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Docket No. 84418-Agenda 2-January 2000.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. IKE EASLEY, JR., Appellant.

Opinion filed May 25, 2000.

JUSTICE FREEMAN delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Ike Easley, Jr., petitioned the circuit court of Livingston County for post-conviction relief pursuant to the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1 (West 1998)). The circuit court dismissed defendant's petition without an evidentiary hearing. Defendant appeals directly to this court. 134 Ill. 2d R. 651(a). We affirm.

BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged with conspiring to murder (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, pars. 8-2(c), 9-1(a)) and with murdering (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, pars. 9-1(a)(1), (a)(2)) the victim, Robert Taylor, who was a superintendent at the Pontiac Correctional Center (Pontiac). The State's theory of the case was as follows. Defendant was a member of a street gang. The gang blamed the prison administration for the death of Billy Jones, another gang member. Defendant murdered the victim to avenge Jones' death. People v. Easley, 148 Ill. 2d 281, 324-26 (1992). For a fuller understanding of the underlying facts, see also People v. Lucas, 151 Ill. 2d 461 (1992); People v. Johnson, 250 Ill. App. 3d 887 (1993).

Prior to defendant's trial, the State dismissed the conspiracy charges. At the close of the evidence, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder, in that he intended to kill the victim. See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 9-1(a)(1). At the first stage of the death sentencing hearing, the same jury found that defendant was eligible for the death penalty because the victim was a correctional officer. See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 9-1(b)(2). At the close of the second stage of the death sentencing hearing, the jury concluded that there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude imposition of the death penalty. Accordingly, the circuit court sentenced defendant to death.

Defendant's sentence was stayed pending direct appeal to this court. Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI,