Charges Dropped in Slaying; Suspect Freed After 20 Months

Prosecutors in Prince George's County dropped charges this week against a man who was about to be tried in the high-profile slaying of a liquor store clerk, an action that comes six months after a co-defendant in the case was acquitted at trial.

Zachary A. Johnson, 26, had spent 20 months in jail. Prosecutors dropped first-degree murder and other charges against him on Wednesday, less than a week before his trial was to begin.

Johnson was charged in the Jan. 27, 2007, killing of Seong Hoon No, 32, who worked at Fort Washington Liquors. Prosecutors alleged that Johnson was one of two masked gunman who entered the store on a sunny, cold afternoon to commit a robbery.

While No and his brother, Seong Yoel No, struggled with one of the assailants, the other opened fire, killing Hoon No and wounding Yoel No.

Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey, said prosecutors decided to drop the charges after a key witness changed his recollection of that day's events, which "shed doubt on the case against Mr. Johnson."

In an interview yesterday, Johnson said he is innocent and didn't understand why he and his close friend, Joseph L. Caulfield Jr., were charged with the crime. On April 3, a county jury deliberated for a little more than an hour before acquitting Caulfield, the alleged shooter, of first-degree murder and 12 other offenses.

"I'm not really sure why we had to go through it," Johnson said.

Johnson and Caulfield, 30, both said they thought they were charged because it was a high-profile crime and Ivey felt someone had to be held accountable, a claim that Korionoff denied.

Johnson's mother, a veteran D.C. police officer, said in an interview that her son was at the family's Charles County home in White Plains on the afternoon of the attack. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she didn't want fellow officers to know her son had been charged with the crime, said she was prepared to testify about Johnson's whereabouts.

Johnson's mother said she was surprised that county homicide detectives arrested her son but never searched his room. She called the police investigation "very shabby."

"It was poor," she said.

The lead police investigator, county homicide Detective Jarriel Jordan, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Yoel No, the brother who was wounded in the attack, did not return phone calls seeking comment. During Caulfield's trial, Yoel No testified that he could not identify Caulfield as one of the attackers.

Caulfield said yesterday that he was not surprised his friend was freed. The state, he said, "did exactly what I thought they would do: pull out."

At Caulfield's trial, his father, Joseph Caulfield Sr., testified that he identified his son from the store surveillance videotape, based not on facial characteristics or clothes but on body movements and build.

Police found no physical evidence, such as a fingerprint or DNA, linking Caulfield or Johnson to the crime. The gun was never recovered.

Johnson and Caulfield said yesterday that they are planning to sue the police department and prosecutors for wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution.