Johnson v. Hopper

Supreme Court of Georgia

Johnson v. Hopper

203 S.E.2d 204, 231 Ga. 571, 1974 Ga. LEXIS 1144

CourtSupreme Court of Georgia

DecidedJanuary 8, 1974

Docket28467

StatusPublished

This text of 203 S.E.2d 204 (Johnson v. Hopper) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Johnson v. Hopper, 203 S.E.2d 204, 231 Ga. 571, 1974 Ga. LEXIS 1144 (Ga. 1974).

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Opinion

Undercofler, Justice.

This appeal is from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus. Appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment. He contends he was denied effective assistance of counsel, denied a sanity hearing, and that blacks were systematically excluded from the jury. We do not agree. The record shows appellant’s counsel was an experienced attorney who had previously handled capital cases. His investigation was thorough and included having the appellant examined by a psychiatrist. The case was ably tried after the district attorney refused to "plea bargain.” Appellant’s attorney, because of the psychiatrist’s finding and as a trial tactic, elected to defend on general insanity rather than file a special plea of insanity. There is no evidence of jury discrimination. In our opinion the record amply supports the trial judge’s rejection of appellant’s contentions.

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur. Submitted December 3, 1973 Decided January 8, 1974. Edward Johnson, pro se. Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, Courtney Wilder Stanton, David J. Bailey, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.

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Undercofler, Justice.

This appeal is from the denial of a writ of habeas corpus. Appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment. He contends he was denied effective assistance of counsel, denied a sanity hearing, and that blacks were systematically excluded from the jury. We do not agree. The record shows appellant’s counsel was an experienced attorney who had previously handled capital cases. His investigation was thorough and included having the appellant examined by a psychiatrist. The case was ably tried after the district attorney refused to "plea bargain.” Appellant’s attorney, because of the psychiatrist’s finding and as a trial tactic, elected to defend on general insanity rather than file a special plea of insanity. There is no evidence of jury discrimination. In our opinion the record amply supports the trial judge’s rejection of appellant’s contentions.

Judgment affirmed.

All the Justices concur. Submitted December 3, 1973 Decided January 8, 1974. Edward Johnson, pro se. Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, Courtney Wilder Stanton, David J. Bailey, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.

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Bluebook (online)

203 S.E.2d 204, 231 Ga. 571, 1974 Ga. LEXIS 1144, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-hopper-ga-1974.