People v. Lemke

              1
NOTICE
Decision filed 07/31/08. The text of
this decision may be changed or
corrected prior to the filing of a
Peti tion for Rehearing or the
disposition of the same.
NO. 5-07-0064
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
FIFTH DISTRICT
________________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of
Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Edwards County.
)
v. ) No. 01-CF-49
)
KENNETH R. LEMKE, ) Honorable
) Mark L. Shaner,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding.
________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE WEXSTTEN delivered the opinion of the court:
Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Edwards County, the defendant, Kenneth
R. Lemke, was convicted of first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2) (West 2000)). On
appeal from his conviction, the defendant argues that his murder conviction should be
reduced to involuntary manslaughter (720 ILCS 5/9-3(a) (West 2000)) and that, alternatively,
he should be granted a new trial because he was denied the effective assistance of counsel.
For the following reasons, we affirm the defendant's conviction for first-degree murder.
BACKGROUND
In November 2001, the defendant and his stepson, Lance Albertson, were involved
in an altercation that resulted in Albertson's death. It is undisputed that the incident began
as a verbal dispute and ended when Albertson was shot in the head with a round fired from
a .22-caliber revolver.
In April 2002, following a bench trial in the circuit court of Edwards County, the
defendant was convicted of first-degree murder. On appeal, the defendant argued that the
evidence presented for the trial court's consideration did not support a conviction for first-