Court Opinion

ID: 9859616
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 22:09:57.5817+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:55:35.469835
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE FITZGERALD, specially concurring: The majority correctly concludes that defense counsel’s inflammatory and highly prejudicial opening statement rendered her trial strategy a nullity such that there was a total breakdown of the adversarial process. Defense counsel’s egregious conduct in the course of her opening statement, although a result of misunderstanding, created a level of prejudice that could not be undone. Specifically, defendant was left with no meaningful defense once counsel admitted defendant’s participation in the kidnapping of the victim, followed by her vivid and lengthy description of defendant’s participation in the Kenosha murder, including the vicious beating, bloody crime scene, and attempted cover-up. It is this result — the very absence of any meaningful defense — that compels me to join the majority. I write separately to underscore a key element of the majority’s holding, namely, that Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 104 S. Ct. 2052 (1984), is still the standard by which we judge ineffective assistance of counsel claims. It is neither practice nor custom to presume prejudice, and it is only under the rarest of circumstances that we will depart from the well-settled standard set forth in Strickland. The presumption of prejudice only arises where “counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing.” (Emphasis added.) United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 659, 80 L. Ed. 2d 657, 668, 104 S. Ct. 2039, 2047 (1984). In this case, the presumption of prejudice was not warranted based solely upon the introduction of the Kenosha murder or, alternatively, upon counsel’s admission that defendant participated in the murder such that he was hable under a theory of accountability. Rather, as aptly stated by the majority, it is only the “unusual convergence of errors” that denied defendant any meaningful defense theory. 209 Ill. 2d at 187. Clearly, this holding does not limit the legitimate strategies that sometimes must be formulated in cases of overwhelming evidence of guilt. See, e.g., People v. Ganus, 148 Ill. 2d 466, 473-74 (1992). As an additional matter, like the majority, I observe that counsel’s error was based upon an honest failure to comprehend the trial court’s ruling about the admissibility of the Kenosha murder. See 209 Ill. 2d at 185-86. I write separately, however, to remind all counsel of their ethical obligations to both the court and their clients. This case highlights that counsel are often presented with difficult tactical decisions in their attempts to achieve the best available defense. Our rules of conduct require zealous advocacy in pursuit of those interests, and in this case, there is clearly no suggestion that counsel did not satisfy this obligation. Nonetheless, I take this opportunity to caution all counsel that this court will not tolerate the use of unscrupulous tactics in the name of zealous advocacy. Plainly speaking, this court will not tolerate counsel “manufacturing” reversible error any more than we would tolerate a prosecutor using unethical tactics to obtain a conviction. Our system of justice depends upon the ethical behavior and integrity of all those who represent it. JUSTICE FREEMAN joins in this special concurrence.