People v. Pitsonbarger

Petitioner, Jimmy Ray Pitsonbarger, appeals from orders of the circuit court of Peoria County dismissing 34 of the 35 claims raised in his second post-conviction petition and denying the sole remaining claim after an evidentiary hearing. Because petitioner was sentenced to death for the underlying convictions, his appeal lies directly to this court. 134 Ill. 2d R. 651(a). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

I. BACKGROUND

This court has previously described the facts underlying petitioner’s conviction and sentencing in our opinion on his direct appeal. See…