People v. Boswell

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of 1st degree murder. Appellate defense counsel filed agreed motion for summary remand, after circuit court had summarily dismissed Defendant's pro se postconviction petition. Motion stated that counsel had received affidavit of investigator for Public Defender's (PD) office stating that PD told her that she helped Assistant State's Attorney write the State's closing argument for Defendant's trial.Defendant made a substantial showing that (PD) had a per se conflict of interest that disqualified the two assistant PDs who represented Defendant at his jury trial, and one of those assistant PDs, who investigator told about PD's conduct after verdict but before posttrial motion was filed but did not advise court nor seek new trial on this basis, labored under an actual conflict of interest. Thus, Defendant is entitled to a 3rd-stage evidentiary hearing on his conflict of interest claim. (LYTTON and WRIGHT, concurring.)