People v. Hatchett

Defendant and a co-defendant were charged with first-degree murder, and initially were both represented by the same private attorney. Conflict as to dual representation was resolved by court at an early stage during pretrial proceedings, when court found that a conflict of interest existed and appointed separate counsel for co-defendant, allowing private attorney to solely represent Defendant. Court had no additional duty to admonish Defendant about conflict of interest after dual representation was resolved and risk of conflict of interest was removed.Court properly dismissed postconviction petition at third stage, where Defendant failed to make substantial showing of denial of effective assistance of counsel due to conflict of interest, and failed to establish prejudice.(CONNORS and HARRIS, concurring.)