KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Micah Johnson suffered a serious psychotic breakdown in the months before he allegedly killed a Barley's server in 2008, court testimony showed Monday.
Defense attorneys Gregory P. Isaacs and Ashlee Mathis are trying to convince a Knox County jury they have a legitimate "affirmative defense" against prosecution because Johnson was seriously mentally ill as a young man.
Johnson has already been convicted once -- in 2011 -- of murdering acquaintance Carrie Daugherty, 24,. He served more than a decade in prison after his original conviction. But then a state appeals court ruled that errors in how his case was handled merited a retrial.
The jury hearing his case this week doesn't know about the original trial and conviction.
Prosecutors TaKisha Fitzgerald and Larry Dillon represent the state, which is seeking once again to imprison Johnson for first-degree murder. They wrapped up their proof last week.
Johnson attacked Daugherty in the night in March 2008 outside the North Knoxville home she lived in after getting off her shift at Barley's in the Old City, authorities allege. She was beaten violently with a brick and shovel, and her killer wrapped a rope around her neck.
Johnson's girlfriend, Amanda Corts, was close friends with Daugherty, and Johnson, his girlfriend and Daugherty had socialized together in the days before the homicide.
Johnson was fixated on Corts, testimony has shown.
In September 2007, at age 20, he broke the jaw of a University of Tennessee student on campus, testimony has shown.
Immediately after that, testimony showed Monday, he suffered a mental breakdown for which family took him to the emergency room at Baptist Hospital south of downtown. The hospital has since closed.
Medical authorities thought about committing him to an area treatment program but his condition improved, and he agreed to be admitted to in-patient treatment at a psychiatric ward at Baptist, according to testimony from Janice Weidman and psychiatrist Dr. Sharon Burnside, both of whom worked with Johnson during his ward stay.
He reported hearing voices, he had trouble organizing his sentences and he made observations such as, "They're going to put me in a box," and "I'm going to die," while at Baptist.
He stayed as a patient a little more than a week. He checked out against medical advice.
Johnson had no previous history of mental illness, according to Monday's testimony.
The prosecution has sought to show that Johnson used and may have abused drugs, including marijuana, that altered his behavior.
Last week, former girlfriend Corts testified she noticed no psychiatric or behavioral problems with Johnson in the days before he allegedly killed Daugherty.
The trial is expected to conclude this week. Criminal Court Judge Scott Green is presiding over the trial.
