People v. Clark

              First Division
June 4, 2007
No. 1-06-0768
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
ANTHONY CLARK,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Circuit Court
of Cook County
98 CR 22970
Honorable
Henry R. Simmons,
Judge Presiding
PRESIDING JUSTICE McBRIDE delivered the opinion of the court:
In March 2000, defendant, Anthony Clark, was convicted of the June 1998 first-degree
murder of Isaac Soberon. The trial court sentenced defendant to a term of 46 years. On direct
appeal, this court affirmed defendant’s conviction and sentence. See People v. Clark, 1-00-2022
(March 29, 2002) (unpublished order pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 23).
In November 2003, defendant filed his first amended postconviction petition alleging
that: (1) his right to representation by conflict-free counsel was violated; (2) the trial court was
required to conduct a hearing on defendant’s pretrial pro se motion for appointment of counsel
other than the public defender; (3) defendant was denied his constitutional right to effective
assistance of counsel at the sentencing hearing; and (4) defendant was denied effective assistance
of appellate counsel. The State filed a motion to dismiss defendant’s postconviction petition. In
May 2004, the trial court dismissed counts I, II and IV, but granted a hearing as to defendant’s
claim regarding effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing hearing. At the October 2004
hearing on that count, the trial court granted defendant a new sentencing hearing. The trial court