People v. Walton

The defendant, Hugh Edward Walton, was convicted of murder after a jury trial in the circuit court of McLean County on May 23, 1968. On direct appeal, the conviction was affirmed, but the cause was remanded for correction of an error regarding the date the sentence would commence. (118 Ill. App. 2d 324.) At trial and on direct appeal the defendant was represented by the public defender of McLean County, Donald B. Mackay. In 1972 the defendant wrote a letter to the appellate court requesting that counsel be appointed to represent him in pursuing Federal habeas corpus or State post-conviction…