Background
Milton Wardlaw was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm after he fired at a CTA bus in 2008, killing passenger Kiyanna Salter. Wardlaw testified that another passenger, Torey Adams, threatened him and displayed a gun, causing him to react in fear. The trial court imposed consecutive terms of 55 and 15 years.
Wardlaw later filed a postconviction petition alleging, among other claims, that trial counsel was ineffective for not calling Adams as a witness. Appointed counsel supplemented the petition with an affidavit from DeMario Thompson recounting Adams’s alleged statements that he had displayed a firearm to Wardlaw. The circuit court dismissed the petition at the second stage. On appeal, Wardlaw argued postconviction counsel was unreasonable for not obtaining Adams’s affidavit and for declining to raise an emerging-adult proportionate-penalties challenge.
The Court’s Holding
The appellate court affirmed. Counsel’s Rule 651(c) certificate created a presumption of reasonable assistance, and Wardlaw did not rebut it. The record did not show that counsel failed to make a concerted effort to obtain Adams’s affidavit; counsel certified that he interviewed witnesses and submitted all available affidavits.
The court also held that the lack of Adams’s affidavit did not cause the dismissal. The circuit court considered Thompson’s account of Adams’s alleged testimony and concluded it would not establish self-defense or an unreasonable belief in the need for self-defense. Counsel also reasonably declined to add an emerging-adult proportionate-penalties claim for Wardlaw, who was two weeks shy of age 25 when he committed the offense and whose record did not support a youth-based sentencing claim.
Key Takeaways
- A Rule 651(c) certificate presumptively establishes reasonable postconviction representation.
- Postconviction counsel need not amend a petition to advance a meritless or unsupported claim.
- The court cautioned that the decade-long delay in resolving Wardlaw’s petition was troubling.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that a petitioner challenging postconviction counsel’s performance must point to an affirmative record-based failure to comply with Rule 651(c), not merely an unsuccessful effort to obtain additional evidence. It also reflects Illinois courts’ reluctance to extend emerging-adult proportionate-penalties claims to defendants older than 21 without case-specific evidence supporting the claim.