100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB5891

 

Introduced , by Rep. Jerry Costello, II

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
See Index

    Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Reinstates the death penalty if at the time of the commission of the offense the person was 18 years of age or older and the person purposely caused the death of 2 or more human beings without lawful justification or the victim was a peace officer or firefighter killed in the course of performing his or her official duties, either to prevent the performance of the person's duties or in retaliation for the performance of the person's duties, and the person knew that the victim was a peace officer or firefighter. Provides a person is legally accountable for the conduct of another in the commission of death penalty murder only when: (1) having the purpose to cause the death of another human being without lawful justification, the person commands, induces, procures, or causes another to perform the conduct; or (2) the person agrees with one or more other persons to engage in conduct for the common purpose of causing the death of another human being without lawful justification, in which case all parties to the agreement shall be criminally liable for acts of other parties to the agreement committed during and in furtherance of the agreement. Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 and Unified Code of Corrections to make conforming changes. Effective immediately.


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CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB5891LRB100 22092 SLF 40801 b

1    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
5Section 5-1 and by adding Sections 4-4.5, 5-2.5, and 9-1.5 as
6follows:
 
7    (720 ILCS 5/4-4.5 new)
8    Sec. 4-4.5. Purposely or purpose. In Section 5-2.5 and
99-1.5 of this Code, a person acts purposely or with the purpose
10when his or her conscious objective is to cause the death of
11another human being.
 
12    (720 ILCS 5/5-1)  (from Ch. 38, par. 5-1)
13    Sec. 5-1. Accountability for conduct of another. Except as
14provided in Section 5-2.5 of the Code a A person is responsible
15for conduct which is an element of an offense if the conduct is
16either that of the person himself, or that of another and he is
17legally accountable for such conduct as provided in Section 5-2
18of this Code, or both.
19(Source: Laws 1961, p. 1983.)
 
20    (720 ILCS 5/5-2.5 new)
21    Sec. 5-2.5. Death penalty murder; accountability for acts

 

 

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1of others. A person is legally accountable for the conduct of
2another in the commission of death penalty murder only when:
3        (1) having the purpose to cause the death of another
4    human being without lawful justification, the person
5    commands, induces, procures, or causes another to perform
6    the conduct; or
7        (2) the person agrees with one or more other persons to
8    engage in conduct for the common purpose of causing the
9    death of another human being without lawful justification,
10    in which case all parties to the agreement shall be
11    criminally liable for acts of other parties to the
12    agreement committed during and in furtherance of the
13    agreement.
 
14    (720 ILCS 5/9-1.5 new)
15    Sec. 9-1.5. Death penalty murder.
16    (a) In this Section, "human being" means a person who has
17been born and is alive.
18    (b) A person commits death penalty murder when at the time
19of the commission of the offense he or she has attained the age
20of 18 or more and he or she purposely causes the death of
21another human being without lawful justification if:
22        (1) at the time of the offense, the person caused the
23    death of 2 or more other human beings without lawful
24    justification; or
25        (2) the victim was a peace officer, as defined by

 

 

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1    Section 2-13 of this Code or firefighter, killed in the
2    course of performing his or her official duties, either to
3    prevent the performance of the person's duties or in
4    retaliation for the performance of the person's duties, and
5    the person knew that the victim was a peace officer or
6    firefighter.
7    (c) The trier of fact regarding the charge of death penalty
8murder shall resolve any doubt regarding identification or any
9element of the offense in favor of the defendant. A defendant
10shall not be found guilty of the offense of death penalty
11murder unless each and every element of the offense is
12established beyond any doubt. If the trial is by jury, before
13the trial commences and again before jury deliberations
14commence, the jury shall be instructed that the penalty for
15death penalty murder is death.
16    (d) A defendant, who has been found guilty of death penalty
17murder, may, at a separate sentencing hearing, present evidence
18of mitigating circumstances not rising to the level of legal
19justification, including but not limited to evidence of
20intellectual disability as provided in Section 114-15 of the
21Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. The prosecution may present
22rebuttal evidence. The hearing shall be before the trial judge.
23The judge shall sentence the defendant to death, unless he or
24she finds that the defendant has, by a preponderance of the
25evidence, presented sufficiently substantial evidence to prove
26intellectual disability or that imposition of the death penalty

 

 

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1would result in a manifest miscarriage of justice, in which
2case the judge shall sentence the defendant to life
3imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
4    (e) On appeal from a conviction of death penalty murder,
5review of the facts shall be de novo. In conducting its de novo
6review of the trial evidence, the appellate court shall resolve
7all doubt regarding identification and guilt in favor of the
8defendant. The appellate court shall conduct an independent
9review of the evidence without giving deference to the judgment
10of the trier of fact at trial.
11    (f) Sentence. The sentence for death penalty murder is
12death.
 
13    Section 10. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
14amended by changing Sections 114-15, 119-1, and 122-2.2 as
15follows:
 
16    (725 ILCS 5/114-15)
17    Sec. 114-15. Intellectual disability.
18    (a) In a first degree murder case in which the State seeks
19the death penalty as an appropriate sentence or in a death
20penalty murder case, any party may raise the issue of the
21defendant's intellectual disabilities by motion. A defendant
22wishing to raise the issue of his or her intellectual
23disabilities shall provide written notice to the State and the
24court as soon as the defendant reasonably believes such issue

 

 

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1will be raised.
2    (b) The issue of the defendant's intellectual disabilities
3shall be determined in a pretrial hearing. The court shall be
4the fact finder on the issue of the defendant's intellectual
5disabilities and shall determine the issue by a preponderance
6of evidence in which the moving party has the burden of proof.
7The court may appoint an expert in the field of intellectual
8disabilities. The defendant and the State may offer experts
9from the field of intellectual disabilities. The court shall
10determine admissibility of evidence and qualification as an
11expert.
12    (c) If after a plea of guilty to first degree murder or
13death penalty murder, or a finding of guilty of first degree
14murder or death penalty murder in a bench trial, or a verdict
15of guilty for first degree murder or death penalty murder in a
16jury trial, or on a matter remanded from the Supreme Court for
17sentencing for first degree murder or death penalty murder, and
18the State seeks the death penalty as an appropriate sentence,
19the defendant may raise the issue of defendant's intellectual
20disabilities not at eligibility but at aggravation and
21mitigation. The defendant and the State may offer experts from
22the field of intellectual disabilities. The court shall
23determine admissibility of evidence and qualification as an
24expert.
25    (d) In determining whether the defendant is a person with
26an intellectual disability, the intellectual disability must

 

 

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1have manifested itself by the age of 18. IQ tests and
2psychometric tests administered to the defendant must be the
3kind and type recognized by experts in the field of
4intellectual disabilities. In order for the defendant to be
5considered a person with an intellectual disability, a low IQ
6must be accompanied by significant deficits in adaptive
7behavior in at least 2 of the following skill areas:
8communication, self-care, social or interpersonal skills, home
9living, self-direction, academics, health and safety, use of
10community resources, and work. An intelligence quotient (IQ) of
1175 or below is presumptive evidence of an intellectual
12disability.
13    (e) Evidence of an intellectual disability that did not
14result in disqualifying the case as a capital case, may be
15introduced as evidence in mitigation during a capital
16sentencing hearing. A failure of the court to determine that
17the defendant is a person with an intellectual disability does
18not preclude the court during trial from allowing evidence
19relating to mental disability should the court deem it
20appropriate.
21    (f) If the court determines at a pretrial hearing or after
22remand that a capital defendant is a person with an
23intellectual disability, and the State does not appeal pursuant
24to Supreme Court Rule 604, the case shall no longer be
25considered a capital case and the procedural guidelines
26established for capital cases shall no longer be applicable to

 

 

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1the defendant. In that case, the defendant shall be sentenced
2under the sentencing provisions of Chapter V of the Unified
3Code of Corrections.
4(Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
 
5    (725 ILCS 5/119-1)
6    Sec. 119-1. Death penalty abolished.
7    (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (a-5) of
8this Section, beginning Beginning on the effective date of this
9amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly, notwithstanding
10any other law to the contrary, the death penalty is abolished
11and a sentence to death may not be imposed.
12    (a-5) A sentence of death shall be imposed for death
13penalty murder.
14    (b) All unobligated and unexpended moneys remaining in the
15Capital Litigation Trust Fund on the effective date of this
16amendatory Act of the 96th General Assembly shall be
17transferred into the Death Penalty Abolition Fund, a special
18fund in the State treasury, to be expended by the Illinois
19Criminal Justice Information Authority, for services for
20families of victims of homicide or murder and for training of
21law enforcement personnel.
22(Source: P.A. 96-1543, eff. 7-1-11.)
 
23    (725 ILCS 5/122-2.2)
24    Sec. 122-2.2. Intellectual disability and post-conviction

 

 

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1relief.
2    (a) In cases where no determination of an intellectual
3disability was made and a defendant has been convicted of
4first-degree murder or death penalty murder, sentenced to
5death, and is in custody pending execution of the sentence of
6death, the following procedures shall apply:
7        (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule
8    of court, a defendant may seek relief from the death
9    sentence through a petition for post-conviction relief
10    under this Article alleging that the defendant was a person
11    with an intellectual disability as defined in Section
12    114-15 at the time the offense was alleged to have been
13    committed.
14        (2) The petition must be filed within 180 days of the
15    effective date of this amendatory Act of the 93rd General
16    Assembly or within 180 days of the issuance of the mandate
17    by the Illinois Supreme Court setting the date of
18    execution, whichever is later.
19    (b) All other provisions of this Article governing
20petitions for post-conviction relief shall apply to a petition
21for post-conviction relief alleging an intellectual
22disability.
23(Source: P.A. 99-78, eff. 7-20-15; 99-143, eff. 7-27-15.)
 
24    Section 15. The Unified Code of Corrections is amended by
25changing Section 5-4.5-10 and by adding Section 5-4.5-20.5 as

 

 

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1follows:
 
2    (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-10)
3    Sec. 5-4.5-10. OFFENSE CLASSIFICATIONS.
4    (a) FELONY CLASSIFICATIONS. Felonies are classified, for
5the purpose of sentencing, as follows:
6        (1) First degree murder (as a separate class of
7    felony).
8        (1.5) Death penalty murder (as a separate class of
9    felony).
10        (2) Class X felonies.
11        (3) Class 1 felonies.
12        (4) Class 2 felonies.
13        (5) Class 3 felonies.
14        (6) Class 4 felonies.
15    (b) MISDEMEANOR CLASSIFICATIONS. Misdemeanors are
16classified, for the purpose of sentencing, as follows:
17        (1) Class A misdemeanors.
18        (2) Class B misdemeanors.
19        (3) Class C misdemeanors.
20    (c) PETTY AND BUSINESS OFFENSES. Petty offenses and
21business offenses are not classified.
22(Source: P.A. 95-1052, eff. 7-1-09.)
 
23    (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-20.5 new)
24    Sec. 5-4.5-20.5. DEATH PENALTY MURDER; SENTENCE. For death

 

 

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1penalty murder, the defendant shall be sentenced to death,
2unless the trial judge finds that the defendant has, by a
3preponderance of the evidence, presented sufficiently
4substantial evidence to outweigh the circumstances of the
5offense and the evidence presented by the prosecution at the
6sentencing hearing, in which case the judge shall sentence the
7defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of
8parole.
 
9    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
10becoming law.

 

 

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1 INDEX
2 Statutes amended in order of appearance
3    720 ILCS 5/4-4.5 new
4    720 ILCS 5/5-1from Ch. 38, par. 5-1
5    720 ILCS 5/5-2.5 new
6    720 ILCS 5/9-1.5 new
7    725 ILCS 5/114-15
8    725 ILCS 5/119-1
9    725 ILCS 5/122-2.2
10    730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-10
11    730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-20.5 new