Johnson v. State

Hall, Justice.

Defendant Dr. Walter Henry Johnson appeals from a jury verdict finding him guilty of the murder of his wife. His main defense at trial was temporary insanity caused by withdrawal from the use of Ritalin, a drug taken by the doctor for treatment of narcolepsy. He enumerates fourteen points as error. We, however, affirm.

Dr. Johnson had been licensed to practice medicine in Virginia, but had not practiced since 1970 when he had been disabled by the onset of narcolepsy, uncontrollable sleep, after an automobile accident. Thereafter, Dr. Johnson and his wife, a former nurse, had…