Fort Worth

Defense Attorneys in Typhenie Johnson Case Accuse Prosecutors of Misconduct, Call to Dismiss Charges

Typhenie Johnson, 25, has been missing since October 2016

Defense attorneys in a high-profile case in Fort Worth are calling for charges to be dropped and accusing prosecutors of misconduct.

Twenty-five-year-old Typhenie Johnson has been missing since October 2016. Her ex-boyfriend Christopher Revill is in jail on kidnapping charges. But now the defense says prosecutors hid key evidence that could have changed the case months ago.

Typhenie Johnson's face has been on flyers and even billboards all over Tarrant County. For more than two years, the search to find her has never stopped.

Alongside her photo you'll often see images of Christopher Revill, the man charged with aggravated kidnapping with intent to kill.

To Revill's attorneys, all that attention means one thing.

"He has never had the presumption of innocence at all. He has been presumed guilty," defense attorney Lesa Pamplin said.

Now, she and her co-council are accusing prosecutors of misconduct, alleging they've been hiding the results of a DNA report that could help the defense, a report defense attorneys have been asking for all year.

"Every time we went to court it's, 'We don't have the lab report, something's going on with the DNA machine,'" Pamplin said.

Then, last month in court, Pamplin said she saw the report pulled up on a prosecutor's laptop.

"I'm a former prosecutor, so I know what a DNA lab report looks like," Pamplin said. "I saw it, I said, 'Hey what is that?'"

When the defense finally got a copy, they said it was dated December 2017 and according to court documents, it contains "no positive findings to connect Christopher Revill to the crime."

"We finished the court setting, got back to the office and I pulled it up and I'm like, 'Oh my god, look at the date!'" Pamplin said. "You've had this report."

They believe prosecutors have been stalling, looking for more evidence.

"If the DNA report came back with something significant, this case would have been tried by now," Pamplin said.           

The Tarrant County District Attorney's office could not comment because this is an open case. A hearing on dismissing the charges is set for Dec. 11.

NBC 5 spoke to Typhenie Johnson's family Monday night, who would only say that they believe Christopher Revill is a danger to society.

Contact Us