The man charged with murder following the death of his stepson during a head-on, wrong way crash in June can live in Florida while awaiting trial next year, but he will likely have to return to Arizona in the next few months to address a wrongful death lawsuit filed against him and a Dave & Buster’s restaurant.
Clifford James Johnson Jr. bonded out of the Cochise County jail Sunday in advance of a Monday hearing on whether he could live at his parents’ Florida home pending trial next year. He is charged with first-degree murder and 22 other felonies stemming from the June 18 crash which occurred as Johnson drove south in the northbound lanes of State Route 90 near Kartchner Caverns State Park.
At the time of the accident, Johnson worked as an officer for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. His employment has ended, but it is unclear as of press time whether Johnson was fired or if he resigned.
Johnson, 38, is now also a defendant in civil litigation initiated by David Aguirre, whose nine-year-old son Lance was killed in the crash. Lance Aguirre and two of Johnson’s own children were in the truck. The Johnson children suffered serious injuries but are back home.
Aguirre’s lawsuit filed by attorney Joel Borowiec names Johnson, Dave & Buster’s Inc., and Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc. as being negligent for Lance Aguirre’s death. It alleges the Dave & Buster’s location in Tucson violated Arizona Revised Statute 4-31 when its staff “sold, dispensed and delivered alcoholic beverages” to Johnson, whom the staff “knew, or reasonably should have known to be intoxicated, or who was obviously intoxicated.”
In addition, the lawsuit claims the staff should have known the amount of alcoholic beverages provided to Johnson “within the time provided” would have rendered him intoxicated under the definition in state law and would have caused Johnson to be “impaired in all his physical and mental abilities, including his abilities to operate a motor vehicle.”
Court records show Johnson underwent sobriety tests at the scene of the accident. A portable breath sample returned a .188 percent blood alcohol content (BAC). A blood test performed after Johnson arrived at Canyon Vista Medical Center resulted in a .237 percent BAC, nearly three times the legal limit.
Mindy Johnson, who is Clifford’s wife and Lance Aguirre’s mother, is not named as a defendant even though she was with Johnson at the restaurant on June 18 and had reason to believe he was intoxicated. Additional defendants can be added to the case if needed, according to court rules.
Public records in Johnson’s criminal case show he will be subjected to a series of release conditions, requirements, including GPS monitoring and regular alcohol monitoring which will be automatically reported to Cochise County’s pretrial services staff. He is also prohibited from driving, from drinking alcohol, and possessing firearms or drugs without a prescription.
His parents and a sibling posted the $300,000 bond, of which all but 10 percent is refundable at the end of trial if Johnson appears. They are required to report any release violations committed by their son to avoid being subject to forfeiture of part or even all of the bond.
Another condition of release imposed by Judge Timothy Dickerson is that Johnson had to sign a waiver of extradition in the event his release is revoked.
Johnson is currently set for a status conference on Oct. 25, which Dickerson said can be telephonically attended. However, the judge could require Johnson to return to Arizona to be interviewed by Aguirre’s attorney or to under a deposition in the lawsuit.
Other victims of the June 18 accident are expected to initiate civil litigation in the near future.
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