People v. Lemke

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Edwards County, the defendant, Kenneth R. Lemke, was convicted of first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(a)(2) (West 2000)). On appeal from his conviction, the defendant argues that his murder conviction should be reduced to involuntary manslaughter (720 ILCS 5/9 — 3(a) (West 2000)) and that, alternatively, he should be granted a new trial because he was denied the effective assistance of counsel. For the following reasons, we affirm the defendant’s conviction for first-degree murder.

BACKGROUND

In November 2001, the defendant and his stepson, Lance…