People v. Neely

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE GOLDBERG

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant was convicted by a jury of murder. On direct appeal he was represented by the office of the public defender of Cook County, and his conviction was affirmed. Thereafter, defendant filed a pro se post-conviction petition and the office of the public defender was appointed to represent him. Counsel, however, sought to withdraw from the post-conviction proceedings asserting that a conflict of interest existed because defendant would claim incompetency of the office of the public defender on direct appeal for not raising…