Defendant, who was found guilty of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, attempted predatory sexual assault of a child, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, and sexual exploitation of a child, appealed from the circuit court’s denial of his post-conviction petition following a third-stage evidentiary hearing. Defendant argued on appeal that he received an unreasonable level of assistance from his post-conviction counsel due to counsel’s failure to amend his pro se post-conviction petition and to present evidence to support some of the claims in the petition at the evidentiary hearing. The appellate court affirmed, explaining that while post-conviction counsel’s practice of abandoning some of the claims at the evidentiary hearing was “not ideal,” the record did not show what additional evidence the defendant claimed should have been presented or that was available and, as a result, defendant could not show that post-conviction’s performance was ineffective because he could not demonstrate prejudice. (STEIGMANN and DeARMOND, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Post-Conviction Hearing Act