KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — A man charged with the 2008 murder of a Knoxville waitress has been sentenced again following his first conviction being overturned.

Micah Ross Johnson was found guilty in the murder of 24-year-old Carrie Daugherty. His bond has been revoked and he’s sentenced to life, according to the Knox County District’s Attorney’s office.

In 2011, he was convicted of the murder, kidnapping, and robbery of Daugherty and began serving a life sentence. The conviction was overturned in January 2022 after it was determined that his legal counsel denied him access to a fair trial. His new trial started on April 27, 2023.

Evidence presented at the 2011 trial showed Daugherty was beaten over the head with a brick, mutilated with a shovel, and found with a rope tied around her neck. At that time, the defense argued that Johnson was criminally insane and suffered from severe mental problems starting in 2006, alleging he heard voices speak to him. Psychologists were called to testify on behalf of both the defense and prosecution.

The new trial was granted following a written opinion on behalf of Court of Criminal Appeals Judge James Curwood Witt Jr. This opinion agreed with Johnson’s new defense team, WATE legal analyst Greg Isaacs and J. Franklin Ammons, that his previous counsel made multiple errors during the appeal process including failure to properly vet psychologist Dr. Keith Caruso to support the insanity defense and the failure to do so destroyed Caruso’s credibility and Johnson’s sole defense of insanity.