Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery and sentenced to a concurrent term of 60 years for murder and 20 years for armed robbery. On direct appeal, the appellate court affirmed his conviction for murder and vacated his conviction for armed robbery. Defendant subsequently asserted actual innocence on the basis that a witness provided false testimony to a grand jury and filed several motions under section 116-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking an order compelling the witness to provide a DNA sample for further forensic testimony, which were denied by the trial court. The appellate court affirmed, finding that while the requested DNA sample was unavailable through other means, the trial court did not abuse its discretion because the other “good cause” factors weighed against compelling the witness to provide the sample. (ELLIS and BURKE, concurring)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Evidence