People v. Bridges

Summary

The Illinois Appellate Court, First District, reviews the second-stage dismissal of Demarius Bridges’s postconviction petition alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel for failing to retain an expert on eyewitness identification reliability. The court holds that Bridges did not forfeit the claim by failing to raise it on direct appeal because the claim depended on matters outside the original appellate record. The court nevertheless affirms dismissal on the merits, concluding that counsel’s decision not to call an eyewitness-identification expert was a strategic decision and that Bridges failed to make the required showing of ineffective assistance.

Holdings

1. Bridges did not forfeit his postconviction claim by failing to raise it on direct appeal because the claim depended on an expert report and other facts outside the trial record that could not have been adequately presented on direct appeal.
2. Bridges failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel. Counsel's decision not to present an eyewitness-identification expert was a matter of trial strategy, was not shown to be objectively unreasonable or to have prevented meaningful adversarial testing, and did not establish prejudice.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Bridges forfeited his postconviction ineffective-assistance claim by failing to raise it on direct appeal.
2. Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to retain or present an expert witness concerning the reliability of eyewitness identification.
3. Whether Bridges made a substantial showing of deficient performance and prejudice sufficient to proceed to a third-stage postconviction hearing.

Disposition

affirmed