COVINGTON, Ga. — A Covington man sentenced to life in prison for murder in 2018 was denied an appeal Wednesday in a Newton County court nearly three years after he was convicted of the crime. 

Superior Court Judge Ken Wynne denied Benjamin Marcus Johnson's request to appeal his October 2018 conviction after hearing a prosecutor say he had not indicated to his trial attorney that he wanted to appeal before he notified court officials he wanted a new attorney.

Johnson was convicted of bludgeoning 62-year-old Michael Williams to death on May 6, 2017, and setting the homeless man's body on fire in some woods near Washington Street and Old Brown Bridge Road to conceal the crime. 

The Covington Police Department reportedly then did an intensive investigation and search. Johnson was identified as a suspect and arrested later that day on charges of Felony Murder, Malice Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Concealing the Death of Another.

Johnson ultimately pleaded guilty Oct. 5, 2018, to charges of Malice Murder and Concealing the Death of Another and received a life sentence. 

He was incarcerated Oct. 16, 2018, and now resides in Johnson State Prison in Wrightsville, according to Georgia Department of Corrections records.

Johnson's attorney, Barbara Mattes, said it was "clear" Johnson was not satisfied with the "outcome" of his case and his legal representation and deserved to be able to appeal his conviction. 

She said his trial attorney in 2018, Chief Assistant Public Defender Jennifer Arndt, did not consult with him about potentially appealing his guilty plea. Johnson then proceeded on his own and sent paperwork indicating he was changing his trial attorney to the Newton County Clerk of Courts office. 

Arndt testified that she could not recall if Johnson indicated he wanted to appeal if found guilty. 

She said she discussed the prison sentence he could face if he pleaded guilty. He then said he wanted to plead guilty, Arndt said.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Amber Dally said Arndt could not have known there was any indication Johnson wanted to appeal.

She said Johnson voluntarily pleaded guilty shortly before he was to go to trial and then got a sentence he wanted.

After agreeing to plead guilty, Johnson also did not indicate he would want to appeal so Arndt did not have the duty to talk with him about appealing a guilty plea, Dally said.

He then sent the paperwork to the Clerk of Courts office more than a month after he entered his plea, which is past the specified time for doing so. However, he never sent the same paperwork to his trial attorney, Dally said.

"If he didn’t send her the motion for substitution or other pro se filings she clearly can’t know that he was considering appealing and wouldn’t know to go speak with him about it," Dally said.

"Therefore, she can’t be providing deficient service for, essentially, not reading his mind when all of the obvious indications pointed to the fact that he wanted to enter this plea on his own accord."

"Pro se" is a legal term meaning he was acting on his own without an attorney.