On Jan. 30, 2023, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that excluding contents of a warrant in a defendant’s armed habitual criminal trial constituted an abuse of discretion where it caused an inference of predetermined guilt.

On Jan. 20, 2023, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that an arresting officer’s official reports were admitted into evidence once they were filed, although the defendant neither stipulated nor chose to utilize the reports in his case.

On Dec. 19, 2022, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a court’s failure to follow Illinois Supreme Court Rule 401(a)-(b) before allowing the defendant to proceed pro se at trial amounted to an invalid waiver of counsel.

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the Stalking No Contact Order Act, the Civil No Contact Order Act, and the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986. A petition for a protective order, stalking no-contact order, and civil no-contact order may now be filed online and in person.

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Criminal Code of 2012. It is now unlawful for a person with the intent to enter a motor vehicle and commit a felony or theft to possess a device designed to unlock or start a motor vehicle without the vehicle’s key.

The Illinois General Assembly enacted the Task Force on Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Act. The Act creates a task force to provide the General Assembly recommendations to reduce and end violence against Chicago women and girls.

On Oct. 17, 2022, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that where a defendant is willing to stipulate to prior convictions that qualify the defendant to be charged as an armed habitual criminal, the names of those convictions should not be admitted.

On Oct. 20, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a defendant’s first felony committed at 17 years old was not a qualifying offense for class X sentencing.

On Sept. 23, 2022, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a grand jury indictment should be dismissed where testimony falsely represented that the defendant had confessed.

This Act amends The Expressway Camera Act by modifying the circumstances under which footage from cameras on expressways and Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive in Cook County may be extracted.

On July 20, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate specific intent required for a vehicular hijacking conviction.

On June 16, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the application of the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement, thus admitting evidence obtained without a search warrant.

On June 30, 2022, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that Criminal Code forfeiture proceedings do not apply to individuals who are deemed innocent owners.

On May 13, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court vacated the second-degree murder sentence of an individual who stabbed and killed a home intruder and held that the individual acted reasonably in defending his home.

On May 19, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a prosecutor’s comments about hearsay at closing argument were not improper.

The Illinois General Assembly amended the Criminal Code of 2012. The amendment bans the sale, offer, or transfer of an unserialized, unfinished frame, receiver, or firearm unless the purchaser is a qualifying federal entity.

On April 25, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a trial court is required to have an evidentiary hearing upon referral from the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC) unless it is against the manifest weight of the evidence.

The Privacy of Child Victims of Criminal Sexual Offenses Act is amended to exclude the identity of a child victim of a criminal sexual offense from law enforcement and circuit court records. A select few specific individuals may be exempt.

On Feb. 24, 2022, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a charging instrument failed to give sufficient notice for the preparation of a defense when the charging document failed to identify who the defendant allegedly contacted in violation of a no-contact order.

On Feb. 2, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded a trial court’s finding involving three separate convictions with instructions to merge the offenses after a one-act, one-crime rule violation.

The Code of Criminal Procedure is amended to afford persons in police custody three telephone calls free of charge. No later than three hours after arriving at the first place of detention, the detainee must be given access to a telephone to make three phone calls.

On Jan. 21, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that counsel must strictly comply with Rule 604(d) and overruled its 2019 decision in People v. Peltz.