Court Opinion

ID: 9534002
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:36:12.707555+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:18.431041
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HARRISON, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree that the allegations in Ward’s post-conviction petition and the supporting affidavits provide no cognizable basis for disturbing his convictions. In my view, however, his sentence of death cannot be allowed to stand. For the reasons set forth in my dissent in People v. Bull, 185 Ill. 2d 179 (1998), this state’s present death penalty law does not meet the requirements of the eighth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amends. VIII, XIV) or article I, section 2, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 2). To the extent that the circuit court rejected Ward’s challenge to the validity of his death sentence, its judgment should therefore be reversed, Ward’s sentence of death should be vacated, and Ward should be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 9—1(j). There is no need to remand for an additional sentencing hearing. Because Ward has been found guilty of murdering more than one victim, a term of natural life imprisonment is mandatory. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 1005—8—1(a)(1)(c). For the foregoing reasons, I would affirm the judgment of the circuit court in part and reverse it in part. I would not disturb any of Ward’s convictions, nor would I alter the sentences imposed on him by the circuit court for armed robbery and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. I would, however, vacate his death sentence and sentence him to a term of natural life imprisonment.