Johnson v. State

Green, J.:

Cheron Johnson appeals from the trial court’s denial of his K.S.A. 60-1507 motion after holding an evidentiary hearing. Johnson maintains that the defense attorney who had represented him in his underlying criminal case rendered ineffective assistance of counsel and that his nolo contendere plea to first-degree premeditated murder and aggravated robbery should be set aside. We disagree. Although it is undisputed that defense counsel was using cocaine during the time period that he was representing Johnson, the critical inquiry is whether counsel’s performance was deficient and…