On Mar. 7, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court vacated a conviction because failure to argue suppression of evidence under the fruit-of-the-poisonous-tree doctrine constituted ineffective assistance of counsel.
On Jan. 21, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that juveniles are entitled to a Krankel hearing when the juvenile defendant makes a pro se, posttrial claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The Court also held that a juvenile’s statement made during a sex-offender evaluation about his or her counsel’s ineffective assistance could trigger a Krankel inquiry.
On Jan. 29, 2021, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a defense counsel’s failure to inform the defendant of the defendant’s class X sentencing eligibility constitutes ineffective assistance.
On Dec. 31, 2020, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that counsel’s mentioning of the defendant’s race in closing arguments constitutes ineffective assistance if not based on evidentiary reasons.
On July 13, 2020, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court found that a defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel due to failure to request a DNA test.
On Feb. 14, 2020, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a defendant’s conviction based on his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim that his attorney had failed to object to the state’s introduction of the defendant’s prior conviction in its case-in-chief.
On July 10, 2019, the Third District Appellate Court held that decisions as to which items received in discovery a defense attorney chooses to share or discuss with his or her client is a discretionary matter of trial strategy.
