Court Opinion

ID: 9737319
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:21:47.41971+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:23:58.046873
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HEIPLE, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree with the majority’s determination that where counsel for the defendant and counsel for a crucial State’s witness were both assistant public defenders of Will County as well as partners in a law firm and jointly engaged in the general practice of law, a per se conflict of interest exists which constitutes reversible error. This case must accordingly be sent back for retrial. However, I do not agree that the evidence relating to the photographs and impressions of the defendant’s teeth should have been suppressed on the ground that the search warrant was issued without probable cause. In the instant case, the complaint for the search warrant set forth the fact that the victim had been bitten approximately five times on her hands, arms, and shoulders. It also stated that the defendant admitted being the last person with the victim at the scene of the murder in the early morning hours of February 21, 1985. The victim’s body was discovered on February 21, 1985. This was sufficient to establish a fair probability that evidence of a crime would be found from an impression of the defendant’s teeth. Rather than relying on well-established and commonly accepted principles for the issuance of a search warrant, the majority attempts to parse the particular facts of particular cases to justify their invalidation of this warrant. In short, in the absence of a “spotted cow” case with the same number, color, and location of spots, they are not going to justify this warrant. The majority’s analysis misses the mark and the process itself is to be condemned. To support the issuance of a search warrant, facts must be related to the issuing judge which establish a fair probability that evidence of a crime will be found in the place to be searched. The standard for assessing probable cause is the probability of a criminal activity, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Probable cause is not to be a determination rendered by a legal technician, but instead by a reasonable and prudent person dealing with the practical considerations of everyday life. Clearly, the search warrant in this case falls well within those established legal guidelines. Accordingly, I dissent.