is a sociologist with training in criminology and psychiatric epidemiology. He serves as a court-appointed expert witness in state and federal cases. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law and Policy at the University of South Florida in the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. He recently served as a National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Drug Abuse Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Florida. Dr. Johnson leads a research laboratory of 25 independent researchers that investigates the effects of childhood trauma and substance misuse on health and behavioral outcomes among youth in the criminal justice system. His scholarship focuses on opioid misuse, childhood trauma, social disadvantage, and ethnic and cultural studies. Dr. Johnson houses a comprehensive dataset that contains over 100,000 youth in the criminal justice system and has published over 20 studies on how childhood trauma and substance abuse impact youth. He is an experienced and effective expert witness, with more than 15 testimonies, 30 reports and depositions, and over 10,000 individuals trained in the effects of trauma, social disadvantage, and addiction on adolescent health and behavior.

has been awarded the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship, the Lydia Donaldson Tutt-Jones Research Grant, the UF Rollo Award, membership in the Alpha Lambda Epsilon Honors Society, and membership in the Bouchet Honors Society as well as other prestigious awards and honors for his excellence in research and dedication to community service. His passion is to strengthen the justice system through leveraging scientific literature, empirical research, and partnerships between systems of care.

Johnson Forensic Services was founded in 2016 by Dr. Micah E. Johnson when he was first asked to testify as an expert witness in the area of childhood trauma in a capital case.  As a scholar with lived experience, Dr. Johnson draws from his research in the fields of sociology, criminology, and epidemiology to serve the justice community. Since then, he has dedicated himself to bridging the gap between the scientific community and the justice community.

and his team have conducted literature reviews and case analyses, produced expert witness reports, and testified in several criminal court cases over the years. In many instances, his testimony was regarded as a pivotal moment in the case, and his delivery has been described as “credible and captivating”.  His previous clients have included state, federal, and private entities.

Dr. Micah E. Johnson’s CV