Johnson v. State

We are asked to decide whether the district court erred in refusing to enter a default judgment against the state for failure to respond to an application for post-conviction relief. This issue is raised on appeal by Dennis Johnson, who filed the application while incarcerated in the Ada County jail. For reasons explained below, we affirm the order of the district court declining to enter a default judgment and dismissing the application on its merits.

I

Upon conviction of burglary and grand theft, Johnson received a prison sentence in the custody of the Board of Correction. However, the…