Nickolus L. Johnson v. State of Tennessee

Syllabus

Nearly twenty years ago, Petitioner, Nickolus L. Johnson,1 shot Bristol Police Officer MarkVance in the face as Officer Vance entered a home responding to a disturbance call, killingthe officer. State v. Johnson, 401 S.W.3d 1, 8 (Tenn. 2013). A Sullivan County juryconvicted Petitioner of first degree murder and sentenced him to death. Id. After hisconviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal, id. at 7, Petitioner subsequentlysought post-conviction relief. The post-conviction court denied relief after extensivehearings. Petitioner raises numerous arguments on appeal assailing his conviction andsentence based primarily on ineffective assistance of counsel as well as several standaloneconstitutional claims. After a thorough review of the record, the applicable law, the parties'briefs, and oral arguments, we affirm the post-conviction court's judgment in all respects.