Public Act 095-1004
 
SB2718 Re-Enrolled LRB095 05870 RLC 25961 b

    AN ACT concerning criminal law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
amended by adding Section 115-10.6 as follows:
 
    (725 ILCS 5/115-10.6 new)
    Sec. 115-10.6. Hearsay exception for intentional murder of
a witness.
    (a) A statement is not rendered inadmissible by the hearsay
rule if it is offered against a party that has killed the
declarant in violation of clauses (a)(1) and (a)(2) of Section
9-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 intending to procure the
unavailability of the declarant as a witness in a criminal or
civil proceeding.
    (b) While intent to procure the unavailability of the
witness is a necessary element for the introduction of the
statements, it need not be the sole motivation behind the
murder which procured the unavailability of the declarant as a
witness.
    (c) The murder of the declarant may, but need not, be the
subject of the trial at which the statement is being offered.
If the murder of the declarant is not the subject of the trial
at which the statement is being offered, the murder need not
have ever been prosecuted.
    (d) The proponent of the statements shall give the adverse
party reasonable written notice of its intention to offer the
statements and the substance of the particulars of each
statement of the declarant. For purposes of this Section,
identifying the location of the statements in tendered
discovery shall be sufficient to satisfy the substance of the
particulars of the statement.
    (e) The admissibility of the statements shall be determined
by the court at a pretrial hearing. At the hearing, the
proponent of the statement bears the burden of establishing 3
criteria by a preponderance of the evidence:
        (1) first, that the adverse party murdered the
    declarant and that the murder was intended to cause the
    unavailability of the declarant as a witness;
        (2) second, that the time, content, and circumstances
    of the statements provide sufficient safeguards of
    reliability;
        (3) third, the interests of justice will best be served
    by admission of the statement into evidence.
    (f) The court shall make specific findings as to each of
these criteria on the record before ruling on the admissibility
of said statements.
    (g) This Section in no way precludes or changes the
application of the existing common law doctrine of forfeiture
by wrongdoing.
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.