Johnson v. State
Annotate this CaseIn 1981, Appellant was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, among other crimes. Appellant was sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed on direct appeal. The Supreme Court later granted Appellant’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Following a mistrial, Appellant was retried and again convicted and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court affirmed. The Supreme Court later granted Appellant’s third successive postconviction motion and vacated his sentences of death. Following a new penalty phase proceeding in 2013, the jury recommended that Appellant be sentenced to death for each of the three murders. The Surpeme Court vacated Appellant’s death sentences and remanded the case to the circuit court for a new penalty phase proceeding, holding that Appellant’s death sentences violate Ring v. Arizona and Hurst v. Florida because the jury that recommended Appellant’s death sentences did not find the facts necessary to sentence him to death.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.