Feb. 20—ROCHESTER — On Wednesday, an Olmsted County jury will begin hearing a false imprisonment case against a Rochester man who says he’s on a mission to expose sexual predators of children.

What those jurors won’t hear is Minnesota’s statute on citizens’ arrests.

Chase Taner Johnston, 29, faces three felony charges including false imprisonment, stalking and felony fifth-degree assault.

Johnston’s attorneys asked that Minnesota’s citizens’ arrest law be laid out in the jury instructions as part of their defense of Johnston’s alleged actions the night of July 23, 2023.

According to the criminal complaint,

Johnston shoved and blocked a man from leaving a Northwest Rochester Apartment complex that night.

Johnston had been chatting with the man via text. Johnston initially told the man he was 20 then said he was 16.

The charges are felony level because of two previous assault convictions in 2022. One involves a misdemeanor domestic assault charge, and another involves a May 2022 confrontation in a Rochester gas station.

Johnston’s attorneys said in a hearing prior to the trial on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024, they should be able to tell a jury about Johnston’s rights under state law to detain someone if they see a crime committed or attempted.

“Driving to the apartment was a substantial act to attempt third degree criminal sexual assault,” said Jason Sanchez, one of the attorneys representing Johnston.

District Court Judge Christa M. Daily ruled the statute won’t be included because it did not apply. Johnston had no reason to expect that crime was imminently happening, according to the judge.

“How is that impossibility of the commission of a crime not patently obvious?” Daily asked. “It’s clear that crime isn’t occurring and it’s never going to occur.”

That doesn’t prevent Johnston and his attorneys from saying he believed he had the right to detain the man, Daily added.

“He can say what he wants to say,” she said. “I’m just not seeing the facts, not hearing facts to present to the jury.”

Johnston is a self-described pedophile catcher who would pose as a minor online, set up meetings with people and take video of him confronting those people. Johnston would post the confrontations on his now-defunct YouTube channel. One encounter, in which he allegedly struck a man in the genitals and face

resulted in a conviction of fifth-degree assault July 7, 2023.