People v. Baker

Defendant, James Baker, waived counsel and entered a plea of guilty on October 8, 1975, in the circuit court of Clark County to an information charging him with murder. He was sentenced to an indeterminate term of 30 years to life imprisonment. Four years later, he filed a pro se petition for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 122—1 et seq.). An amended petition was subsequently filed by his court-appointed counsel alleging that defendant was deprived of his right to counsel at his sentencing hearing. Following a hearing and argument, the trial…