Writing Wrongs, CERTIFIED, Volume 1: The Court Reporter Tell-All Series

In Las Vegas, Nevada, during the last days of the pre-digital world, Justin Castle, a 16-year old boy, loses all hope of compassion and shoots Cheyenne Connors, his feisty, beautiful girlfriend. His prosecution is nearly foiled by the mishandling of the gun at the murder scene. During a pretrial motion the court reporter, Charley Savage’s eyes are opened to the sorcery of the practice of law and to her unraveling marriage. By means of unique formatting, Charley engages the reader as an alternate juror, an alternate who not only has the information the jury has, but the entire breakdown of all things excluded from jurors’ eyes and ears. Charley breaks every oath of silence she has taken, both personal and professional, in order to at last make, “a full, true and accurate transcript of the proceedings.” In so doing, Charley and the reader ultimately discover together by and through the trial of Justin Castle, the meaning and the strength of the words: Truth; Loss; Compassion; Justice; and Love.

Kristine Johnson worked as a certified court reporter for over 25 years, the majority of that time in the unique legal climate of Downtown Las Vegas.  She arrived in the valley wearing a diaper, riding in the backseat of a turquoise 1963 Chevrolet Impala.  She grew up on dirt bikes, Pippi Longstocking, and Siddartha, and in 1972 went to the first truly integrated school in Las Vegas.  It was then she first knew she was meant to write.
By the early eighties, she decided to become a court reporter, moved to Sacramento, California, and put herself through school.  Three years, a student loan, and a brown belt in Shorinji Ryu later, she graduated.  After passing her Boards she worked in Orange County, cutting her teeth writing preliminary hearings and patent depositions. 
In 1988, she returned to Vegas and landed one of 13 coveted District Court Official Reporter positions in town, working for the very Honorable Thomas A. Foley.  Kristine came of age learning about the law in Judge Foley's courtroom, creating and keeping the record for the Las Vegas Valley's murder, mayhem, and its worst civil nightmares.  She worked for several other judges and attorney clients, doing depositions freelance.
Kristine retired from court reporting in 2006, and now writes her own stories.   
She arrived in Las Vegas wearing a diaper, riding on the floorboard of her father's pickup.  She grew up on dirt bikes, reading Pippi Longstocking and Siddartha during the psychedelic social landscape of Las Vegas through the seventies.