People v. Velasco

Following a jury trial conducted in his absence, defendant was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of 30 years on the attempted murder convictions. On appeal, defendant contends that (1) he was improperly tried in absentia; (2) plain error occurred when the jury was incorrectly instructed on the mental state necessary to commit attempted murder; (3) he did not receive effective assistance of counsel; and (4) improper remarks by the trial judge constituted reversible error.

At trial, Able Vega (Able) testified that at…