Johnston v. Mitchell

KAYATTA, Circuit Judge.

After he was convicted of first degree murder in Massachusetts Superior Court, Bryan R. Johnston took a collateral challenge to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), arguing that his counsel rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance at trial. The SJC affirmed Johnston’s conviction, and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts denied his subsequent petition for a writ of habeas corpus under 28 U.S.C. § 2254. On appeal, Johnston again argues that trial counsel made objectively unreasonable decisions at trial that ultimately led…