 However as Attorney General he caused a furore when, on arriving in Court to prosecute Maurice's uncle Timothy Michael Healy, he publicly shook his hand, and the Crown felt that it would be better if he ceased to be a Law Officer.As a judge he was notorious for his inability to get the facts of a case right, leading to the nickname "Wooden-headed Billy".Maurice Healy however adds that he was a fairly good lawyer and the kindest-hearted of men; in an era when many Irish judges, such as Hugh Holmes, Walter Boyd and William Drennan Andrews were noted for the severity of their sentences in criminal cases, Johnson was noted for his clemency.