CRIMINAL

People v. Givens

By Kerry J. Bryson, Office of the State Appellate Defender Last month, the Supreme Court decided Givens, concluding that it was error for the appellate court to, sua sponte, decide an issue not argued or briefed by the parties in the appellate court. In so holding, the Court simply vacated the decision of the appellate court and affirmed the circuit court. Defendant sought rehearing, arguing that the Supreme Court should remand the case back to the appellate court for consideration of a chain-of-custody issue which the parties had briefed and argued, but the appellate court had not reached because the appellate court considered the "sua sponte issue" to be dispositive of the outcome on appeal. The Supreme Court modified the relief and remanded the case to the appellate court to consider the chain-of-custody issue. Case summary Supreme Court opinion 107322