Court Opinion

ID: 9533804
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:34:41.863196+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:10.808497
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE HARRISON, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree that Heard’s convictions should not be disturbed, but would set aside his sentence of death. 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). Accordingly, we should vacate Heard’s death sentence, and he should be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. 720 ILCS 5/9—1(j) (West 1992). Because Heard has been found guilty of murdering more than one victim, the term of his imprisonment must be natural life. 730 ILCS 5/5—8—1(a)(1)(c)(ii) (West 1992).