Partner

Ms. Johnson has more than a decade of experience representing clients charged with federal and state crimes in Colorado, California, and the District of Columbia.  Ms. Johnson has represented clients facing a wide range of criminal charges, from securities fraud and insider trading to drug conspiracies and sexual assaults.

Ms. Johnson represents criminal defendants in Colorado state courts at all stages of a criminal case, including trial, appeal, and post-conviction proceedings.  She pursues a detail-oriented approach to criminal defense advocacy, emphasizing thorough factual investigation, creative plea bargaining, and a sophisticated motions practice built upon her in-depth legal research and persuasive legal writing.

Ms. Johnson has successfully appealed federal criminal sentences to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, obtaining reversals and new sentencing hearings in which she obtained lower terms of imprisonment for her clients (recently reducing her client’s 15-year sentence by half).  Ms. Johnson’s clients benefit from her thorough understanding of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and persuasive federal sentencing advocacy – she has twice obtained minimal “time served” sentences in recent years.

Ms. Johnson regularly assists other attorneys by serving as strategic trial counsel.  In this role, she provides trial-level support for specific aspects of a client’s case, such as motions practice and jury instructions, with the goal of increasing the client’s chances of a successful trial outcome while ensuring that appropriate legal issues are preserved for a potential appeal.

Ms. Johnson has obtained court approval for a client to be removed from the sex offender registry and has gone to court to enforce a probationer’s fundamental parenting rights.  On occasion she represents witnesses and crime victims, advising them about the criminal process and advocating for their interests before prosecutors and judges.

In the area of prisoners’ rights, Ms. Johnson has vindicated the constitutional rights of inmate clients in federal and state courts.  She has also obtained improved medical care and less restrictive conditions of confinement for clients in federal and state custody through informal advocacy with governmental officials. 

Ms. Johnson is one of the few Colorado attorneys who is a member of the Criminal Justice Act panels for both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Ms. Johnson began her legal career as an E. Barrett Prettyman fellow with the Georgetown Criminal Justice Clinic and then as a law clerk to Justice Michael L. Bender of the Colorado Supreme Court.  She practiced law for several years at O’Melveny & Myers LLP (San Francisco office) and at Haddon, Morgan & Foreman, P.C. (Denver).

Community Service

Member, Steering Committee, Colorado Innocence Project.
Member, Board of Directors, Estes Valley Land Trust.

Education

J.D., Yale Law School, 1996
B.A., Trinity University, 1991

State Bar Admissions

Colorado
California (Inactive)
District of Columbia (Inactive)

Admitted to Practice

Supreme Court of the United States

U.S. Courts of Appeals:

• Tenth Circuit
• Ninth Circuit
• Fourth Circuit

U.S. District Courts:

• District of Colorado
• Northern District of California
• Eastern District of California