Dean Edward Johnson
Encyclopedia
Dean Johnson is a well-known American attorney, TV personality and academic.
. He graduated first in his class from Broadmoor High School
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
. He earned a National Merit Scholarship to Yale University
and graduated from Yale in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Philosophy. He earned the Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy degrees from Columbia University
where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and Faculty Fellow. He was awarded a Root-Tilden Fellowship to the New York University School of Law
. He earned his law degree from NYU 1980.
Johnson practices law in California
. He is a former San Mateo County, California homicide prosecutor. He is now in private practice.
Johnson is also the Legal Analyst for ABC-7 News in San Francisco and a permanent member of the adjunct faculty of School of Business and Management of Notre Dame DeNamur University in Belmont, California
.
murder case. During the Peterson case, Johnson was a regular guest on MSNBC, CNN
’s American Morning and Fox’s Big Story.
Johnson is currently the legal analyst for ABC-7
News in San Francisco, California
. He has commented on national legal affairs including Supreme Court nominations, same sex marriage, warrantless wiretaps, the death penalty, abortion and the legalization of marijuana.
Johnson has covered a number of high profile cases including the Scott Peterson
trial, the Michael Jackson
trial, the Martha Stewart
trial and the Barry Bonds
case, the ush Limbaugh ase, the Kobe Bryant
case, the Proposition 8 (“Same Sex Marriage”) trial and appeal, the Hewlett-Packard
Criminal investigation, and the iPhone
theft investigation.
Johnson is a frequent guest on radio and on network TV. His comments on legal affairs have also appeared in The New York Times
, The Wall Street Journal
, The San Francisco Chronicle
, the San Jose Mercury News
, The Baltimore Sun Times, and People Magazine.
, where he is a lecturer and permanent member of the adjunct faculty of the Graduate School of Business and Management.
Johnson teaches a popular course entitled Game Theory, Negotiation and Strategic Decision Making. The course is an outgrowth of Johnson’s lifelong study of the science of game theory and decision making. Johnson first became interested in game theory as an undergraduate student in mathematics at Yale. Heavily influenced by Mancur Olson
’s The Logic of Collective Action, he began to apply game theory
in the study of political science
during his graduate studies at Columbia.
Later, as a practicing lawyer, Johnson began using game theory
to analyze litigation and negotiation
strategy.
Johnson’s teaching and academic work focuses on the application of game theory
and, more recently, behavioral economics in the analysis of negotiations and strategic decisions generally. Johnson’s study of negotiation and decision making suggests that current theories under-emphasized role of persuasion
in obtaining optimal, stable outcomes. As a result, Johnson has developed his own approach negotiation, sometimes called the Advocacy Theory of Negotiation.
. His practice includes criminal defense as well as civil litigation.
Johnson recently defended one of the largest criminal cases to arise out of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, obtaining a settlement of nine separate felony prosecutions in exchange for a short jail sentence and electronic home monitoring for his client. One judge called the case “unique in the history of California jurisprudence.” The case was the subject of a front page feature article in The Wall Street Journal
.
Representing a high school student in a child pornography trial, Johnson recently obtained a judgment of acquittal before the jury was selected.
Johnson also obtained a dismissal for a young man from Lebanon
who was accused of sexual assault. Johnson’s client, who was planning to marry his American fiancée, had been facing six years in State Prison followed by deportation back to the Middle East
.
Johnson was a prosecutor
in the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office for 15 years. He prosecuted white collar crime as a member of the Consumer Fraud Unit. He was the County’s top narcotics prosecutor for three years during which his cases included the trial of the County’s first meth lab case, and a prosecution of a member of the Colombia
n Drug Cartel
. He became a homicide
prosecutor when one City in San Mateo County - East Palo Alto- was known as the “homicide capital of America” and often tried back-to-back homicide trials.
and stand-up comedian.
Johnson began climbing in Yosemite National Park
in the 1980s. By 1994, he had summited several of the highest mountains in South America
, including Aconcagua
. In 1994, he was invited to join an American Expedition to Mt. Everest.
Johnson began studying the martial arts
at the age of 4. He holds the black belt
, or equivalent, in four martial arts. He was awarded the black belt in Japan
ese Ju-Jitsu by combat. He is one of the few persons outside Thailand
to be licensed as an instructor in art of Muay Thai
. Currently, Johnson practices Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
and is a personal student of Charles Gracie
.
Johnson is a graduate of the San Francisco Comedy College and has performed at the San Jose Improv
and other venues in the San Francisco Bay Area
.
Johnson lives in Redwood City, California
with his wife, criminal defense attorney Linda Bramy and their two German Shepherds, Linnloch’s Prince Charming aka “Jake” and Linnloch’s Fire and Ice, PT, HT aka “DeeDee.”
Background
Johnson was born in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. He graduated first in his class from Broadmoor High School
Broadmoor High School
Broadmoor Senior High School is an accredited public high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.-About the school:Broadmoor High School was founded in 1960 and resides in the center of the historic Broadmoor Neighborhood of South Baton Rouge...
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. He earned a National Merit Scholarship to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and graduated from Yale in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Philosophy. He earned the Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy degrees from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
where he was a National Science Foundation Fellow and Faculty Fellow. He was awarded a Root-Tilden Fellowship to the New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
. He earned his law degree from NYU 1980.
Johnson practices law in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He is a former San Mateo County, California homicide prosecutor. He is now in private practice.
Johnson is also the Legal Analyst for ABC-7 News in San Francisco and a permanent member of the adjunct faculty of School of Business and Management of Notre Dame DeNamur University in Belmont, California
Belmont, California
Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas,...
.
Media
Johnson first became known as a TV personality when he was asked to comment on the Scott PetersonScott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
murder case. During the Peterson case, Johnson was a regular guest on MSNBC, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
’s American Morning and Fox’s Big Story.
Johnson is currently the legal analyst for ABC-7
KGO-TV
KGO-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, based in San Francisco, California...
News in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. He has commented on national legal affairs including Supreme Court nominations, same sex marriage, warrantless wiretaps, the death penalty, abortion and the legalization of marijuana.
Johnson has covered a number of high profile cases including the Scott Peterson
Scott Peterson
Scott Lee Peterson , an American, was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in Modesto, California, in 2002. Peterson's arrest and subsequent trial dominated the American news media until 2005, when he was sentenced to death by lethal injection...
trial, the Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
trial, the Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart
Martha Stewart is an American business magnate, author, magazine publisher, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, and merchandising...
trial and the Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
case, the ush Limbaugh ase, the Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
case, the Proposition 8 (“Same Sex Marriage”) trial and appeal, the Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
Criminal investigation, and the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
theft investigation.
Johnson is a frequent guest on radio and on network TV. His comments on legal affairs have also appeared in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, The San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, the San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News
The San Jose Mercury News is a daily newspaper in San Jose, California. On its web site, however, it calls itself Silicon Valley Mercury News. The paper is owned by MediaNews Group...
, The Baltimore Sun Times, and People Magazine.
Academia
Johnson currently teaches at Notre Dame DeNamur University in Belmont, CaliforniaBelmont, California
Belmont is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. It is in the San Francisco Bay Area, located half-way down the San Francisco Peninsula between San Mateo and San Carlos. It was originally part of the Rancho de las Pulgas, for which one of its main roads, the Alameda de las Pulgas,...
, where he is a lecturer and permanent member of the adjunct faculty of the Graduate School of Business and Management.
Johnson teaches a popular course entitled Game Theory, Negotiation and Strategic Decision Making. The course is an outgrowth of Johnson’s lifelong study of the science of game theory and decision making. Johnson first became interested in game theory as an undergraduate student in mathematics at Yale. Heavily influenced by Mancur Olson
Mancur Olson
Mancur Lloyd Olson, Jr. was a leading American economist and social scientist who, at the time of his death, worked at the University of Maryland, College Park...
’s The Logic of Collective Action, he began to apply game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
in the study of political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
during his graduate studies at Columbia.
Later, as a practicing lawyer, Johnson began using game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
to analyze litigation and negotiation
Negotiation
Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, to craft outcomes to satisfy...
strategy.
Johnson’s teaching and academic work focuses on the application of game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
and, more recently, behavioral economics in the analysis of negotiations and strategic decisions generally. Johnson’s study of negotiation and decision making suggests that current theories under-emphasized role of persuasion
Persuasion
Persuasion is a form of social influence. It is the process of guiding or bringing oneself or another toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic means.- Methods :...
in obtaining optimal, stable outcomes. As a result, Johnson has developed his own approach negotiation, sometimes called the Advocacy Theory of Negotiation.
Law Practice
Johnson maintains a private practice in Redwood City, CaliforniaRedwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
. His practice includes criminal defense as well as civil litigation.
Johnson recently defended one of the largest criminal cases to arise out of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, obtaining a settlement of nine separate felony prosecutions in exchange for a short jail sentence and electronic home monitoring for his client. One judge called the case “unique in the history of California jurisprudence.” The case was the subject of a front page feature article in The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
.
Representing a high school student in a child pornography trial, Johnson recently obtained a judgment of acquittal before the jury was selected.
Johnson also obtained a dismissal for a young man from Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
who was accused of sexual assault. Johnson’s client, who was planning to marry his American fiancée, had been facing six years in State Prison followed by deportation back to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Johnson was a prosecutor
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
in the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office for 15 years. He prosecuted white collar crime as a member of the Consumer Fraud Unit. He was the County’s top narcotics prosecutor for three years during which his cases included the trial of the County’s first meth lab case, and a prosecution of a member of the Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
n Drug Cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
. He became a homicide
Homicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
prosecutor when one City in San Mateo County - East Palo Alto- was known as the “homicide capital of America” and often tried back-to-back homicide trials.
Personal life
Johnson is a martial artist, mountaineerMountaineer
-Sports:*Mountaineering, the sport, hobby or profession of walking, hiking, trekking and climbing up mountains, also known as alpinism-University athletic teams and mascots:*Appalachian State Mountaineers, the athletic teams of Appalachian State University...
and stand-up comedian.
Johnson began climbing in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
in the 1980s. By 1994, he had summited several of the highest mountains in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, including Aconcagua
Aconcagua
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at . It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza and it lies west by north of its capital, the city of Mendoza. The summit is also located about 5 kilometres from San Juan Province and 15 kilometres from the...
. In 1994, he was invited to join an American Expedition to Mt. Everest.
Johnson began studying the martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
at the age of 4. He holds the black belt
Black belt (martial arts)
In martial arts, the black belt is a way to describe a graduate of a field where a practitioner's level is often marked by the color of the belt. The black belt is commonly the highest belt color used and denotes a degree of competence. It is often associated with a teaching grade though...
, or equivalent, in four martial arts. He was awarded the black belt in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese Ju-Jitsu by combat. He is one of the few persons outside Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to be licensed as an instructor in art of Muay Thai
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
. Currently, Johnson practices Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting...
and is a personal student of Charles Gracie
Charles Gracie
Charles Gracie is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and occasionally mixed martial artist.- Biography :Gracie started training in jiu-jitsu when he was 5. He was instructed by his uncles Rolls Gracie, Carlos Gracie Jr. and Reylson Gracie and received his black belt at the age of 20. In 1986,...
.
Johnson is a graduate of the San Francisco Comedy College and has performed at the San Jose Improv
San Jose Improv
The San Jose Improv is a comedy club located in San Jose, California.-History:Formerly known as the Jose Theater, built in 1904, is the oldest theater in San Jose, located on Second Street, near San Fernando Street. Construction of the Jose was started in 1903, under the ownership of David Jacks,...
and other venues in the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
Johnson lives in Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
with his wife, criminal defense attorney Linda Bramy and their two German Shepherds, Linnloch’s Prince Charming aka “Jake” and Linnloch’s Fire and Ice, PT, HT aka “DeeDee.”