Innocence Project attorney seeks appointment to represent woman

A Boise attorney working with the Idaho Innocence Project without charge to get a new trial for a woman who was convicted of killing both her parents is seeking to be appointed by the court to represent her and be paid.

The Idaho Mountain Express reports that the request by attorney Dennis Benjamin of the Boise law firm of Nevin, Benjamin, McKay and Bartlett will be considered Monday during a telephone conference with Fifth District Judge Richard Bevan.

Twenty-five-year-old Sarah Marie Johnson was 16 in 2003 when prosecutors said she shot Alan and Diane Johnson with a rifle at the family’s Bellevue home.

Johnson is serving two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.

Benjamin says new DNA analytical methods could prove Johnson innocent.