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Johnson: Counsel not ineffective in failing to call prison expert

By Tim Cone

In Johnson v. Upton, No. 09-16090 (Aug. 23, 2010), the Court affirmed the denial of habeas relief to a Georgia inmate sentenced to death for a 1994 murder.The Court rejected the claim that counsel was ineffective for failing to call a penological expert who would have testified, at the penalty phase of Johnson?s trial, that, statistically inmates who serve long prison sentences (instead of being sentenced to death) do not present a future danger because of their tendency to adjust to prison life. The Court found that evidence of Johnson?s own history of having attacked a jailer, and escaped, would undermine the expert?s testimony. Moreover, the statistical evidence was not conclusive. Further, it would have assumed that Johnson would be classified as a high security inmate, a fact unhelpful in mitigation...continue to full post

Full post as published by Defense Newsletter Blog on August 24, 2010 (boomark / email).