Armed robber gets life sentence

Date: 04/04/2008

A previously convicted armed robber received a life sentence without parole Tuesday after a Charleston County jury found him guilty a second time, the 9th Circuit Solicitor's Office said.

Denen L. Johnson, 36, received the sentence under South Carolina's "two strikes" law, a Solicitor's Office release said. Assistant Solicitor Rutledge DuRant tried the case Monday and Tuesday. The jury reached its decision in less than two hours.

Facts presented at trial showed that the defendant had walked into a Howard Johnson motel in North Charleston around 9 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2004, the release said. He walked to the front desk and asked the clerk for paper and pen. On the paper he wrote: "Please don't make me hurt you. Just put the money in the bag."

At issue was whether Johnson was armed during the incident, prosecutors said. Although armed robbery carries a sentence from 10 to 30 years, the state can seek life without parole for robbery and certain other serious offenses. Circuit Judge Markley Dennis imposed the sentence.

State Law Enforcement Division records show previous convictions for Johnson for armed robbery in Charleston in 1991 and strong-arm robbery in North Charleston in 2000.