Johnson v. State

The main issue we address on this appeal is whether admission of evidence about a gun recovered at the time of a defendant’s arrest was error, where the gun was not the one used in the crime charged. We hold that admission of the gun was relevant; it was connected to the homicide charged because it directly corroborated material testimony of a key witness about what happened to the murder weapon.

Lawrence Johnson was convicted of first degree murder and armed robbery with a firearm. The victim was a clerk at a gas station; he was shot three times. Shell casings from a nine millimeter gun were…