Johnson v. State

PIVARNIK, Justice.

Defendant-Appellant Carl Lee Johnson was convicted of first degree murder at the conclusion of a jury trial in the Lake Superior Court and was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment. On direct appeal, his conviction was affirmed. Johnson v. State (1978), 268 lnd. 55, 373 N.E.2d 169. In 1985, Appellant’s Pro Se Petition for Post-Conviction Relief was denied, and he now appeals this denial, raising, as the sole issue, ineffective assistance of counsel at trial.

We first note that in a post-conviction proceeding, the burden rests with a petitioner to establish his grounds for…