In prosecution on charge of unlawful possession of weapon by felon, Appellate Court rejected defendant’s claim that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to stipulate that he had prior unspecified felony conviction in order to prevent jury from knowing that his prior felony conviction was for murder. Appellate Court found that disclosure of prior murder conviction was not prejudicial, where jury would still have heard fact that defendant was felon and could have speculated that he had been convicted of more serious offense. In his petition for leave to appeal, defendant argued that Appellate Court misapplied holding in Atkinson, 186 Ill.2d 450 and further asserted that informing jury that he had been convicted on prior murder charge would not have benefited him. (Dissent filed.)
Illinois Supreme Court PLAs
Criminal Court
Ineffective Assistance of Counsel