People v. Price

This case presents question as to whether trial court properly denied defendant’s post-conviction petition challenging his natural life sentence on 1994 first degree murder charge, where trial court had denied his request for separate jury verdict forms to account for various murder theories, as required under Smith, 223 Ill.2d 1 (2009). Appellate Court, in reversing trial court, found that rule announce in Smith was substantive matter that required that it be applied retroactively to defendant’s 1997 trial. As such, Appellate Court held that defendant was entitled to vacatur of his natural life sentence on general first degree murder charge in favor of new sentence on defendant’s felony murder charge, which represented least culpable form of murder that had been charged in case. In its petition for leave to appeal, State argued that Smith could not be applied retroactively.