On Oct. 20, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a defendant’s first felony committed at 17 years old was not a qualifying offense for class X sentencing.
On Sept. 23, 2022, the Second District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a grand jury indictment should be dismissed where testimony falsely represented that the defendant had confessed.
This Act amends The Expressway Camera Act by modifying the circumstances under which footage from cameras on expressways and Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive in Cook County may be extracted.
On July 20, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held there was sufficient evidence to demonstrate specific intent required for a vehicular hijacking conviction.
On June 16, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the application of the emergency aid exception to the warrant requirement, thus admitting evidence obtained without a search warrant.
How problem-solving courts across Illinois improve criminal justice, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus, a bonus list of contacts by Illinois county.
On June 30, 2022, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that Criminal Code forfeiture proceedings do not apply to individuals who are deemed innocent owners.
On May 13, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court vacated the second-degree murder sentence of an individual who stabbed and killed a home intruder and held that the individual acted reasonably in defending his home.
The Illinois General Assembly amended the Criminal Code of 2012. The amendment bans the sale, offer, or transfer of an unserialized, unfinished frame, receiver, or firearm unless the purchaser is a qualifying federal entity.
On April 25, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a trial court is required to have an evidentiary hearing upon referral from the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC) unless it is against the manifest weight of the evidence.
Comparing the Illinois Pretrial Fairness Act, which eliminates the use of cash bail in Illinois, with the federal Bail Reform Act, which abolished cash bail in the federal criminal system in 1984.
The Privacy of Child Victims of Criminal Sexual Offenses Act is amended to exclude the identity of a child victim of a criminal sexual offense from law enforcement and circuit court records. A select few specific individuals may be exempt.
On Feb. 24, 2022, the Third District of the Illinois Appellate Court held that a charging instrument failed to give sufficient notice for the preparation of a defense when the charging document failed to identify who the defendant allegedly contacted in violation of a no-contact order.
On Feb. 2, 2022, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed and remanded a trial court’s finding involving three separate convictions with instructions to merge the offenses after a one-act, one-crime rule violation.
The Code of Criminal Procedure is amended to afford persons in police custody three telephone calls free of charge. No later than three hours after arriving at the first place of detention, the detainee must be given access to a telephone to make three phone calls.
On Jan. 21, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that counsel must strictly comply with Rule 604(d) and overruled its 2019 decision in People v. Peltz.
On Jan. 21, 2022, the Illinois Supreme Court held that a prosecutor did not impermissibly shift the burden of proof to the defendant when the prosecutor said in rebuttal closing argument that the defendant could have requested evidence testing.
On Nov. 18, 2021, the Illinois Supreme Court held that if an individual is found to be a sexually dangerous person under the Sexually Dangerous Persons Act (Act), it is not necessary to make a separate and express finding that the individual is substantially probable to reoffend.
On Nov. 22, 2021, the First District of the Illinois Appellate Court found that the trial court violated the right to due process by making factual findings not based on the evidence.
The Criminal Identification Act is amended to allow any individual to file a motion to vacate and expunge a conviction for a prior class 4 felony violation of prostitution.
