State v. Johnson

Upon a careful and thorough review of the record in this case, we are convinced that the number of errors during the guilt phase of defendant’s capital trial deprived him of his constitutional due process right to a fair trial. Therefore, for the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the court of appeals upholding defendant’s convictions, and remand the cause to the court of common pleas for further proceedings.

I

In his first proposition of law, defendant contends that his prior conviction for second degree murder in Florida cannot be the basis for convicting him of an R.C.…