Valley trauma surgeon Dr. Kris Johnson faces five to 10 years in prison under the only plea deal Maricopa County prosecutors will offer him.
But after an ABC15 investigation into the case, law enforcement sources are raising questions about how the doctor’s prosecution compares to the recent deal offered to a man who attacked an officer with a knife and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a terrorism charge.
Ismail Hamed was sentenced to four years in prison in May for an attack against a Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy back in 2019.
However, the state’s online inmate database states he could be released a year earlier.
Body camera video shows Hamed throwing rocks, pulling a knife, and refusing to stop advancing toward Sgt. Brandon Wells. Detectives later found he was "radicalizing" and wanted to harm police to "promote terror" for ISIS, records show.
Sgt. Wells spoke at Hamed’s sentencing and issued a blistering final line about County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
"The United States does not negotiate with terrorists, and the County Attorney did just that," Wells said.
As part of a plea deal, county prosecutors agreed to reclassify Hamed’s charges as “non dangerous,” which allowed him to receive less prison time.
That is something they will not do for Johnson, who has only been offered a deal that keeps his charges designated as “dangerous” offenses.
At a recent press conference, County Attorney Rachel Mitchell responded to questions about how the two cases have been handled.
"Again, I'm not really going to address the doctor case,” Mitchell said, because of the upcoming trial. “But what I would say is what we took into account in the (Hamed) case is a significant mental health history.”
Johnson's case stems from a June 2022 night when he was worried about a prowler at his front door. He went outside and fired a warning shot straight into the air when he saw bright flood lights blocking the road to his neighborhood. He did not know it was Phoenix police already there because neighbors had called 911 about the same man. Johnson was shot from behind by officers. As he sprinted away in a panic, he said he accidentally fired off three other shots. Officers claim they heard Johnson’s shots “whiz by” them, but no bullets were found behind the officers.
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In court hearings, a judge explicitly told prosecutors that he does not want to see Johnson in prison.
"I certainly hope this case doesn't go to trial… He's not the typical person we want to put in prison. So, I hope we don't get anywhere close to that, that you are able to come to a resolution of some sort," the judge said.
As part of previous reporting on this investigation, we also looked at how the county attorney allowed the former state prison director to receive probation and no prison time after he pointed a gun at officers in a drunken standoff.
After a follow-up question, Mitchell further addressed comparisons to the doctor’s case.
You know, I have to be very wary of tainting a jury pool, and so I'm not going to comment on that,” the county attorney said. “But what I would say in general is this: Every case is different, and we look at the unique factors of each case, and make offers based on those," Mitchell said.
Johnson has not accepted a plea deal and is scheduled to start trial in late July.
Contact ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing at Dave@ABC15.com.
This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and converted to this platform based on the broadcast story written and reported by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
