(Court opinion corrected 7/15/16.) Defendant was convicted, after jury trial in 2003, of first-degree murder. Court erred in denying Defendant leave to file 2nd postconviction petition. There is a probability that evidence uncovered since Defendant's trial may produce a new result at retrial, where the only evidence linking the Defendant, then age 19, was his own confession; the circumstances of initial confession were odd; some details in confession did not match physical evidence recovered at crime scene; only known eyewitness to crime, other than the shooter, exonerates Defendant; confessed shooter exonerates Defendant; alibi witnesses produced by State exonerate Defendant; and recent information supports Defendant's claim that his confession was physically coerced. Remanded for appointment of postconviction counsel and 2nd-stage postconviction proceedings.(REYES, specially concurring; LAMPKIN, dissenting.)
Illinois Appellate Court
Criminal Court
Post-Conviction Petitions