On Sept. 24, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court found that the trial court’s sua sponte vacatur of the defendant’s guilty plea did not improperly terminate jeopardy; thus, the subsequent bench trial did not constitute double jeopardy.
On Sept. 24, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that the limited-authority doctrine, which provides that a defendant’s authority to enter a building is limited to the specifically authorized purpose, applies to residential burglary by entry.
On Sept. 3, 2020, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court affirmed a trial court’s judgment in a decades-old murder case against evidentiary objections.
On Aug. 20, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court held that failing to raise a presentencing investigation (PSI) report issue under section 5-3-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections in a postplea motion within 30 days after sentencing results in forfeiting and waiving the claim.
On July 7, 2020, the Fifth District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that the simultaneous possession of a firearm and any amount of cannabis is prohibited under the Illinois Criminal Code.
On July 13, 2020, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court found an expert’s testimony inadmissible because the expert witness was not present at the time of the defendant’s offense.
On June 11, 2020, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded a decision by the trial court denying an offender under age 21 the opportunity to file a successive postconviction petition based on evolving pertinent law and science.
On June 16, 2020, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court found that a defendant had provided a gist of a constitutional claim for purposes of filing a postconviction petition when a trial court, without the assistance of an interpreter, pronounced him guilty.
On May 15, 2020, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the Stephenson County Circuit Court that the defendant resisted or obstructed a peace officer’s authorized acts.
On May 12, 2020, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the judgment of the Peoria County Circuit Court by holding that a defendant’s postconviction petition cannot be dismissed where newly discovered evidence shows that an eyewitness’s self-interested testimony may have materially affected the outcome of the trial.
At a trial convicting the defendant of residential burglary, the state presented a fingerprint expert’s testimony on a partial fingerprint obtained at the scene that matched the defendant’s.
A state trooper convicted of first-degree murder of his girlfriend at a middle-school graduation party argued on appeal that the circuit court denied him a fair trial by refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter.
On Jan. 30, 2020, the Fifth District Appellate Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying a defendant’s motion to withdraw his plea of guilty but mentally ill.
The Illinois General Assembly enacted the Removal of Private Compromising Images Act. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the Act prohibits the “posting of private compromising images” of another person online.
In 2016, the Illinois Supreme Court held that unconstitutionally obtained gun convictions could be used for charging and enhancement purposes unless the defendant vacated the conviction. Two years later, the court admitted it got it wrong.
Under current law, prosecution for criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual assault, or aggravated criminal sexual abuse must be commenced within 10 years of the commission of the offense if the victim reported the offense within three years of the commission.
The Illinois General Assembly amended the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 to alter the procedures for effecting a warrant of arrest in certain circumstances.
On May 29, 2019, the First District Appellate Court of Illinois held a criminal defendant was not “armed” within the meaning of the armed-violence statue when a gun was located on a couch approximately 15 feet away from the defendant.
On March 21, 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court found that section 25(b)(2) of the Drug Dealer Liability Act violates substantive due process under the Illinois and U.S. constitutions.
On March 21, 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court held that only weapons that can be licensed under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act are meant to be excluded from the reach of the unlawful use of weapons statute and that weapons outside its reach are protected by the Second Amendment.
In 2008, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed the conviction of the plaintiff, Alan Beaman, of the murder of his ex-girlfriend because the state violated his constitutional right to due process under Brady v. Maryland when it failed to disclose material and exculpatory information about a viable alternative suspect.
On Dec. 14, 2018, after a jury trial, the defendant was convicted for the unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. It was also alleged that the defendant was within 1,000 feet of a school at the time of the offense.
On Dec. 28, 2018, after a jury trial, the defendant was convicted for the unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. In addition, the defendant was acquitted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
On Dec. 28, 2018, after a jury trial, the defendant was convicted for a Class 2 felony for delivery of a controlled substance and ordered to pay $1,549 in fines, fees, and costs.
Recent decisions in the U.S. and Illinois Supreme Courts have complicated the landscape for ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims brought in Illinois.
