(775 ILCS 40/45)
Sec. 45. Commission proceedings. (a) At the completion of a formal inquiry, all relevant
evidence shall be presented to the full Commission. As part of
its proceedings, the Commission may conduct hearings.
The determination as to whether to conduct hearings is
solely in the discretion of the Commission. Any hearing
held in accordance with this Section shall be a public hearing and shall be held subject to the
Commission's rules of operation, and
conducted pursuant to the Open Meetings Act. (b) The Director shall use all due diligence to notify the
victim at least 30 days prior to any proceedings of the full
Commission held in regard to the victim's case. The Commission
shall notify the victim that the victim is permitted to attend
proceedings otherwise closed to the public, subject to any
limitations imposed by this Act, and
subject to Section 2(c)(14) of the Open Meetings Act. If the victim plans to attend
proceedings otherwise closed to the public, the victim shall
notify the Commission at least 10 days in advance of the
proceedings of his or her intent to attend. The Commission may close any portion of the
proceedings to the victim, if the victim is to testify and the Commission determines that the victim's testimony would be materially affected if the victim hears other testimony at the proceeding. (c) After hearing the evidence, the full Commission shall
vote to establish further case disposition as provided by this
subsection. All 8 voting members of the Commission shall
participate in that vote.
If 5 or more of the 8 voting members of the Commission
conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that there is sufficient evidence of torture to merit
judicial review, the case shall be referred to the Chief Judge
of the Circuit Court of Cook County by filing with the clerk of
court the opinion of the Commission with supporting findings of
fact, as well as the record in support of such opinion, with
service on the State's Attorney in non-capital cases and
service on both the State's Attorney and Attorney General in
capital cases.
If less than 5 of the 8 voting members of the Commission
conclude by a preponderance of the evidence that there is sufficient evidence of torture to merit
judicial review, the Commission shall conclude there is
insufficient evidence of torture to merit judicial review. The
Commission shall document that opinion, along with supporting
findings of fact, and file those documents and supporting
materials with the court clerk in the circuit of original
jurisdiction, with a copy to the State's Attorney and the chief
judge.
The Director of the Commission shall use all due diligence
to notify immediately the victim of the Commission's conclusion
in a case. (d) Evidence of criminal acts, professional misconduct, or
other wrongdoing disclosed through formal inquiry or
Commission proceedings shall be referred to the appropriate
authority. Evidence favorable to the convicted person
disclosed through formal inquiry or Commission proceedings
shall be disclosed to the convicted person and the convicted
person's counsel, if the convicted person has counsel. The Commission shall have the discretion to refer its findings together with the supporting record and evidence, to such other parties or entities as the Commission in its discretion shall deem appropriate. (e) All proceedings of the Commission shall be recorded and
transcribed as part of the record. All Commission member votes
shall be recorded in the record. All records of
the Commission shall be confidential until the proceedings before the Commission are concluded and a final decision has been made by the Commission.
(Source: P.A. 96-223, eff. 8-10-09.) |