Criminal procedure — defense counsel strategy

Posted June 21, 2018 1:14 PM

Where a defendant requests a lesser included offense instruction, trial counsel is not per se ineffective for refusing to deviate from his planned trial strategy as with the exception of five decisions — to file an appeal, enter a plea, waive a jury trial, testify and submit a lesser included offense instruction — trial counsel has the right to make the ultimate decision in matters of trial strategy.The 1st District Appellate Court affirmed the decision of Cook County Associate Judge Dennis J. Porter.On the …

To Read the Full Story

Your source for legal news and information

Print & Digital Access

Stay in the know all year long with these benefits:

Delivery to your office in downtown Chicago or mailed outside our hand-delivery zone.
Unlimited access to chicagolawbulletin.com.
Access to our e-edition and mobile site.
Breaking news alerts, Morning Lineup and Afternoon Headlines.
Exclusive access to events, discounts and more.

Order now, or call 312-644-2394 or email Subscription@LawBulletinMedia.com for details.

Be in the know. These must-read insider briefings will keep you

informed of the latest legal developments in Chicago. Sign up today!

Civil procedure — additur

Where a court agreed to alter a jury award under additur as inconsistent with the verdict, the court must either obtain the defendant’s consent or initiate a new trial on damages.
Social Security — detail of ALJ opinion

Where social security claimant argued ALJ included insufficient amount of medical record in decision, panel rejected argument, finding that summary was enough to support ALJ’s reasoning.
Torts — proximate cause

Where plaintiff is injured when a person crashes their car into a business plaintiff is patronizing, the incident may be foreseeable and does not preclude proximate cause by the business.
Sentencing — application note

Where court declined to revisit precedent deferring to application note’s interpretation of provision of Sentencing Guidelines.
Criminal procedure — denial of sentencing credit

Where defendant petitions seeking sentencing credit and the petition is denied, the denial is not a final or appealable order and the appellate court lacks jurisdiction to consider it.
Family law — dissolution of marriage proceedings

Where a party in an ongoing dissolution of marriage proceedings is ordered to pay attorney fees for a related probate proceeding, that order is not final and appealable.
Sentencing — conspiracy

Where government could prove defendant joined smaller conspiracy than what was alleged in the indictment, conviction was affirmed.
Criminal law — void ab initio conviction

Where defendant pleads guilty due to the threat of being impeached by a prior conviction later found void ab initio and is sentenced based on the same conviction, he has suffered a constitutional violation.