People v. Hernandez

Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of first-degree murder, and sentenced to 84 years and 3 years MSR. Defendant and his brother, in gang-related crime, set fire to a home, killing a boy and seriously injuring family members. Court properly denied postconviction petition as frivolous and patently without merit, as allegations are directly contradicted by the record and Defendant cannot establish prejudice by any failure of counsel to communicate off the record State’s offer of 20-60 years, as any error was clearly remedied by numerous on-record explanations of offer. Defense counsel's decisions to not object during State's remarks at sentencing hearing, and to not present all possible witnesses at trial due to language barrier, were matters of trial strategy and thus not ineffective assistance of counsel. (SCHOSTOK and BIRKETT, concurring.)