Court Opinion

ID: 9744494
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:04:37.712438+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:49.684813
License: Public Domain

CHIEF JUSTICE HARRISON, specially concurring: The proceedings below were fatally flawed for an additional reason not raised by my colleagues: they did not comport with the new rules enacted by our court governing the conduct of cases in which the State is seeking the death penalty. For the reasons set forth in my dissenting opinion in People v. Hickey, 204 Ill. 2d 585, 631-36 (2001) (Harrison, C.J., dissenting), the procedures contained in those rules are indispensable for achieving an accurate determination of innocence or guilt and are applicable to all capital cases now coming before us on direct review. Because Blue was tried, convicted and sentenced without the benefit of the new rules, his conviction and sentence could not be allowed to stand even if the errors identified by my colleagues were not present. For that reason, in addition to the reasons given by the majority, I therefore agree that Blue’s conviction and sentence should be set aside and that he should be granted a new trial. On retrial, the State must proceed in accordance with our new rules. Whether those rules will be sufficient, by themselves, to place this state’s capital punishment system within the tolerances permitted by the state and federal constitution is a question we cannot yet answer. What is certain, however, is that no proceeding conducted without the benefit of the rules can be deemed reliable. As I discussed in my partial concurrence and partial dissent in People v. Bull, 185 Ill. 2d 179 (1998), the present Illinois death penalty law violates the eighth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amends. VIII, XIV) and article I, section 2, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 2) because it will inevitably lead to the execution of innocent persons. It is therefore void and unenforceable. Accordingly, if the State does not adhere to the new rules, and if Blue is convicted again, the State should not be permitted to seek the death penalty. JUSTICE KILBRIDE, also specially concurring: I concur with the majority’s opinion and judgment. Nevertheless, in addition to the reasons set forth by the majority, I agree with Chief Justice Harrison that defendant’s convictions and sentence should also be set aside because the trial proceedings were not conducted in accordance with the new supreme court rules governing capital cases. As I stated in my dissents in People v. Hickey, 204 Ill. 2d 585, 636-40 (2001) (Kilbride, J., dissenting), and People v. Simpson, 204 Ill. 2d 536, 581-85 (2001) (Kilbride, J., dissenting), the procedures in capital cases prior to this court’s adoption of the new rules were inherently unreliable and did not sufficiently protect a defendant’s constitutional rights. Consequently, the rules, promulgated to help remedy the flaws of the old system, must be applied retroactively to all capital cases currently pending on direct appeal. See People v. Hudson, 195 Ill. 2d 117, 126 (2001); see also Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314, 328, 93 L. Ed. 2d 649, 661, 107 S. Ct. 708, 716 (1987). For this reason, as well as those reasons articulated by the majority, defendant’s retrial must proceed in compliance with the new rules.