Full Text of HB1095 94th General Assembly
HB1095eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning juries.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Juror | 5 |
| Protection Act. | 6 |
| Section 5. Juror contact. A person who represents himself | 7 |
| or herself during any phase of a jury trial and is subsequently | 8 |
| found guilty of any charge must seek and obtain leave of the | 9 |
| court prior to making any attempt to contact any member of the | 10 |
| jury panel, regardless of the reason for inquiry. | 11 |
| Section 10. Court petition; process. | 12 |
| (a) The defendant shall file with the court where his or | 13 |
| her case was heard a petition laying forth the reasons why | 14 |
| juror contact is necessary or otherwise appropriate. | 15 |
| (b) Upon receipt of the petition, the circuit clerk for the | 16 |
| court shall forward a copy of the petition to the State's | 17 |
| Attorney or other prosecuting attorney. Where a response to the | 18 |
| petition is deemed warranted, the State's Attorney or other | 19 |
| prosecuting attorney shall have 5 days to file a response. | 20 |
| (c) The court shall, within 7 days of receipt of the | 21 |
| petition and response, where one is filed, rule on the merits | 22 |
| of the request. | 23 |
| (d) The court may, but is not required to, hold a hearing | 24 |
| on the merits of the petition. | 25 |
| (e) If the petition is granted, the court shall, within 7 | 26 |
| days of the ruling, arrange for the defendant to be transported | 27 |
| to the courthouse to take part in the call. All phone calls | 28 |
| shall be made by an officer of the court and shall be made | 29 |
| between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Monday through | 30 |
| Friday. The court officer shall identify himself or herself to | 31 |
| the recipient of the call, ask to speak to the juror in |
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| question, identify the purpose for the call, and ask the juror | 2 |
| if he or she is willing to speak to the defendant. If the juror | 3 |
| consents, the defendant shall be allowed to speak to the juror | 4 |
| under the supervision of the court officer. If the juror | 5 |
| refuses, no further contact may be made by or on behalf of the | 6 |
| defendant. If there is no answer at the provided phone number, | 7 |
| the officer of the court shall leave a message outlining the | 8 |
| above and requesting that the juror contact the court officer | 9 |
| to indicate whether or not he or she will speak to the | 10 |
| defendant.
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| Section 15. Violation. Any attempt to contact a member of | 12 |
| the jury panel following that member's refusal to speak as | 13 |
| outlined in subsection (e) of Section 10 shall be deemed a | 14 |
| violation of Section 32-4 of the Criminal Code of 1961.
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| Section 300. The Criminal Code of 1961 is amended by | 16 |
| changing Section 32-4 as follows:
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| (720 ILCS 5/32-4) (from Ch. 38, par. 32-4)
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| Sec. 32-4. Communicating with jurors and witnesses.
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| (a) A person who, with intent to influence any person whom | 20 |
| he believes
has been summoned as a juror, regarding any matter | 21 |
| which is or may be
brought before such juror, communicates, | 22 |
| directly or indirectly, with such
juror otherwise than as | 23 |
| authorized by law commits a Class 4 felony.
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| (b) A person who, with intent to deter any party or witness | 25 |
| from
testifying freely, fully and truthfully to any matter | 26 |
| pending in any court,
or before a Grand Jury, Administrative | 27 |
| agency or any other State or local
governmental unit, forcibly | 28 |
| detains such party or witness, or communicates,
directly or | 29 |
| indirectly, to such party or witness any knowingly false
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| information or a threat of injury or damage to the property or | 31 |
| person of
any individual or offers or delivers or threatens to | 32 |
| withhold money or
another thing of value to
any individual | 33 |
| commits a
Class 3 felony.
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| (c) A person who violates the Juror Protection Act commits | 2 |
| a Class 4 felony.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-696, eff. 4-13-00.)
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