State v. Johnson

This court has thoroughly and painstakingly reviewed the entire record in this case. Because we are convinced that the record affirmatively demonstrates that appellant was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel, we hereby reverse appellant’s convictions, vacate the death sentence, and remand the cause for further proceedings.

We turn our attention first to the failure of defense counsel to conduct any investigation into appellant’s background for purposes of obtaining evidence in mitigation, and their resulting failure to present any such evidence at the penalty…