People v. Utley

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, being an armed habitual criminal, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. He was sentenced as a habitual criminal to respective concurrent terms of mandatory natural life without the possibility of parole, 20 year, and 5 years. Trial counsel's failure to move to sever the charges was objectively unreasonable under prevailing professional norms. Counsel was required to take some action to minimize prejudice to Defendant that would arise from the introduction of his prior convictions, especially as he faced a life sentence without the possibility of parole upon conviction of the drug charge.(BURKE, concurring; GORDON, dissenting.)