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Johnson v. State

a defendant whose non-recidivist co-defendant received two consecutive life sentences did not show that he would have gone to trial, but for his counsel's allegedly deficient advice about the consequences of recidivist punishment.

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Joseph Johnson, Jr., pleaded guilty to the felony murder and armed robbery of Prem Sharma and was sentenced to life imprisonment.1 He appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, contending that he was coerced into making the plea and his trial counsel was ineffective in misinforming him about the law on recidivism. Because Johnson made a voluntary and intelligent choice to plead guilty and trial counsel’s performance did not affect the outcome of the plea process, we affirm.

Johnson and his accomplice, Bruke Tesfaye, were charged in the same indictment with one count of malice murder, aggravated assault, and firearm possession and two counts of felony murder, armed robbery, and kidnapping. The grand jury indicted Johnson on an additional count for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Their cases were severed for trial, and a jury convicted Tesfaye on all counts.2 Johnson attended Tesfaye’s sentencing hearing at the suggestion of trial counsel and saw Tesfaye receive two consecutive life sentences and an additional 40 years consecutive imprisonment. Later that day, Johnson waived his right to a jury trial and entered his guilty plea to the charges of felony murder and armed robbery. Following the entry of his plea, the trial court merged the armed robbery count into the felony murder count and sentenced Johnson to one term of life imprisonment, and the State placed the remaining eight counts on the dead docket.

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