People v. Williams

Defendant, Ernest Williams (defendant), appeals the conviction of murder and 22-year imprisonment sentence rendered against him following a bench trial.

The issues presented for review are: (1) whether defendant was deprived of effective assistance of counsel pursuant to Federal and State constitutional guarantees, (a) whether defense counsel’s cross-examination of a witness constituted ineffective assistance of counsel, and (b) whether a conflict of interest existed because defense counsel represented defendant and codefendant; (2) whether the trial court misapplied the weight given to…