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1 | AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Section 9-1 as follows: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | (720 ILCS 5/9-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 9-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 9-1. First degree Murder - Death penalties - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Exceptions - Separate
Hearings - Proof - Findings - Appellate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | procedures - Reversals.
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10 | (a) A person who kills an individual without lawful | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | justification commits
first degree murder if, in performing the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | acts which cause the death:
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13 | (1) he either intends to kill or do great bodily harm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | to that
individual or another, or knows that such acts will | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | cause death to that
individual or another; or
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16 | (2) he knows that such acts create a strong probability | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | of death or
great bodily harm to that individual or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | another; or
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19 | (3) he is attempting or committing a forcible felony | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | other than
second degree murder.
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21 | (b) Aggravating Factors. A defendant who at the time of the
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22 | commission of the offense has attained the age of 18 or more | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | and who has
been found guilty of first degree murder may be |
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1 | sentenced to death if:
| ||||||
2 | (1) the murdered individual was a peace officer or | ||||||
3 | fireman killed in
the course of performing his official | ||||||
4 | duties, to prevent the performance
of his official duties, | ||||||
5 | or in retaliation for performing his official
duties, and | ||||||
6 | the defendant knew or
should have known that the murdered | ||||||
7 | individual was a peace officer or
fireman; or
| ||||||
8 | (2) the murdered individual was an employee of an | ||||||
9 | institution or
facility of the Department of Corrections, | ||||||
10 | or any similar local
correctional agency, killed in the | ||||||
11 | course of performing his official
duties, to prevent the | ||||||
12 | performance of his official duties, or in
retaliation for | ||||||
13 | performing his official duties, or the murdered
individual | ||||||
14 | was an inmate at such institution or facility and was | ||||||
15 | killed on the
grounds thereof, or the murdered individual | ||||||
16 | was otherwise present in such
institution or facility with | ||||||
17 | the knowledge and approval of the chief
administrative | ||||||
18 | officer thereof; or
| ||||||
19 | (3) the defendant has been convicted of murdering two | ||||||
20 | or more
individuals under subsection (a) of this Section or | ||||||
21 | under any law of the
United States or of any state which is | ||||||
22 | substantially similar to
subsection (a) of this Section | ||||||
23 | regardless of whether the deaths
occurred as the result of | ||||||
24 | the same act or of several related or
unrelated acts so | ||||||
25 | long as the deaths were the result of either an intent
to | ||||||
26 | kill more than one person or of separate acts which
the |
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1 | defendant knew would cause death or create a strong | ||||||
2 | probability of
death or great bodily harm to the murdered | ||||||
3 | individual or another; or
| ||||||
4 | (4) the murdered individual was killed as a result of | ||||||
5 | the
hijacking of an airplane, train, ship, bus or other | ||||||
6 | public conveyance; or
| ||||||
7 | (5) the defendant committed the murder pursuant to a | ||||||
8 | contract,
agreement or understanding by which he was to | ||||||
9 | receive money or anything
of value in return for committing | ||||||
10 | the murder or procured another to
commit the murder for | ||||||
11 | money or anything of value; or
| ||||||
12 | (6) the murdered individual was killed in the course of | ||||||
13 | another felony if:
| ||||||
14 | (a) the murdered individual:
| ||||||
15 | (i) was actually killed by the defendant, or
| ||||||
16 | (ii) received physical injuries personally | ||||||
17 | inflicted by the defendant
substantially | ||||||
18 | contemporaneously with physical injuries caused by | ||||||
19 | one or
more persons for whose conduct the defendant | ||||||
20 | is legally accountable under
Section 5-2 of this | ||||||
21 | Code, and the physical injuries inflicted by | ||||||
22 | either
the defendant or the other person or persons | ||||||
23 | for whose conduct he is legally
accountable caused | ||||||
24 | the death of the murdered individual; and
| ||||||
25 | (b) in performing the acts which caused the death | ||||||
26 | of the murdered
individual or which resulted in |
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| |||||||
1 | physical injuries personally inflicted by
the | ||||||
2 | defendant on the murdered individual under the | ||||||
3 | circumstances of
subdivision (ii) of subparagraph (a) | ||||||
4 | of paragraph (6) of subsection (b) of
this Section, the | ||||||
5 | defendant acted with the intent to kill the murdered
| ||||||
6 | individual or with the knowledge that his acts created | ||||||
7 | a strong probability
of death or great bodily harm to | ||||||
8 | the murdered individual or another; and
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9 | (c) the other felony was an inherently violent | ||||||
10 | crime
or the attempt to commit an inherently
violent | ||||||
11 | crime.
In this subparagraph (c), "inherently violent | ||||||
12 | crime" includes, but is not
limited to, armed robbery, | ||||||
13 | robbery, predatory criminal sexual assault of a
child,
| ||||||
14 | aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated | ||||||
15 | kidnapping, aggravated vehicular
hijacking,
aggravated | ||||||
16 | arson, aggravated stalking, residential burglary, and | ||||||
17 | home
invasion; or
| ||||||
18 | (7) the murdered individual was under 12 years of age | ||||||
19 | and the
death resulted from exceptionally brutal or heinous | ||||||
20 | behavior indicative of
wanton cruelty; or
| ||||||
21 | (8) the defendant committed the murder with intent to
| ||||||
22 | prevent the murdered individual from testifying or | ||||||
23 | participating in any
criminal investigation or prosecution
| ||||||
24 | or giving material assistance to the State in any | ||||||
25 | investigation or
prosecution, either against the defendant | ||||||
26 | or another; or the defendant
committed the murder because |
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1 | the murdered individual was a witness in any
prosecution or | ||||||
2 | gave material assistance to the State in any investigation
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3 | or prosecution, either against the defendant or another;
| ||||||
4 | for purposes of this paragraph (8), "participating in any | ||||||
5 | criminal
investigation
or prosecution" is intended to | ||||||
6 | include those appearing in the proceedings in
any capacity | ||||||
7 | such as trial judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys,
| ||||||
8 | investigators, witnesses, or jurors; or
| ||||||
9 | (9) the defendant, while committing an offense | ||||||
10 | punishable under
Sections 401, 401.1, 401.2, 405, 405.2, | ||||||
11 | 407 or 407.1 or subsection (b) of
Section
404 of the | ||||||
12 | Illinois Controlled Substances Act, or while engaged in a
| ||||||
13 | conspiracy or solicitation to commit such offense, | ||||||
14 | intentionally killed an
individual or counseled, | ||||||
15 | commanded, induced, procured or caused the
intentional | ||||||
16 | killing of the murdered individual; or
| ||||||
17 | (10) the defendant was incarcerated in an institution | ||||||
18 | or facility of
the Department of Corrections at the time of | ||||||
19 | the murder, and while
committing an offense punishable as a | ||||||
20 | felony under Illinois law, or while
engaged in a conspiracy | ||||||
21 | or solicitation to commit such offense,
intentionally | ||||||
22 | killed an individual or counseled, commanded, induced,
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23 | procured or caused the intentional killing of the murdered | ||||||
24 | individual; or
| ||||||
25 | (11) the murder was committed in a cold, calculated and | ||||||
26 | premeditated
manner pursuant to a preconceived plan, |
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1 | scheme or design to take a human
life by unlawful means, | ||||||
2 | and the conduct of the defendant created a
reasonable | ||||||
3 | expectation that the death of a human being would result
| ||||||
4 | therefrom; or
| ||||||
5 | (12) the murdered individual was an emergency medical | ||||||
6 | technician -
ambulance, emergency medical technician - | ||||||
7 | intermediate, emergency medical
technician - paramedic, | ||||||
8 | ambulance driver, or
other medical assistance or first aid | ||||||
9 | personnel, employed by a municipality
or other | ||||||
10 | governmental unit, killed in the course of performing his | ||||||
11 | official
duties, to prevent the performance of his official | ||||||
12 | duties, or in retaliation
for performing his official | ||||||
13 | duties, and the defendant knew or should have
known that | ||||||
14 | the murdered individual was an emergency medical | ||||||
15 | technician -
ambulance, emergency medical technician - | ||||||
16 | intermediate, emergency medical
technician - paramedic, | ||||||
17 | ambulance driver, or
other medical assistance or first aid | ||||||
18 | personnel; or
| ||||||
19 | (13) the defendant was a principal administrator, | ||||||
20 | organizer, or leader
of a calculated criminal drug | ||||||
21 | conspiracy consisting of a hierarchical position
of | ||||||
22 | authority superior to that of all other members of the | ||||||
23 | conspiracy, and the
defendant counseled, commanded, | ||||||
24 | induced, procured, or caused the intentional
killing of the | ||||||
25 | murdered person;
or
| ||||||
26 | (14) the murder was intentional and involved the |
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| |||||||
1 | infliction of torture.
For
the purpose of this Section | ||||||
2 | torture means the infliction of or subjection to
extreme | ||||||
3 | physical pain, motivated by an intent to increase or | ||||||
4 | prolong the pain,
suffering or agony of the victim; or
| ||||||
5 | (15) the murder was committed as a result of the | ||||||
6 | intentional discharge
of a firearm by the defendant from a | ||||||
7 | motor vehicle and the victim was not
present within the | ||||||
8 | motor vehicle ; or
| ||||||
9 | (16) the murdered individual was 60 years of age or | ||||||
10 | older and the death
resulted
from exceptionally brutal or | ||||||
11 | heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty; or
| ||||||
12 | (17) the murdered individual was a person with a | ||||||
13 | disability and the defendant knew
or
should have known that | ||||||
14 | the murdered individual was a person with a disability. For | ||||||
15 | purposes of
this paragraph (17), "person with a disability" | ||||||
16 | means a person who suffers from a
permanent physical or | ||||||
17 | mental impairment resulting from disease, an injury,
a | ||||||
18 | functional disorder, or a congenital condition that | ||||||
19 | renders the person
incapable of
adequately providing for | ||||||
20 | his or her own health or personal care; or
| ||||||
21 | (18) the murder was committed by reason of any person's | ||||||
22 | activity as a
community policing volunteer or to prevent | ||||||
23 | any person from engaging in activity
as a community | ||||||
24 | policing volunteer; or
| ||||||
25 | (19) the murdered individual was subject to an order of | ||||||
26 | protection and the
murder was committed by a person against |
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| |||||||
1 | whom the same order of protection was
issued under the | ||||||
2 | Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986; or
| ||||||
3 | (20) the murdered individual was known by the defendant | ||||||
4 | to be a teacher or
other person employed in any school and | ||||||
5 | the teacher or other employee is upon
the grounds of a | ||||||
6 | school or grounds adjacent to a school, or is in any part | ||||||
7 | of a
building used for school purposes; or
| ||||||
8 | (21) the murder was committed by the defendant in | ||||||
9 | connection with or as
a
result of the offense of terrorism | ||||||
10 | as defined in Section 29D-14.9 of this
Code.
| ||||||
11 | (b-5) Aggravating Factor; Natural Life Imprisonment. A | ||||||
12 | defendant who has been found guilty of first degree murder and | ||||||
13 | who at the time of the commission of the offense had attained | ||||||
14 | the age of 18 years or more may be sentenced to natural life | ||||||
15 | imprisonment if
(i) the murdered individual was a physician, | ||||||
16 | physician assistant, psychologist, nurse, or advanced practice | ||||||
17 | registered nurse, (ii) the defendant knew or should have
known | ||||||
18 | that the murdered individual was a physician, physician | ||||||
19 | assistant, psychologist, nurse, or advanced practice | ||||||
20 | registered nurse, and (iii) the murdered individual was killed | ||||||
21 | in the course of acting in his or her capacity as a physician, | ||||||
22 | physician assistant, psychologist, nurse, or advanced practice | ||||||
23 | registered nurse, or to prevent him or her from acting in that | ||||||
24 | capacity, or in retaliation
for his or her acting in that | ||||||
25 | capacity. | ||||||
26 | (c) Consideration of factors in Aggravation and |
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| |||||||
1 | Mitigation.
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2 | The court shall consider, or shall instruct the jury to | ||||||
3 | consider any
aggravating and any mitigating factors which are | ||||||
4 | relevant to the
imposition of the death penalty. Aggravating | ||||||
5 | factors may include but
need not be limited to those factors | ||||||
6 | set forth in subsection (b).
Mitigating factors may include but | ||||||
7 | need not be limited to the following:
| ||||||
8 | (1) the defendant has no significant history of prior | ||||||
9 | criminal
activity;
| ||||||
10 | (2) the murder was committed while the defendant was | ||||||
11 | under
the influence of extreme mental or emotional | ||||||
12 | disturbance, although not such
as to constitute a defense | ||||||
13 | to prosecution;
| ||||||
14 | (3) the murdered individual was a participant in the
| ||||||
15 | defendant's homicidal conduct or consented to the | ||||||
16 | homicidal act;
| ||||||
17 | (4) the defendant acted under the compulsion of threat | ||||||
18 | or
menace of the imminent infliction of death or great | ||||||
19 | bodily harm;
| ||||||
20 | (5) the defendant was not personally present during
| ||||||
21 | commission of the act or acts causing death;
| ||||||
22 | (6) the defendant's background includes a history of | ||||||
23 | extreme emotional
or physical abuse;
| ||||||
24 | (7) the defendant suffers from a reduced mental | ||||||
25 | capacity.
| ||||||
26 | Provided, however, that an action that does not otherwise |
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| |||||||
1 | mitigate first degree murder cannot qualify as a mitigating | ||||||
2 | factor for first degree murder because of the discovery, | ||||||
3 | knowledge, or disclosure of the victim's sexual orientation as | ||||||
4 | defined in Section 1-103 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. | ||||||
5 | (d) Separate sentencing hearing.
| ||||||
6 | Where requested by the State, the court shall conduct a | ||||||
7 | separate
sentencing proceeding to determine the existence of | ||||||
8 | factors set forth in
subsection (b) and to consider any | ||||||
9 | aggravating or mitigating factors as
indicated in subsection | ||||||
10 | (c). The proceeding shall be conducted:
| ||||||
11 | (1) before the jury that determined the defendant's | ||||||
12 | guilt; or
| ||||||
13 | (2) before a jury impanelled for the purpose of the | ||||||
14 | proceeding if:
| ||||||
15 | A. the defendant was convicted upon a plea of | ||||||
16 | guilty; or
| ||||||
17 | B. the defendant was convicted after a trial before | ||||||
18 | the court
sitting without a jury; or
| ||||||
19 | C. the court for good cause shown discharges the | ||||||
20 | jury that
determined the defendant's guilt; or
| ||||||
21 | (3) before the court alone if the defendant waives a | ||||||
22 | jury
for the separate proceeding.
| ||||||
23 | (e) Evidence and Argument.
| ||||||
24 | During the proceeding any information relevant to any of | ||||||
25 | the factors
set forth in subsection (b) may be presented by | ||||||
26 | either the State or the
defendant under the rules governing the |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | admission of evidence at
criminal trials. Any information | ||||||
2 | relevant to any additional aggravating
factors or any | ||||||
3 | mitigating factors indicated in subsection (c) may be
presented | ||||||
4 | by the State or defendant regardless of its admissibility
under | ||||||
5 | the rules governing the admission of evidence at criminal | ||||||
6 | trials.
The State and the defendant shall be given fair | ||||||
7 | opportunity to rebut any
information received at the hearing.
| ||||||
8 | (f) Proof.
| ||||||
9 | The burden of proof of establishing the existence of any of | ||||||
10 | the
factors set forth in subsection (b) is on the State and | ||||||
11 | shall not be
satisfied unless established beyond a reasonable | ||||||
12 | doubt.
| ||||||
13 | (g) Procedure - Jury.
| ||||||
14 | If at the separate sentencing proceeding the jury finds | ||||||
15 | that none of
the factors set forth in subsection (b) exists, | ||||||
16 | the court shall sentence
the defendant to a term of | ||||||
17 | imprisonment under Chapter V of the Unified
Code of | ||||||
18 | Corrections. If there is a unanimous finding by the jury that
| ||||||
19 | one or more of the factors set forth in subsection (b) exist, | ||||||
20 | the jury
shall consider aggravating and mitigating factors as | ||||||
21 | instructed by the
court and shall determine whether the | ||||||
22 | sentence of death shall be
imposed. If the jury determines | ||||||
23 | unanimously, after weighing the factors in
aggravation and | ||||||
24 | mitigation, that death is the appropriate sentence, the court | ||||||
25 | shall sentence the defendant to death.
If the court does not | ||||||
26 | concur with the jury determination that death is the
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | appropriate sentence, the court shall set forth reasons in | ||||||
2 | writing
including what facts or circumstances the court relied | ||||||
3 | upon,
along with any relevant
documents, that compelled the | ||||||
4 | court to non-concur with the sentence. This
document and any | ||||||
5 | attachments shall be part of the record for appellate
review. | ||||||
6 | The court shall be bound by the jury's sentencing | ||||||
7 | determination.
| ||||||
8 | If after weighing the factors in aggravation and | ||||||
9 | mitigation, one or more
jurors determines that death is not the | ||||||
10 | appropriate sentence,
the
court shall sentence the defendant to | ||||||
11 | a term of imprisonment under
Chapter V of the Unified Code of | ||||||
12 | Corrections.
| ||||||
13 | (h) Procedure - No Jury.
| ||||||
14 | In a proceeding before the court alone, if the court finds | ||||||
15 | that none
of the factors found in subsection (b) exists, the | ||||||
16 | court shall sentence
the defendant to a term of imprisonment | ||||||
17 | under Chapter V of the Unified
Code of Corrections.
| ||||||
18 | If the Court determines that one or more of the factors set | ||||||
19 | forth in
subsection (b) exists, the Court shall consider any | ||||||
20 | aggravating and
mitigating factors as indicated in subsection | ||||||
21 | (c). If the Court
determines, after weighing the factors in | ||||||
22 | aggravation and mitigation, that
death is the appropriate | ||||||
23 | sentence, the Court shall sentence the
defendant to death.
| ||||||
24 | If
the court finds that death is not the
appropriate | ||||||
25 | sentence, the
court shall sentence the defendant to a term of | ||||||
26 | imprisonment under
Chapter V of the Unified Code of |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | Corrections.
| ||||||
2 | (h-5) Decertification as a capital case.
| ||||||
3 | In a case in which the defendant has been found guilty of | ||||||
4 | first degree murder
by a judge or jury, or a case on remand for | ||||||
5 | resentencing, and the State seeks
the death penalty as an | ||||||
6 | appropriate
sentence,
on the court's own motion or the written | ||||||
7 | motion of the defendant, the court
may decertify the case as a | ||||||
8 | death penalty case if the court finds that the only
evidence | ||||||
9 | supporting the defendant's conviction is the uncorroborated | ||||||
10 | testimony
of an informant witness, as defined in Section 115-21 | ||||||
11 | of the Code of Criminal
Procedure of 1963, concerning the | ||||||
12 | confession or admission of the defendant or
that the sole | ||||||
13 | evidence against the defendant is a single eyewitness or single
| ||||||
14 | accomplice without any other corroborating evidence.
If the | ||||||
15 | court decertifies the case as a capital case
under either of | ||||||
16 | the grounds set forth above, the court shall issue a
written | ||||||
17 | finding. The State may pursue its right to appeal the | ||||||
18 | decertification
pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1). If | ||||||
19 | the court does not
decertify the case as a capital case, the | ||||||
20 | matter shall proceed to the
eligibility phase of the sentencing | ||||||
21 | hearing.
| ||||||
22 | (i) Appellate Procedure.
| ||||||
23 | The conviction and sentence of death shall be subject to | ||||||
24 | automatic
review by the Supreme Court. Such review shall be in | ||||||
25 | accordance with
rules promulgated by the Supreme Court.
The | ||||||
26 | Illinois Supreme Court may overturn the death sentence, and |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | order the
imposition of imprisonment under Chapter V of the | ||||||
2 | Unified Code of
Corrections if the court finds that the death | ||||||
3 | sentence is fundamentally
unjust as applied to the particular | ||||||
4 | case.
If the Illinois Supreme Court finds that the
death | ||||||
5 | sentence is fundamentally unjust as applied to the particular | ||||||
6 | case,
independent of any procedural grounds for relief, the | ||||||
7 | Illinois Supreme Court
shall issue a written opinion explaining | ||||||
8 | this finding.
| ||||||
9 | (j) Disposition of reversed death sentence.
| ||||||
10 | In the event that the death penalty in this Act is held to | ||||||
11 | be
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States | ||||||
12 | or of the
State of Illinois, any person convicted of first | ||||||
13 | degree murder shall be
sentenced by the court to a term of | ||||||
14 | imprisonment under Chapter V of the
Unified Code of | ||||||
15 | Corrections.
| ||||||
16 | In the event that any death sentence pursuant to the | ||||||
17 | sentencing
provisions of this Section is declared | ||||||
18 | unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court of the United States or | ||||||
19 | of the State of Illinois, the court having
jurisdiction over a | ||||||
20 | person previously sentenced to death shall cause the
defendant | ||||||
21 | to be brought before the court, and the court shall sentence
| ||||||
22 | the defendant to a term of imprisonment under Chapter V of the
| ||||||
23 | Unified Code of Corrections.
| ||||||
24 | (k) Guidelines for seeking the death penalty.
| ||||||
25 | The Attorney General and
State's Attorneys Association | ||||||
26 | shall consult on voluntary guidelines for
procedures governing |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | whether or not to seek the death penalty. The guidelines
do not
| ||||||
2 | have the force of law and are only advisory in nature.
| ||||||
3 | (Source: P.A. 99-143, eff. 7-27-15; 100-460, eff. 1-1-18; | ||||||
4 | 100-513, eff. 1-1-18; revised 10-5-17.)
| ||||||
5 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January | ||||||
6 | 1, 2019.
|