People v. Gates

Defendant, who was 18 years old at the time of the offense, was convicted of first-degree murder and appealed challenging the constitutionality of the Supreme Court’s administrative order tolling the speedy trial term during the Covid-19 pandemic and claiming ineffective assistance of counsel. The appellate court reversed and remanded for resentencing, finding that trial counsel failed to challenge defendant’s sentence as a de facto life sentence and that this deprived defendant of the effective assistance of counsel. (PUCINSKI, concurring and COGHLAN concurring in part and dissenting in part)