Bill Text: IL HB5886 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: 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 killed in the course of performing his or her official duties, either to prevent the performance of the officer's duties or in retaliation for the performance of the officer's duties, and the person knew that the victim was a peace officer. 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB5886 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB5886-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 HB5886 Introduced , by Rep. Jim Durkin 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 killed in the course of performing his or her official duties, either to prevent the performance of the officer's duties or in retaliation for the performance of the officer's duties, and the person knew that the victim was a peace officer. 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
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
Section 5-1 and by adding Sections 4-4.5, 5-2.5, and 9-1.5 as
follows:
(720 ILCS 5/4-4.5 new)
Sec. 4-4.5. Purposely or purpose. In Section 5-2.5 and
9-1.5 of this Code, a person acts purposely or with the purpose
when his or her conscious objective is to cause the death of
another human being.
(720 ILCS 5/5-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 5-1)
Sec. 5-1. Accountability for conduct of another. Except as
provided in Section 5-2.5 of the Code a A person is responsible
for conduct which is an element of an offense if the conduct is
either that of the person himself, or that of another and he is
legally accountable for such conduct as provided in Section 5-2
of this Code, or both.
(Source: Laws 1961, p. 1983.)
(720 ILCS 5/5-2.5 new)
Sec. 5-2.5. Death penalty murder; accountability for acts

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of others. 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.
(720 ILCS 5/9-1.5 new)
Sec. 9-1.5. Death penalty murder.
(a) In this Section, "human being" means a person who has
been born and is alive.
(b) A person commits death penalty murder when at the time
of the commission of the offense he or she has attained the age
of 18 or more and he or she purposely causes the death of
another human being without lawful justification if:
(1) at the time of the offense, the person caused the
death of 2 or more other human beings without lawful
justification; or
(2) the victim was a peace officer, as defined by

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Section 2-13 of this Code, killed in the course of
performing his or her official duties, either to prevent
the performance of the officer's duties or in retaliation
for the performance of the officer's duties, and the person
knew that the victim was a peace officer.
(c) The trier of fact regarding the charge of death penalty
murder shall resolve any doubt regarding identification or any
element of the offense in favor of the defendant. A defendant
shall not be found guilty of the offense of death penalty
murder unless each and every element of the offense is
established beyond any doubt. If the trial is by jury, before
the trial commences and again before jury deliberations
commence, the jury shall be instructed that the penalty for
death penalty murder is death.
(d) A defendant, who has been found guilty of death penalty
murder, may, at a separate sentencing hearing, present evidence
of mitigating circumstances not rising to the level of legal
justification, including but not limited to evidence of
intellectual disability as provided in Section 114-15 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. The prosecution may present
rebuttal evidence. The hearing shall be before the trial judge.
The judge shall sentence the defendant to death, unless he or
she finds that the defendant has, by a preponderance of the
evidence, presented sufficiently substantial evidence to prove
intellectual disability or that imposition of the death penalty
would result in a manifest miscarriage of justice, in which

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

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(b) The issue of the defendant's intellectual disabilities
shall be determined in a pretrial hearing. The court shall be
the fact finder on the issue of the defendant's intellectual
disabilities and shall determine the issue by a preponderance
of evidence in which the moving party has the burden of proof.
The court may appoint an expert in the field of intellectual
disabilities. The defendant and the State may offer experts
from the field of intellectual disabilities. The court shall
determine admissibility of evidence and qualification as an
expert.
(c) If after a plea of guilty to first degree murder or
death penalty murder, or a finding of guilty of first degree
murder or death penalty murder in a bench trial, or a verdict
of guilty for first degree murder or death penalty murder in a
jury trial, or on a matter remanded from the Supreme Court for
sentencing for first degree murder or death penalty murder, and
the State seeks the death penalty as an appropriate sentence,
the defendant may raise the issue of defendant's intellectual
disabilities not at eligibility but at aggravation and
mitigation. The defendant and the State may offer experts from
the field of intellectual disabilities. The court shall
determine admissibility of evidence and qualification as an
expert.
(d) In determining whether the defendant is a person with
an intellectual disability, the intellectual disability must
have manifested itself by the age of 18. IQ tests and

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psychometric tests administered to the defendant must be the
kind and type recognized by experts in the field of
intellectual disabilities. In order for the defendant to be
considered a person with an intellectual disability, a low IQ
must be accompanied by significant deficits in adaptive
behavior in at least 2 of the following skill areas:
communication, self-care, social or interpersonal skills, home
living, self-direction, academics, health and safety, use of
community resources, and work. An intelligence quotient (IQ) of
75 or below is presumptive evidence of an intellectual
disability.
(e) Evidence of an intellectual disability that did not
result in disqualifying the case as a capital case, may be
introduced as evidence in mitigation during a capital
sentencing hearing. A failure of the court to determine that
the defendant is a person with an intellectual disability does
not preclude the court during trial from allowing evidence
relating to mental disability should the court deem it
appropriate.
(f) If the court determines at a pretrial hearing or after
remand that a capital defendant is a person with an
intellectual disability, and the State does not appeal pursuant
to Supreme Court Rule 604, the case shall no longer be
considered a capital case and the procedural guidelines
established for capital cases shall no longer be applicable to
the defendant. In that case, the defendant shall be sentenced

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

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

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(730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-10)
Sec. 5-4.5-10. OFFENSE CLASSIFICATIONS.
(a) FELONY CLASSIFICATIONS. Felonies are classified, for
the purpose of sentencing, as follows:
(1) First degree murder (as a separate class of
felony).
(1.5) Death penalty murder (as a separate class of
felony).
(2) Class X felonies.
(3) Class 1 felonies.
(4) Class 2 felonies.
(5) Class 3 felonies.
(6) Class 4 felonies.
(b) MISDEMEANOR CLASSIFICATIONS. Misdemeanors are
classified, for the purpose of sentencing, as follows:
(1) Class A misdemeanors.
(2) Class B misdemeanors.
(3) Class C misdemeanors.
(c) PETTY AND BUSINESS OFFENSES. Petty offenses and
business offenses are not classified.
(Source: P.A. 95-1052, eff. 7-1-09.)
(730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-20.5 new)
Sec. 5-4.5-20.5. DEATH PENALTY MURDER; SENTENCE. For death
penalty murder, the defendant shall be sentenced to death,

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unless the trial judge finds that the defendant has, by a
preponderance of the evidence, presented sufficiently
substantial evidence to outweigh the circumstances of the
offense and the evidence presented by the prosecution at the
sentencing hearing, in which case the judge shall sentence the
defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of
parole.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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INDEX
Statutes amended in order of appearance
720 ILCS 5/4-4.5 new
720 ILCS 5/5-1 from Ch. 38, par. 5-1
720 ILCS 5/5-2.5 new
720 ILCS 5/9-1.5 new
725 ILCS 5/114-15
725 ILCS 5/119-1
725 ILCS 5/122-2.2