COLESVILLE, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – A Colesville man convicted of trying to kill a State Trooper continues to maintain his innocence behinds bars.

Jason Johnson was found guilty on two counts of attempted murder of a police officer for shooting Trooper Becky Seager in June of 2021.

Johnson claims he has substantial evidence that proves he did not shoot Seager, the night of June 9th on East Windsor Road in Colesville.

His lawyer has filed a 330 motion for a new trial, claiming that they can prove his innocence.

Jason Johnson says, “People all over the country have been talking about police accountability and misconduct, and them doing things that they shouldn’t and getting away with it. Now, here in your own community, you’ve got one of, if not the biggest case of misconduct there could possibly be.”

Jason Johnson says he’s getting called a monster for something he didn’t do. He admits to shooting several vehicles that night but says there’s a big difference between shooting a car and shooting a person.

Johnson says, “This kind of police behavior, to try and frame a civilian, for attempted murder, and put them away for life, for something that they really could’ve been charged with correctly for criminal mischief and done a couple years.”

Jason admits that he smoked marijuana throughout the day of the shooting. His neighbor, Steve Warner, says that he saw him carving something into the road.

Jason claims that Warner had called the police on his family in the past, so he wrote the phrase “snitches get stitches” outside of his house, which prompted Warner to file a police report.

Police initially responded to a check the welfare call hours later.

Johnson went into his house and retrieved a .270 hunting rifle hoping that it would intimidate the officers to leave.

State Trooper Becky Seager was parked in the middle of the road managing traffic in and out of the area. She testifies that she was directing a truck to turn around, when she fell to the ground screaming that she had been shot.

The Johnson’s claim that the injury to Seager was either friendly fire from another officer or self-inflicted.

Testimony from forensic consultant and firearm expert Chris Robinson determined that Seager’s bullet wound is more consistent with rounds from a .223 rather than a .270.

Jason’s father David Johnson says, “What we’re trying to get down to is the mystery of who did shoot Trooper Seager. Some of the recorded audio and physical evidence seemed to suggest that Seager shot herself, but other evidence suggests that she was shot by another officer. Either way, her injury was the result of friendly fire.”

Jason’s father David says that he has cross referenced police body cam footage with testimonials from trial, and there are several discrepancies.

He claims the most groundbreaking evidence are the trooper’s AVL reports. AVL stands for automatic vehicle location; the software continuously records the positions of police vehicles.

The Johnson’s say that after re-watching the body cam footage, there is an additional law enforcement vehicle where Seager was shot, that is not accounted for on the AVL records that were released.

Jason Johnson says, “There was a car that was there, you have testimony from a trooper saying that was a troop car, and the AVL records don’t show it. And then you also have their own AVL records from that night, displaying that yes, in fact there was a state troop car down there South of her. So, the question is, who is that trooper and if they were there, why are they hiding the fact that they were there.”

The Broome County District Attorney Mike Korchak says that there is no doubt in his mind that Johnson shot Seager and hopes the case can proceed to sentencing.

Mike Korchak says, “This was raised at trial. That there were other potential troopers present and that potentially it was a friendly fire incident. Obviously, the defense argued that, and the jury discredited that as well.”

The New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association says it commends the decision of the jury in finding Jason Johnson guilty. They say that harming or targeting law enforcement officers is never acceptable.

Johnson says he is not asking for forgiveness or sympathy, but rather, for people to consider the possibility that he didn’t do it.

Johnson says, “I’m not asking people to feel sorry for me for shooting police vehicles, which I shouldn’t have done. You know, that was a poor decision, but I didn’t shoot Seager. Somebody else did, and I’ve been taking the blame for this for two years and they’re trying to take my life away. For something that they did.”

Trooper Seager testified at trial that since being shot in the hip, she has suffered constant pain along with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. She has not been able to return to work.

Johnson remains in the Broome County Jail pending the result of his appeal. He faces a minimum of 20 years to life in prison if the appeal is denied.