People v. Givens

Chief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Freeman, Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

Following a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant, Fatima Givens, was convicted of possession of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 2004)) and sentenced to 12 months’ probation. On appeal to the appellate court, defendant raised several contentions, including that her trial counsel was ineffective in not litigating a motion to suppress evidence that would have challenged the voluntariness of a consent to search. 384 Ill. App. 3d…