Appellate Court of Illinois

Conviction for two counts of first degree murder and one count of home invasion is affirmed over claims that: 1) defendant's trial counsel was ineffective for eliciting the defendant's testimony concerning the details of previous home invasions committed by the defendant; 2) the trial judge abused her discretion when she barred expert testimony concerning the unreliability of eyewitness identification; 3) because the trial judge was a long-time friend of defense counsel, she erred in denying the defendant's request that she recuse herself from hearing the defendant's motion for a new trial, which was based on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel; and 4) the trial judge erred by, sua sponte, allegedly taking judicial notice of the time it would take to cook a particular meal thereby impeaching the alibi testimony of the defendant's mother.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/19/2007
• Published 12/21/2007

Judges

Court

• Appellate Court of Illinois

Counsel