People v. Robinson
Illinois Appellate Court
974 N.E.2d 978 (2012)
- Written by Kate Luck, JD
Facts
Alfred D. Robinson (defendant) was charged with drug offenses. During plea negotiations, the state offered to recommend an eight-year sentence in exchange for Robinson’s guilty plea. Robinson’s attorney, Terry Dodds, communicated the offer to Robinson. Robinson responded by telling Dodds to ask the state whether it would recommend a seven-year sentence instead. If not, Robinson told Dodds to accept the state’s offer to recommend an eight-year sentence. Dodds refused to ask the state whether it would recommend a seven-year sentence, and Robinson and Dodds argued about Robinson’s refusal to accept the state’s offer without first asking whether the state would recommend a seven-year sentence. Robinson later stated that he wanted to accept the state’s offer of a plea bargain, but the offer had lapsed or been revoked by that time. Robinson was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Two years later, Robinson filed a postconviction petition alleging that Dodds rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to communicate to the state Robinson’s acceptance of the plea bargain. The state filed a motion to dismiss, which the trial court granted.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Steigmann, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
