People v. Nutall

Defendant, Willie James Nutall, was convicted of murder following a jury trial and was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of 22 years. Defendant raises three issues for review: first, whether the State proved him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; second, whether the trial court should have, sua sponte, given a jury instruction on defendant’s theory of the case; and, third, whether the representation provided defendant by his privately retained counsel constituted a denial of effective assistance of counsel.

Defendant was indicted on two counts of murder and two counts of armed violence…