Court Opinion

ID: 9720800
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:41:41.060325+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:21.368987
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE KILBRIDE, also concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree with the majority’s judgment to allow, at minimum, an evidentiary hearing on defendant’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. I further agree, in part, with Justice McMorrow’s conclusion that the death penalty is inappropriate in this case for the reasons stated in her dissent on direct appeal. See People v. Harris, 182 Ill. 2d 114, 165-71 (1998) (McMorrow, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). Nevertheless, for the reasons set forth 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), I maintain that defendant’s convictions and sentence should be set aside because the trial court proceedings were not conducted in accordance with the new supreme court rules governing capital cases. 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, since the new rules were promulgated to address the deficiencies of constitutional dimension that regularly occurred under the old system, those rules must be applied retroactively to all capital cases currently pending on appeal before this court. See People v. Caballero, 179 Ill. 2d 205, 220-21 (1997).