Johnson v. State

OPINION

FELIPE REYNA, Justice.

A jury convicted Vernon Joe Johnson of murder and assessed his punishment at sixty years’ imprisonment. Johnson contends in two issues that (1) the court erred by denying his request for a self-defense instruction in the charge, and (2) he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial. Because the evidence raises the issue of self-defense, we will reverse and remand.

After Johnson and his girlfriend Niko-wana Turner separated, he moved out of her apartment. The next month, Turner began a relationship with the victim in this case, Kenneth Pope, who at some…