Criminal Law

The procedural safeguards of a discharge hearing, which are constitutionally sufficient to permit the extended treatment and possible involuntary commitment of an unfit defendant, are sufficient also to permit the sex offender certification of an unfit defendant. Sex offender registration is not punishment, but is a regulatory scheme designed to foster public safety. (KILBRIDE, FREEMAN, GARMAN, KARMEIER, BURKE, and THEIS, concurring.)

State alleged, for the first time on appeal, that Defendant's pro se supplemental postconviction petition was subject to dismissal because his verification affidavit was not notarized. State forfeited its argument by failing to raise issue of noncompliance with notarization requirement in trial court. Although State could not have raised issue in its original motion to dismiss, as the unnotarized affidavit was not submitted until later, the State could have sought to amend its motion to dismiss to include the issue. (THOMAS, GARMAN, KARMEIER, and THEIS, concurring.)

Public Act 95-688, effective October 2007, which amended the armed violence statute, revived the sentencing enhancement in the armed robbery statute. The legislature revived the unconstitutional armed violence predicated on robbery statute, by curing the proportionality violation through amendment of the comparison statute. (KILBRIDE, FREEMAN, THOMAS, GARMAN, KARMEIER, and BURKE, concurring.)

Court erred by refusing Defendant's request for separate verdict forms for felony murder. If jury had been given separate verdict forms and had acquitted Defendant of intentional or knowing murder, application of Section 9-1(b)(6) of Criminal Code would have been foreclosed as verdict would have negated an essential element of this eligibility factor for death penalty. Thus, error had consequences for Defendant's sentence of natural life without parole, and remedy is for sentence to be vacated, and remand for sentencing. (KILBRIDE, FREEMAN, THOMAS, KARMEIER, BURKE, and THEIS, concurring.)

Element of "sexual conduct" can reasonably be inferred from indictment language detailing sexual penetration. Elements considered by jury as to crime of predatory criminal sexual assault encompassed elements of crime of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, including element of "sexual conduct". Thus, appellate court did not render a verdict on an additional element not considered by the jury. (KILBRIDE, FREEMAN, THOMAS, KARMEIER, and BURKE, concurring.)

Trial court's judgment dismissing first-stage postconviction petition is void as untimely, if not rendered within 90 days. Even though order of dismissal was signed and dated on February 7, it was not date-stamped by circuit clerk until February 8. Public expression of trial court's action occurred, thus satisfying elements of effective court action, on February 8, when order was filed with circuit clerk, as record contains no explanation or commentary to support a public express of court's action on February 7. (McLAREN, concurring; HUDSON, dissenting.)

Officers exceeded scope of a Terry stop by searching Defendant. Although a protective pat-down for weapons may be performed in a Terry stop, a general search may not; and immediate handcuffing of Defendant once in custody eliminated need to frisk him for safety. Thus search was improper, and court properly granted motion to quash arrest and suppress. Because doorknobs and remote control recovered in search were suppressed, State had no concrete evidence that Defendant committed burglary, and it would be essentially impossible for State to convict him of burglary beyond a reasonable doubt. (NEVILLE and HYMAN, concurring.)