Criminal Law

Defendant was convicted of murder, based largely on confession he signed, at age 15, after twelve hours of questioning by detectives. Defendant claimed that he signed confession because detective beat him, while other detective watched, and threatened him; jury did not hear evidence that these detectives had beaten and threatened suspects in other cases to obtain signed confessions, and that they committed perjury to convince juries to rely on confessions. Postconviction petition included detail about alleged official misconduct, and court abused discretion in denying motion for discovery related to petition. Remanded for evidentiary hearing at which defense has access to evidence as to detectives' credibility.(HYMAN and MASON, concurring.)

Defendant pled guilty to unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Cause remanded to determine Defendant's ability to pay $750 public defender fee. Fees for DNA indexing and pretrial bond supervision are vacated, because Defendant's DNA was already in the database, and because Defendant was never released on bond. Defendant's $3,000 drug assessment must be offset by $5 per day credit for pre-sentence time in custody. (BURKE, concurring; JORGENSEN, concurring in part and dissenting in part.)

(Modified upon denial of rehearing 12/10/13.) Defendant alleged ineffective assistance of counsel, and court conducted preliminary investigatory hearing, which is meant to be neither adversarial nor evidentiary. Court erred in allowing State to question defense counsel under oath during investigatory hearing though barring Defendant from asking defense counsel questions, as hearing then turned adversarial. Court erred in relying on its knowledge of defense counsel's performance in other cases. Court's errors were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, as court thoroughly examined factual matters fairly and impartially, and Defendant failed to present colorable claim of possible neglect. (STEIGMANN and HOLDER WHITE, concurring.)

Defendant delayed nearly ten years from entry of guilty plea to seek to withdraw plea because lenient sentence does not comport with statutory guidelines requiring 25-year firearm enhancements. Defendant received benefit of bargain as to sentence but has not set forth legally sufficient basis to rescind agreement, and Defendant's unreasonable delay precludes him from rescission of plea agreement. (GORDON and PALMER, concurring.)

Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of escape. Defendant failed to overcome presumption that trial judge knew the law and applied it correctly in sentencing Defendant to extended term. Charge of $50 imposed by County under Section 5-1101(c) of Counties Code is a fine as it is essentially punitive and not compensatory. That amount of assessment is correlated directly with severity of offense shows that assessment is punitive and not compensatory.(BIRKETT and SPENCE, concurring.)

Court properly dismissed Defendant's amended petition for relief from judgment and petition for postconviction relief. A Section 2-1401 petition may not be used to obtain relief for issues previously raised at trial or in other collateral proceedings. Defendant, having not presented evidence to controvert stipulated testimony, cannot complain that it was not worthy of consideration; and Defendant invited the error by agreeing to evidence through stipulation. (BURKE and HUDSON, concurring.)

Defendant was convicted, after bench trial, of solicitation of murder for hire. State is not required, under constitutional or under statute, to assure reasonable assistance of retained counsel in postconviction proceedings. Defendant may seek recourse against his attorney for alleged failings, and may bring successive postconviction petition arguing that failings show cause for failure to raise meritorious issues in initial postconviction petition. (HYMAN and MASON, concurring.)

Defendant was convicted, after jury trial, of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. State failed to prove Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, as State failed to prove that he knew of firearm's presence and exercised immediate and exclusive control over area in which firearm was found. State presented no physical evidence connecting Defendant to gun, no witnesses who had seen Defendant holding a gun, and no evidence that Defendant lived at residence where it was found; and officers never saw Defendant in the same room as the gun. (FITZGERALD SMITH and LAVIN, concurring.)

Respondent minor was adjudicated delinquent on finding of guilty of aggravated battery involving great bodily harm, arising from altercation with another minor. State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Respondent knowingly caused great bodily harm, as trial judge stated that he did not believe any of the witnesses. State failed to disprove, beyond a reasonable doubt, Respondent's affirmative defense of self-defense upon victim threatening him. (NEVILLE and PUCINSKI, concurring.)