People v. Ott

Defendant, Michael Ott, appeals the trial court’s dismissal of his post-conviction petition. Defendant raises three issues on appeal: (1) whether the trial court erred in dismissing the petition without an evidentiary hearing; (2) whether defendant was denied a fair trial when the judge, in the jury trial, commented that defendant’s confession was voluntary; and (3) whether defendant was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel when his attorney did not move to sever the two charges.

Defendant was indicted for the unlawful possession of more than 500 grams of cannabis with the intent…