People v. McGee, 186 N.E.3d 38

Defendant Aaron McGee was tried for armed robbery after a cab driver was sprayed with mace and robbed; accomplice Frank Rosas testified that McGee displayed a gun and participated.
McGee gave a statement blaming Rosas for the theft; the State played a jail phone call in which McGee discussed Rosas being out of jail and urged someone to tell Rosas not to come to court.
The parties stipulated to the tape’s admissibility; much of the recording was difficult to hear and no transcript was produced. The jury convicted McGee and the court merged counts and imposed 29 years’ imprisonment.
On direct appeal this court affirmed in part (including admission of the tape based on the stipulation). McGee later filed a postconviction petition alleging trial counsel was ineffective for (1) persuading him to reject 8- and 9-year plea offers by promising an acquittal and (2) stipulating to admissibility of the jail call; he also alleged appellate counsel was ineffective for not raising the stipulation issue.
The trial court dismissed the petition at the second stage. On appeal the appellate court (this opinion) reversed as to the plea-offer claim (remanding for an evidentiary hearing) and affirmed as to the stipulation claim.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (McGee)	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for inducing rejection of plea offers by promising acquittal	The record (Krankel inquiry and counsel’s statement that offers were rejected) rebuts McGee; petition lacked written Krankel statement	Counsel promised acquittal, persuaded McGee to reject 8- and 9‑year offers; McGee would have accepted but for counsel’s assurances	Reversed and remanded for third‑stage evidentiary hearing — McGee made a substantial showing and the record does not positively rebut his allegations
Whether counsel was ineffective for stipulating to admissibility of the jail call	Stipulation was a reasonable trial strategy; claim is res judicata or speculative about foundation; appellate counsel could have raised it but it fails	Stipulation prevented argument that McGee was not a speaker and deprived him of a defense	Affirmed — no substantial showing of ineffectiveness; stipulation could be strategic and McGee admitted the call was his, so allegation is speculative

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (two‑pronged test for ineffective assistance of counsel)
Missouri v. Frye, 566 U.S. 134 (standards for prejudice in plea‑negotiation ineffective‑assistance claims)
People v. Hale, 2013 IL 113140 (Illinois application of Frye; right to effective assistance during plea negotiations)
People v. Edwards, 197 Ill. 2d 239 (first‑stage pleading sufficiency in postconviction proceedings)
People v. Domagala, 2013 IL 113688 (substantial‑showing standard for second‑stage dismissal review)
People v. Simms, 192 Ill. 2d 348 (claims based on matters outside the record generally not resolved on pleadings)
People v. Robinson, 2020 IL 123849 (when the record positively rebuts postconviction averments)