Agents swoop into courthouse seeking romance evidence

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) -Investigators spent Wednesday at the Houston County Courthouse, looking into possible prosecutor misconduct, multiple sources told News 4.

They are assembling evidence related to Assistant District Attorney Mark Johnson’s online romance with a woman whom he was to prosecute, and the agents also interviewed Johnson’s coworkers.

Per Facebook messages, Johnson and habitual drug offender Jamie Connolly began their relationship last October, with their cyber chit chat quickly accelerating into sexually charged overtures.

But, by January, their relationship had ended because Connolly was jailed on drug possession and trafficking charges.

While repeatedly promising to meet, there is no indication Johnson and Connolly rendezvoused and it is unclear whether Johnson knew Connolly was awaiting trial in his courtroom since, online, she used the name “Jazmine” Connolly.

Stuck in jail, Connolly in February wrote to Houston County Circuit Judge Kevin Moulton, telling him of the online affair.

After News 4 learned of that letter, Johnson was removed from the case and placed on administrative leave by Houston County District Attorney Pat Jones, who demanded an independent investigation into the allegations.

Find out what happens next in video above this story that continues below.

Johnson had been previously investigated for potential inappropriate messages sent to a court witness but was cleared, Jones said.

Courthouse workers believe the three agents who visited on Wednesday are from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation, though News 4 could not independently confirm their affiliation.

The Attorney General’s Office and FBI will neither confirm nor deny they are investigating Johnson.

As for Connolly, she remains jailed in Dale County on her most recent charges, with unrelated drug cases pending in Houston County.

The Attorney Generals Office will prosecute her Houston County cases at Jones’s request.

Moulton has recused from the cases.

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