People v. Palmer

In January 2006, a jury convicted defendant, Leon Palmer (who had earlier waived his right to counsel and had chosen to represent himself), of residential burglary (720 ILCS 5/19 — 3 (West 2000)). The trial court later sentenced him to 30 years in prison to be served consecutively with a sentence he had been serving.

Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) because a bona fide doubt existed as to his fitness, the trial court erred by allowing him to represent himself at trial without first ordering a fitness evaluation; (2) the prosecutor’s closing argument (a) improperly attacked defendant’s…