Defendant was convicted, after joint jury trial with codefendant, of 2 counts of attempted 1st degree murder and 2 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. Court did not abuse its discretion in admitting into evidence a physical copy of screenshot of victim's phone which contained Twitter post laughing at incident and suggesting that he was still going to try to kill her and the other victim. No deficient performance in counsel's failure to object and move for mistrial based on codefendant's counsel's comments, as it was reasonable to forecast for jury the defense strategy and remind them of State's burden to prove his guilt and defense's right to not present any evidence, and was consistent with defense theory of misidentification. Counsel's strategy was reasonable and did not prejudice Defendant. (HOWSE and ELLIS, concurring.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Evidence