:05]>> She was accepted to UTSA and we're pending um the application for Clark Atlanta University.

[00:03:10]>> Very good. And how is she doing in school?

[00:03:13]>> She's doing good. She's on my honor roll. She right now she has all A's and um perfect attendance since she's been out.

[00:03:22]>> And did Michaela request a a letter from one of her school counselors to offer to the court today?

[00:03:30]>> She did.

[00:03:33]>> I tender this to the to the to the state for their review at some point. You'd like for me to look at that, judge.

[00:03:40]>> All right. Any objections to the court reviewing this?

[00:03:43]>> All right. You may continue, >> Miss Franklin. Um, with regard to that letter, um, is it a positive review of how Michaela's doing at Roosevelt High School right now?

[00:03:52]>> It is. Michaela's um, right now she's since her release, she's at the best she's ever been. Um, she's focused.

[00:04:00]She's serious about furthering her future um, for college and she's on the right path.

[00:04:10]like to take you back to, I guess, the time around this all ends.

[00:04:15]Um, and before I do that, I want to ask you, um, are you a single mom?

[00:04:19]>> I am.

[00:04:20]>> Does Michaela have a father in her life who's active or >> He's not active. Um, not consistently.

[00:04:29]>> And do does she have any siblings?

[00:04:32]>> She does. She has a brother and a sister from her father.

[00:04:36]And but living in your household is just >> No, not one. Just me and Michaela. I >> want to take you back to around the time of the offense. Um do you remember getting a call that Michaela had been locked up for some very serious offenses?

[00:04:52]>> Yes, I do.

[00:04:53]>> And can you tell the court what your response was?

[00:04:56]>> That she needed to sit there. Um I left her in there. She needed to understand what she had done and take responsibility. Um, I left her in there for five months before I bonded her out so she could understand that she didn't do anything. You know, it wasn't something small. She needed to understand exactly what she did and what she could look forward to. She needed to know what prison or their county was, what jail was.

[00:05:25]>> And do you think those 5 months had a significant impact in her life?

[00:05:28]>> Most definitely. I know for a fact she doesn't want to go back. Um, she definitely has a true meaning of what jail is.

[00:05:37]>> And was that your goal at that time?

[00:05:39]>> That's um definitely was my goal because I could have bonded her out the same day or the next day. I mean, I could have got the financial means to get her out.

[00:05:49]So, it was definitely my goal for her to learn her lesson. And hopefully, we don't ever have to revisit this again, which I don't think we will. I honestly think that she didn't learn her lesson.

[00:06:00]Miss Miss Franklin, let me ask you. At the time when she was arrested, were there some behavioral problems that you picked up on?

[00:06:09]>> Yeah, there was. But I thought she was just being a rebellious teenager. I didn't realize she was like depressed and um had low self-esteem until I she had suicidal thoughts. I took her to Little Ridge, but you know, they let her out and she did a little counseling here and there. So, I thought she was just being more rebellious to herself. Um, I honestly didn't know it was mental health issues there, but once I did know, I've gotten her help.

[00:06:37]>> What mental health issues have you discovered regarding UK?

[00:06:41]>> Definitely depression, low self-esteem.

[00:06:44]Um, we've been going through exercises with the counseling sessions.

[00:06:48]Um, and me myself just trying to boost her up and get on the right path to feel good about herself. And do you think you're on a positive path right now?

[00:07:00]>> Most definitely.

[00:07:02]>> She's back living at home.

[00:07:04]>> She lives at home. Our relationship is really good. She's more open. We actually have conversations about how she's feeling and I think we're on a really good path.

[00:07:14]>> And that's different than what it was before.

[00:07:17]>> Most definitely. She would um stay to herself more, lock herself up in her room. Um you know, just for me what I thought was normal teenage stuff. But evidently it was a little deeper than that.

[00:07:30]>> Miss Franklin, you own a business. Would you tell the judge what you do for?

[00:07:33]>> I do. I'm Sher Lmer Salon. Um, a hair salon in San Antonio >> and have you and uh Michaela talked about her interest in in working in the salon?

[00:07:45]>> Yes. Um, but actually before this she did. my assistant and um to be honest, I need her back as an assistant, but she wants to be a barber and um to get her through college. It'll be tough for her to fall back on and I can um I'm also an instructor, so she can get some of her hours through me.

[00:08:03]>> You mentioned that she's been accepted to UTSA.

[00:08:06]>> She's been accepted to UTSA, but she's also um we're pending the application for Clark Atlanta, which she preferably would want to go.

[00:08:14]And what would be her interest in studying college?

[00:08:18]>> Business marketing.

[00:08:22]>> Um, so you left her in jail for 5 months and now she's been on pre-trial release as a condition of her bond.

[00:08:30]>> Correct.

[00:08:31]>> I know we had one GPS uh circumstance that we had to uh take up with the court, but >> yes. Other than that issue that was straightened out here in the courtroom.

[00:08:42]Do you think she's been compliant with all the rules?

[00:08:44]>> Yes, she's been compliant and I also make sure she's compliant. I mean, we get home on time, way before time. We don't take no shortcuts. So, yeah, she's definitely compliant.

[00:08:55]>> I know that uh today we had the opportunity, the three of us, you, me, and Michaela to go through the present board. You can see there are some pretty raw feelings on the part of the the listed complainant.

[00:09:09]>> Yes.

[00:09:10]>> Um >> can you tell me if you think um even before today um do you think Michaela recognizes um just how serious this offense was and and the fear that people are placed in the after effects of that fear? Yes, she definitely recognizes that. Um, she's definitely um voiced how remorseful she is for this. Um, I know for Christmas we did um she wasn't able to actually go to the Batter Women's Shelter, but she did produce a toy drive. So, um, where she marketed it and we received a lot of toys, I think over 500, and took it back to the Better Women's Shelter. Um, she definitely is remorseful and she definitely understands that she put these people in fear and it's not to be taken lightly.

[00:10:04]>> Great.

[00:10:07]>> Could you address very quickly whether you think your daughter would be a good candidate for probation or deferred education in this court?

[00:10:14]>> I think she would be a great candidate.

[00:10:15]I think um matter of fact, I know she has a bright future. Um, this was something that she got herself into that I know she regrets and I don't think that she should be sent to jail. She's done 5 months and I understand that's not the same as 10 years, but she definitely recognizes and has had a taste of what jail is to not do this again and not be in any more trouble and to succeed and hopefully help other juveniles and help other people who are going in that direction.

[00:10:50]Ma'am, that's all the questions I have.

[00:10:51]The state has an opportunity to ask any questions they want.

[00:10:53]>> Yes.

[00:10:55]>> Any questions?

[00:10:56]>> Were you aware that this offense occurred on February 8th of 2023?

[00:11:00]>> Once I got a call from the um Michaela when she was already in custody, >> so you knew the date?

[00:11:06]>> Yes.

[00:11:07]>> And what day was that of the week? Do you remember?

[00:11:09]>> I do not.

[00:11:10]>> Would it surprise you that it was a Wednesday?

[00:11:13]>> Um I I mean I don't know. didn't >> it was a Wednesday.

[00:11:18]>> Would it surprise you that this offense occurred shortly before 1:00 p.m.?

[00:11:24]>> Um, the whole thing surprised me. I >> But I'm asking specifically about the time at which the offense occurred.

[00:11:31]Would that surprise you? Did you know that it happened?

[00:11:34]>> I did know. I mean, I've known since by reading the papers. And >> where where should Michaela have been?

[00:11:40]>> She should have been at school.

[00:11:42]So, do you know or did Michaela ever talk to you about what happened during this offense? Um, >> I Yes.

[00:11:52]>> So, you were aware that the victims in this case was a mother and her young four-year-old son?

[00:11:57]>> Yes, sir.

[00:11:58]>> And you had a chance to read the victim impact statement?

[00:12:00]>> Yes, sir.

[00:12:02]>> And did it shock you that this had a drastic effect on that family?

[00:12:07]>> Uh, no, sir. I definitely understand the turpitude of the case.

[00:12:13]>> So, you understand what the victim's feeling, what she's saying, but I presume it would be appropriate here.

[00:12:18]>> Um, I don't think it would be appropriate for Michaela for the simple fact.

[00:12:23]>> I'm going to ask if you could answer my question, would it surprise you or or does it shock you that the victim in this case is asking for prison?

[00:12:30]>> No, sir.

[00:12:31]>> Is it understandable?

[00:12:32]>> It definitely is understandable.

[00:12:36]>> And Were you aware that the other two people that participated in this act that they were both younger than each other?

[00:12:45]>> Yes.

[00:12:47]>> So, she was the oldest one out of the group, >> right?

[00:12:51]>> Okay. Yes.

[00:12:52]>> So, she should have been able to make better decisions than the other two.

[00:12:55]Correct.

[00:12:56]>> I don't agree with that. Um, the other two had been in trouble. I understand.

[00:13:00]And she also was the only girl. So, >> and specifically her role in this act, were you aware that she was the person that drove the car that boxed in the victim and her son?

[00:13:11]>> I understand that she was the driver.

[00:13:13]That's >> specifically that boxed in the victim and >> nothing to say.

[00:13:19]>> All right. Any other questions?

[00:13:21]>> U M I think I handed it to the judge as a part of the other letter, but we did take Michaela to be evaluated by Mark Harris.

[00:13:29]>> I did.

[00:13:30]>> He's a licensed therapist.

[00:13:32]Yes, >> judge. If I didn't give you that.

[00:13:34]>> Yes, you did. And I I reviewed it. It's attached to that.

[00:13:37]>> Thank you, judge. Um, >> and you had the opportunity to look at his assessment and that's helped you on a path of of understanding her now. Is that correct?

[00:13:48]>> Yes, it did.

[00:13:49]>> All right. Thank you.

[00:13:52]>> Thank you for coming in.

[00:13:55]>> All right. Defense, call your next witness.

[00:13:57]>> Judge, that's it.

[00:13:59]>> All right. Did your client wish to say anything?

[00:14:01]Uh, judge. Um, I think I'm going to speak before.

[00:14:06]>> All right. So, I want to let the parties know that part of my question or maybe you can address this council.

[00:14:15]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:14:16]>> Because it says that she is minimizing her role and it says regarding the instant offense, the defendant stated, "I have no comment at this." Which I understand.

[00:14:28]>> Sure. But then she comes back and she does make a comment and it says the defendant later stated I feel it needs to be looked into more rather than what they are saying and >> and I think we we address that actually this morning judge. I think her point on that is um she was charged with aggravated robbery. She did not possess, hold, or yield a gun. uh and so it's been kind of a process of explaining that to her. So I think that she's not uh minimizing her role as far as uh doing things with those young men. However, I think she's made a distinction that uh contrary to what the state wants to put forward is that she was not the leader of this. she was a follower in this and she did not uh possess or hold a gun. And so I think it's I think as to Miss Ballard's point in the in the PSI, maybe she could have gotten out of the car and said, "Hey, don't do that." She didn't do it. But the point of the matter is that she was in the car and not actively terrorizing these people. I I make that distinction, but I also understand that if she's there that she's a part of it.

[00:15:50]>> All right. Because I'm reading the PSI.

[00:15:54]I'm sorry, reading the stipulations and the stipulations it says that she was the one who boxed the driver in.

[00:16:06]Well, Judge, you know, we're here taking responsibility for the facts. So, I don't think I don't think she has said that she's not guilty of this offense. I just think she has a different interpretation, okay, >> of her role versus those young men.

[00:16:23]>> All right. All right. Anything else from the state?

[00:16:28]>> Uh, I wasn't one of our emergency advocates that the witness on Zoom was addressed. It was a It was a brown sweater. That's what she's saying that she was wearing.

[00:16:36]>> No, the person who was on Samsung, that wasn't a brown sweater. Unless I'm color blind or something's going on. They had on no top.

[00:16:45]>> Okay. Well, all right, Judge. I just wanted to make sure just Thank you. All right. Um, >> I didn't want to I don't want to overstep, but I do want to make a brief argument next time.

[00:16:55]>> Yes, you may proceed.

[00:16:59]So, judge, when I first started representing this young lady, she was in jail. And as her mother said, usually in usually I'm have to feel those questions. How quickly can we get out of jail? I think Miss Franklin took a a very brave approach for a single mom and that is that I want her to sit there.

[00:17:18]These are serious charges. I want her to get a taste of incarceration. I want her to understand that you have to be penalized or punished for the things that you do. So, five months passed by and so I think that the value in that here in the courtroom today is that she has a taste of incarceration.

[00:17:41]Um, and I think she's come out of jail judge and and the letter from the Roosevelt High School from Miss Howard says she's really doing well in school.

[00:17:52]It's it's hard for me to believe she's 17 years old when I when I met her and charged with such a serious crime and she's turned 18 and she's only, you know, 3 months into her 18th year. So, you know, judge, it's one of those things. She's got a bright future. She's got hopefully acceptance into a school in Atlanta. She's been accepted to UTSA.

[00:18:16]Those letters, in my opinion, judge, from Roosevelt High School, those are hard letters to get for the defense. And that's a really fine letter that that supports uh Michaela in her application for probation. I don't want the court to think that she's minimizing this because I we've spent hours talking about, you know, the whatifs and and and how you can't find yourself in that situation. her mom was bright enough through through uh some talking that we had to get her sessions with with Mark Harris and Mr. Harris is very good through the juvenile probation and and through uh private practice of of bringing these young people in young people. He specializes in young offenders and working with them with this cognitive behavioral. You can't find yourself in the situation. You can't find yourself around the situation. If you do, then you need to leave. You don't need to be boxing anybody in cars. So, I I think this has been put square upon um Michaela. I think she's done a great job out on bond. I think she's doing a great job in school right now. I can tell you that her relationship with her mother has never been better. I just really beg this court to give this young woman a chance.

[00:19:43]a conviction and being sent to prison would is going to irreparably change her life. Now, I know that there's victims out there who have had their life irrelyably changed, too.

[00:19:55]There's nothing we can do about that, but this is a young lady who's clearly on a positive path, and we'd like for her to stay there with the court's permission. state >> judge. The situation here is that they specifically targeted a mother and a young child. That child's been damaged for the rest of his life. He's gone through immense trauma. And the role that Miss Johnson played here was an important one. She boxed them in.

[00:20:25]She's the reason why they could not get away.

[00:20:29]I understand that she's made a lot of progress after the fact, but in that moment, she could have made different choices. Choices is what she's going to have to make going forward. It It's something that the state feels that prison would be appropriate here. The victims feel that prison would be appropriate here. That's what we're asking. Judge, I just want to You see more of these PSIs than I do, but It looks like the juvenile offenders who I think want the more serious role in this, I can't read this correctly, but it looks like one of them had his cases dismissed, maybe placed on probation, >> and then one was sent to um some kind of TYC placement.

[00:21:20]Um, so I I guess if I look at that judge, I just argue that there will be some kind of equitable position here by the court to figure out what to do with Michaela.

[00:21:34]Um, again, judge deferred adjudication on secondderee felony is a is a quite a good thing. I mean, we all know what deferred adjudication is, but sometimes it doesn't mean a dod diddly damn in court. Here, it makes a big difference because um it gives her a chance to prove herself and it gives the court a long leash to make sure that she's doing well. I I don't know what else we could bring the court to show that she's remorseful, doing well at home, doing well on her conditions of bombing. So again, we would ask that the court wisely place her on deferred adjudication.

[00:22:15]Understand that she's done five hard months in the in the Bear County Jail. I think she spoke about her fear of the jail with Mark Harris in that letter. I think her mom made a good decision and and we're we're hoping that that will will sway the court and give her a chance at a future without being another young black female with a conviction on her.

[00:22:38]>> Here's the court's problem and what I think people need to look at.

[00:22:44]sometimes punishment and and all attorneys will tell you when we're in law school, they they tell you about the purposes of sentencing. Sometimes the purpose of sentence is for rehabilitation. Sometimes it's just punishment. Sometimes it's protecting the community. There are a host whole host of reasons. But your problem is sometimes when you've done something that is considered so horrendous, right?

[00:23:17]No matter the changes you've made, sometimes it's just a prison offense.

[00:23:21]There are a lot of people who do things that I'm sure if they could go back in time, they would have changed. If they would have said, "I wouldn't have done it."

[00:23:30]but the boxing of someone in with your vehicle.

[00:23:34]And I read the P the PSI report and I read the stipulations in the stipulations. The driver of the vehicle said, "Hey, uh, my son is in the car."

[00:23:43]And that didn't give anybody pause.

[00:23:46]I would think that there are certain things that should give people pause.

[00:23:50]For example, if somebody holds somebody at gunpoint and they want to steal their vehicle, they would say, "Oh my gosh, shucks. I didn't know there was a child in this car. Let me pause.

[00:24:03]But they gave nobody pause. Everybody just still continued with what they were going to do. That's a problem for the court. So this is what >> isn't isn't the problem that she was no matter what her role was, it was still going to be something that was horrendous because it's a robbery.

[00:24:21]>> Yeah. O under and I'm not trying to argue with the court but under that circumstance then then no one should be uh eligible for deferred adjudication.

[00:24:32]>> Well there I mean council as you're aware there are different types of robbery and there are some robberies that don't involve a child state >> your honor. So, right through. One thing I did notice in the letter uh for the psychiatrist. Something that is bother Andrew, I'd seen it somewhere in here, is that Miss Johnson, she said she gave them a ride, but did not know their intentions, but she played a role in boxing commit. She says that she had never had or handled a gun that night.

[00:25:04]When the police let up her car, the boys threatened her if she didn't keep going.

[00:25:07]One of the boys threatened to shoot her if she stopped.

[00:25:10]Nowhere is that brought up in the report that she had mentioned that that she had said that they had threatened her. So that's just something that is well I don't think it's I mean it's it's her feeling. So it's not going to be in a police report, >> but I can tell you that was her feeling on this. She did feel threatened by these two young uh juvenile offenders, but we're here today to take responsibility and not make excuses. So that's that's our answer to that. match.

[00:25:40]>> All right. This is Is there anything else before the court makes its ruling?

[00:25:44]>> No, your honor. No, not >> All right. This is what the court is going to do. Court is going to find you guilty taking consideration 2023 CR3850 2023 CR 3849. Grand jury number 806632.

[00:26:00]There's to be restitution of $110 to John Bright in grand jury number 806632.

[00:26:08]give you credit for any time served. I'm going to retain jurisdiction. Your attorney will tell you what that means and I'm going to send it you to six years in the prison. Did you review what it's entitled trial court certification with your attorney? Did you understand it? And did you sign it?

[00:26:25]>> Because this is plea bargain agreement because I followed your plea bargain agreement. Because you wave your right to appeal, you do not have the court's permission to appeal. Because this is a felony conviction, you're not allowed to own or possess any weapons or ammunition. If you have a question over what a weapon or ammunition is, you'll need to speak to your attorney. And Mr. Hancock, you can explain to her what that means.

[00:26:44]>> I will, Judge.

[00:26:44]>> All right.

[00:26:45]>> Michaela Johnson avoided the full 8-year sentence, but Judge Boyd still sent her to prison for 6 years. The judge said trapping a mother and her four-year-old child during a robbery was simply too serious for probation. One terrible decision destroyed a future that once included college and straight AIDS. 98% of people watching still haven't subscribed.