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90_HB1155
725 ILCS 5/115-10.3 new
Amends the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963. Provides
that in prosecutions for offenses involving the use of force
by a defendant when the defendant asserts that he or she was
legally justified in the use of force, evidence of the
victim's prior violent acts is not admissible on the issue of
the defendant's state of mind or the defendant's perception
of and reaction to the victim's behavior, unless the prior
violent acts were actually known to the defendant at the time
he or she committed the act being prosecuted. Effective
immediately.
LRB9004114RCcc
LRB9004114RCcc
1 AN ACT to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 by
2 adding Section 115-10.3.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is
6 amended by adding Section 115-10.3 as follows:
7 (725 ILCS 5/115-10.3 new)
8 Sec. 115-10.3. Admissibility of prior violent acts by the
9 victim.
10 (a) In prosecutions for offenses involving the use of
11 force by a defendant when the defendant asserts that he or
12 she was legally justified in the use of force, evidence of
13 the victim's prior violent acts is not admissible on the
14 issue of defendant's state of mind or the defendant's
15 perception of and reaction to the victim's behavior, unless
16 the prior violent acts were actually known to the defendant
17 at the time he or she committed the act being prosecuted.
18 Evidence of the victim's prior violent acts that were unknown
19 to the defendant and that are relevant to the issue of who
20 was the initial aggressor may be introduced only in the form
21 of the victim's reputation for violence in the community and
22 not by specific prior violent acts.
23 (b) This Section shall not be construed to alter
24 existing law regarding the use of prior conviction as
25 impeachment.
26 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
27 becoming law.
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