Defendant was found guilty of possession of methamphetamine and was sentenced to 24 months of probation. On appeal, defendant argued that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel when counsel failed to argue that a free-air sniff by a drug detection dog was unlawful because the dog was trained to detect cannabis, that the trial court erred by finding that the dog’s positive alert gave the police officers probable cause to search the defendant’s vehicle, and that trial counsel was ineffective when counsel failed to file a certificate for waiver of assessments. The appellate court disagreed with defendant’s first and second arguments but agreed with his third argument and affirmed in part and vacated in part and remanded for the trial court to order a full waiver of assessments. (HARRIS, concurring and DOHERTY, specially concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Effective Assistance of Counsel