People v. Davis

              No. 2--05--1115 Filed: 1-17-08
______________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
______________________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
OF ILLINOIS, ) of Lake County.
)
Plaintiff-Appellee, ))
v. ) No. 97--CF--643
)
RONNIE L. DAVIS, ) Honorable
) John T. Phillips,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.
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JUSTICE CALLUM delivered the opinion of the court:
Defendant, Ronnie L. Davis, appeals the trial court's second-stage dismissal of his petition,
filed under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122--1 et seq. (West 2002)), in
which he argued, inter alia, that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to bring forward what he
claims was potentially exculpatory testimony from a witness to the incident that led to defendant's
conviction. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
Defendant was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and armed
violence in connection with an incident in 1997, in which police entered a home in pursuit of a
fleeing suspect and discovered defendant with drugs and a handgun in his possession. Defendant
appealed, and this court affirmed his conviction, but remanded the cause for resentencing. People
v. Davis, No. 2--97--1096 (1999) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). Defendant's