People v. Precup

The defendants, Steven Harness and Terry Brummell, along with David Precup, were jointly indicted and tried in Adams County for armed robbery and were convicted of that offense following a jury trial. Each of these three appealed their convictions, which the appellate court affirmed, with one justice dissenting (50 Ill. App. 3d 23). We allowed petitions for leave to appeal of Harness and Brummell and consolidated the cases in this court.

In the trial court both Harness and Brummell were represented by John T. Inghram IV, a public defender, by appointment of the court. The question raised in…