Johnson v. State

Trial counsel was not deficient for not calling a witness whom he feared might have informed the jury that the defendant suspected his wife of adultery prior to learning about it just before her death.

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A jury convicted Gary Alonzo Johnson of murder and aggravated assault following the shooting death of his wife, McCine Brown Johnson.1 On appeal, Johnson asserts that he was denied constitutionally effective assistance of trial counsel, and that the trial court erred in excluding from evidence Johnson’s videotaped custodial statement which would have demonstrated his mental state in support of the defense theory of voluntary manslaughter. Finding no error, we affirm. Gary Johnson called 911 and calmly notified the police dispatcher that he shot his wife, McCine, and he described his location. The police arrived at that location to find Johnson standing behind a vehicle speaking on a cell phone; his demeanor was calm and cooperative. The deceased victim was in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. She had been shot a minimum of five times and died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the upper extremities and the torso. Johnson led officers to the murder weapon which he had concealed nearby.

In the weeks prior to the shooting, Johnson told his adult daughter that he believed McCine was having an affair and that he had followed her to confirm those beliefs. Johnson also acknowledged to his daughter that he would do something “he would regret and suffer the consequences later.” McCine confided in a close friend that Johnson was controlling, that they had been fighting, and that he had been following her. In the days leading up to the shooting, McCine told this friend that she wanted a divorce and she feared that Johnson was going to kill her.

Johnson v. State

Trial counsel was not deficient for not calling a witness whom he feared might have informed the jury that the defendant suspected his wife of adultery prior to learning about it just before her death.

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