Criminal Law

Defendant was convicted, after stipulated bench trial, of 1st degree murder of his estranged wife. Court summarily dismissed his pro se postconviction which alleged actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence. Defendant's recovered memory of events leading up to his wife's death did not constitute newly discovered evidence. Statements in petition do not establish the gist of a claim of self-defense. A defendant's claim of 2nd degree murder does not constitute a claim of actually innocence, as it does not completely exonerate Defendant of the offense in question and all related offenses. (McDADE and O'BRIEN, concurring.)

Defendant, age 15 at time of offense, was sentenced to 2 terms of life imprisonment for conviction of 2 counts of 1st degree murder and 2 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm. As Defendant was age 34 at time of his resentencing hearing, transfer to juvenile court would have proven impracticable. As Defendant's cause could not have been transferred to juvenile court under 2016 amendments to automatic transfer provision, Defendant failed to establish prejudice and ineffective assistance of counsel claims fail. Defendant chose to be sentenced under laws in 1997, the year he committed the offenses. Sentence is not vastly disproportionate to seriousness of the offenses. (HOWSE and COBBS, concurring.)

Defendant was convicted of traffic offenses and sentenced to pay more than $2,000 in fines. Court considered Defendant's inability to pay and the amount of payments that Defendant had made in each case. Court erroneously expanded the good cause standard beyond inability to pay or hardship to include prior diligence as shown by portion of fines he had or had not previously paid. Remanded for court to consider only Defendant's allegations and evidence of inability to pay or hardship to determine if good cause to revoke fines. (McDADE, concurring; WRIGHT, dissenting.)

Defendant was convicted, after one-day jury trial, of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and aggravated assault. Court did not abuse its discretion in denying jury's request for transcript of recorded testimony, and in encouraging jurors to rely on their own recollection of the evidence.  No ineffective assistance of counsel by counsel's failure to object to letter of certification that Defendant did not possess a valid FOID card. Record is devoid of any indication that Defendant did possess a valid FOID card. Counsel's inaction was consistent with his trial strategy that Defendant did not shoot a gun. (LYTTON and O'BRIEN, concurring.)

Court properly denied Defendant's motion to quash court costs and fines. Section 5-9-2 of Unified Code of Corrections allows a defendant to petition for revocation of a fine upon good cause shown. Defendant's laboratory analysis assessment is not a fine, but a fee. His substance abuse assessment is not subject to revocation under Section 5-9-2. His street value fine was completely offset by presentence custody credit Defendant received. (HOLDRIDGE and LYTTON, concurring.)

Dog sniff by drug-detection dog of door handle and seams of Defendant's motel room violated Defendant's reasonable expectation of privacy in his motel room and could not have been undertaken without a warrant. Heroin seized as a result of the sniff should have been suppressed, as case law were sufficient to have apprised a reasonably well-trained officer that this dog sniff violated 4th amendment. (O'BRIEN, concurring; SCHMIDT, concurring in party and dissenting in part.)

Defendant entered negotiated guilty pleas to unlawful possession of a methamphetamine precursor and of anhydrous ammonia. In postconviction petition and affidavit, Defendant alleges that he wrote and mailed letter to defense counsel asking him to withdraw his guilty please, but that defense counsel never responded and never moved to withdraw guilty pleas. Defendant's failure to include a copy of his letter was not proper basis to reject his claims. Partial summary dismissal of a postconviction petition is not permitted. (DeARMOND and TURNER, concurring.)