Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of 1st degree murder, aggravated vehicular hijacking, armed robbery, and concealment of a homicide. Circuit court and appellate court denied Defendant leave to file a successive pro se postconviction petition which alleged a claim of actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence, and included several affidavits. The new evidence supporting the petition need not be completely dispositive of innocence, but need only be of such a conclusive character as to probably change the result upon retrial. Affidavits are consistent with other evidence, and present new evidence of significant details missing from the record, and provides evidence that a different person is guilty. As Defendant has satisfied the pleading requirements for granting leave to file a successive postconviction petition, his claim of actual innocence must be advanced to 2nd-stage proceedings. (A. BURKE, KILBRIDE, and THEIS, concurring; M. BURKE, GARMAN, and KARMEIER, dissenting.)
Illinois Supreme Court
Criminal Court
Postconviction Petitions