People v. Croft 

Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Post-Conviction Petitions
Citation
Case Number: 
2018 IL App (1st) 150043
Decision Date: 
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
District: 
1st Dist.
Division/County: 
Cook Co., 1st Div,
Holding: 
Affirmed.
Justice: 
PIERCE

(Court opinion corrected 2/23/18.) Defendant, age 17 at time of offense, was convicted for participating in gang rape, kidnapping, and murder of 16-year-old girl. Court properly dismissed Defendant's successive postconviction petition at 2nd stage. Petition asserted that Defendant's discretionary sentence of natural life in prison without parole was imposed without consideration of factors cited in 2012 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Miller v. Alabama. Sentencing court considered the type of evidence that Miller decision requires for a juvenile sentencing hearing.Sentencing court sufficiently addressed factors identified in Illinois Supreme Court's 2017 People v. Holman decision, and Defendant presented mitigating evidence that addressed these factors, and the resentencing court considered them. Defendant's sentencing hearing was not constitutionally defective.(HARRIS and SIMON, concurring).