Fatal Stabbing : Jurors Convict El Toro Man of Manslaughter

A 22-year-old El Toro man was convicted of voluntary manslaughter Friday in the stabbing death of another man in Laguna Beach two years ago.

Christopher Lane Johnson, who has been in the Orange County Jail since the killing, was pleased that jurors rejected the more serious charge of first-degree murder, said his attorney, Michael A. Horan.

Johnson was charged with the August 27, 1986, stabbing death of Derek Bowen on the beach near the Little Shrimp restaurant.

Johnson testified that Bowen, who was homosexual, according to other court testimony, had made a pass at him and that he retaliated by hitting Bowen in the chest.

“Actually, my client stabbed him in the chest, but he was either too drunk or too high on drugs to remember what really happened,” Horan said.

Prosecutors introduced evidence that Johnson had written extensive poetry about using his buck knife to hurt someone. Also, friends of Johnson testified that he told them he had stabbed someone, though Johnson said he did not remember it.

Horan said the difference in the jury verdict may have been an expert witness who testified for the defense, a UC Irvine literature professor, Robert Peters, who told the jurors about many great poets who had written about violent acts. Peters even produced for the jury some of his own works about violence.

Johnson, scheduled to be sentenced April 22 by Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno, faces a maximum sentence of 12 years. A first-degree murder conviction would have carried an automatic sentence of 26 years to life.