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Thread: Nickolus L. Johnson - Tennessee Death Row

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    Nickolus L. Johnson - Tennessee Death Row


    Police Officer Mark Vance




    Summary of Offense:

    Johnson was sentenced to death on April 27, 2007 for ambushing Bristol, Tennessee police officer Mark Vance on November 27, 2004 by shooting him in the face with a .357 Magnum. Vance was responding to a domestic disturbance call over Johnson getting his 17-year-old (at the time) girlfriend pregnant--it is reported she had triplets.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    STATE OF TENNESSEE v. NICKOLUS L. JOHNSON

    Court upholds conviction and death penalty for Nickolus Johnson

    The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a request by convicted killer Nickolus Johnson to overturn his first-degree murder conviction and death penalty.

    Police said Johnson shot Bristol Tennessee Police Officer Mark Vance during a domestic violence call on November 27, 2004.

    In the appeal, Johnson claimed several improprieties during the trial.

    http://www2.tricities.com/news/2012/...lu-ar-1743039/

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Death sentence affirmed in 2004 murder of Bristol policeman

    The Tennessee Supreme Court has affirmed the conviction and death sentence of Nickolus L. Johnson for the 2004 murder of Officer Mark Vance of the Bristol Police Department. The Court also affirmed several other lower court rulings regarding the trial.

    In the unanimous opinion authored by Justice Sharon G. Lee, the Court found that Johnson was competent to waive presentation of some evidence during the penalty phase of his trial, that the trial court properly denied Johnson’s motion for a mistrial based on prosecution statements during closing arguments, and that the Tennessee death penalty statute is constitutional.

    Regarding the evidence, the Court held that Johnson was competent to make the strategic decision to forego his right to present testimony from doctors regarding Johnson’s mental health. The United States Constitution affords defendants facing the death penalty the right to present mitigating evidence – evidence that may lessen the gravity of the actions – to the jury in a separate sentencing portion of the trial if defendants so choose. Tennessee law permits defendants to waive this right to present such evidence so long as the defendant is competent to make the decision and does so knowingly and voluntarily.

    The Supreme Court agreed with the Court of Criminal Appeals’ ruling that the trial court followed the proper procedure to ensure that Johnson had made a knowing and voluntary waiver of this right, that he discussed his decision with his lawyers, and that he understood the potential role the testimony may have played in the trial. Tennessee law presumes that defendants are competent and requires defendants to present evidence of their incompetency if they wish to make that assertion.

    Johnson’s attorneys argued that Johnson’s desire to waive the presentation of mitigation evidence demonstrated his incompetency. The trial court ordered that Johnson be evaluated by doctors to ascertain whether he was competent, but Johnson refused to cooperate. As a result, the trial court concluded that Johnson had not overcome the presumption of competency and could validly waive his right to present mitigation evidence. Johnson made a valid waiver and could not now claim error.

    The Supreme Court likewise rejected Johnson’s arguments that the trial court should have granted a mistrial because of statements the prosecutor made in his closing argument, and that the Tennessee death penalty statute was unconstitutional. The Court held that the trial judge had not abused his discretion by not granting a mistrial and had adequately instructed the jury to disregard the prosecutor’s statement. The Court also held that the Tennessee death penalty statute is valid under the Constitutions of the United States and Tennessee.

    Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed Johnson’s conviction and ordered that the sentence of death be carried out on April 22, 2014, unless otherwise ordered by a proper authority.

    http://www.wcyb.com/news/Death-sente...z/-/index.html

  4. #4
    Moderator MRBAM's Avatar
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    He still has his federal appeals to go through....so I guess TN is just setting an administrative X date for him?

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Yeah, that date has been set for some time now. If Tennessee were serious they would have picked an inmate with exhausted appeals.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Tennessee Schedules Executions For 2 Death Row Inmates

    Tennessee is set to have its first execution in nearly five years in January and the first using a new single-drug method.

    State Department of Correction spokeswoman Dorinda Carter told The Associated Press on Thursday that 55-year-old Billy R. Irick is scheduled to be executed on January 15.

    According to the state Supreme Court clerk's office, the order for the execution was filed Tuesday.

    Irick has been on death row since 1986 for the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl.

    Meanwhile, Nickolus Johnson will be put to death on April 22, TDOC officials said. A Sullivan County jury convicted Johnson of first-degree murder in April 2007 for killing police officer Mark Vance during a 2004 domestic violence call.

    Tennessee announced last month that it's switching from a three-drug lethal injection method to using only the sedative pentobarbital to put an inmate to death.

    That is due to a widespread shortage of sodium thiopental, a drug used in the three-drug method.

    Sodium thiopental puts the prisoner to sleep, with another drug administered to paralyze the prisoner and a third to stop the heart.

    Tennessee and many other states have been scrambling to find execution drug alternatives in recent years because manufacturers don't want their products used in executions.

    In 2011, Tennessee was among the states that turned over its supplies of sodium thiopental to authorities after concerns arose about how the supply of the drug was imported.

    That move came after the company that produced sodium thiopental had bowed to European Union pressure to stop making the drug, creating a shortage. The death penalty has been abolished in all EU nations.

    Seven states currently use pentobarbital alone for executions and more are planning to use it, according to Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization that provides information on capital punishment. Other states use it as part of the three-stage execution process.

    The last inmate executed by lethal injection in the state was Cecil Johnson, on December 2, 2009.

    There are 79 inmates on Tennessee's death row, including one woman.

    http://www.newschannel5.com/story/23...th-row-inmates
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    This is good news that they are finally going to start executing these criminals on DR. CA should try and get their act together and do the same. As it is in CA even if they started executing people tomorrow there is a huge back log.

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    Moderator Dave from Florida's Avatar
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    It is about time. I thought Stephen West would be first.If these states ever get the LI litigation out of the way and the compounding pharmacies to be secret, we will be having a lot more X Chat's.

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    I just looked up Stephen West...nasty..and he's been on DR for over 28 yrs. I agree he should go soon. Looking at Tennessee death row, they are piling up the people on DR...time to get busy...CHOP, CHOP!!!
    Last edited by Helen; 06-20-2014 at 08:39 PM.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    In today's United States Supreme Court orders, Johnson's petition for writ of certiorari was DENIED.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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