Appeal
from the Circuit Court of McLean County No. 15CF1266
Honorable Scott D. Drazewski, Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the judgment of the court, with
opinion. Justices Turner and Cavanagh concurred in the
judgment and opinion.
OPINION
STEIGMANN JUSTICE
¶
1 In October 2015, the State charged defendant, Andray Doneta
Alexander, with two counts of residential burglary (counts I
and II) (720 ILCS 5/19-3(a) (West 2014)) and one count of
possession of burglary tools (count III) (Id. §
19-2(a)). In April 2017, a jury found defendant guilty of all
three charges. In May 2017, the trial court sentenced
defendant to 16 years in prison on counts I and II, 3 years
in prison on count III, and ordered all sentences to be
served concurrently.
¶
2 Defendant appeals, arguing he was denied the effective
assistance of counsel because his trial attorney labored
under a per se conflict of interest. We disagree and
affirm.
¶
3 I. BACKGROUND
¶
4 A. The Charges
¶
5 In October 2015, the State charged defendant with two
counts of residential burglary (Id. § 19-3(a))
and one count of possession of burglary tools (Id.
§ 19-2(a)). The trial court appointed counsel for
defendant, and, ultimately, assistant public defender
Jennifer Patton represented defendant in this case.
¶
6 B. McLean County Case No. 05-CF-326
¶
7 Prior to Patton's position in the McLean County public
defender's office, she served as a McLean County
assistant state's attorney (ASA). On July 29, 2005,
Patton appeared at a status hearing on behalf of the State in
McLean County case No. 05-CF-326, in which the State had
charged defendant with 14 counts of residential burglary and
burglary. The docket entry for that date shows
defendant's case was continued to August 1, 2005, for a
"plea hearing."
¶
8 On August 1, 2005, Patton again appeared on behalf of the
State. Defendant pleaded guilty to four counts of residential
burglary, and the State dismissed the remaining charges. The
trial court sentenced defendant to eight years' in
prison.
¶
9 C. Defendant's Motion in Limine
¶
10 In April 2017, defendant filed a motion in limine
to exclude other-crimes evidence, including such evidence
arising from McLean County case No. 05-CF-326. Following a
hearing, the trial court found defendant's convictions
...