State v. Johnson

SONNER, Judge.

In this appeal, we return to a tragic murder case. The Circuit Court for Baltimore County convicted Stephen Craig Johnson of the murder of his infant son in 1984, and we affirmed the conviction on direct appeal. About fifteen years later, Johnson filed for post-conviction relief, asserting that his trial counsel was substandard because he withdrew Johnson’s insanity plea and pursued only a plea of not guilty. The circuit court then ordered a partial new trial on the issue of Johnson’s sanity. We affirm that judgment because trial counsel inadequately investigated the insanity…