concluding that the petitioner abandoned several postconviction claims by failing to raise them on appeal
How later courts described this case
- concluding that the petitioner abandoned several postconviction claims by failing to raise them on appeal
- decisions regarding what witnesses and evidence to present and the extent of cross- examination are matters of trial strategy that is generally unchallengeable
- a prosecutor may respond to comments made by defense counsel in closing argument that clearly invite a response
- forfeiture does not foreclose a defendant from raising a claim in a postconviction petition based on matters outside the record
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
CHIEF JUSTICE HARRISON, dissenting:
The proceedings which culminated in Munson’s convictions and sentence of death were fatally flawed because they did not comport with the new rules enacted by our court governing the conduct of cases in which the State is seeking the death penalty. For the reasons set forth in my dissenting opinion in People v. Hickey, 204 Ill. 2d 585, 631-36 (2001) (Harrison, C.J., dissenting), the procedures contained in those rules are indispensable for achieving an accurate determination of innocence or guilt and are applicable to all capital cases now coming before us. Because Munson was tried, convicted and sentenced without the benefit of the new rules, his convictions and death sentence should be vacated, and the cause should be remanded to the circuit court for a new trial.
Even if Munson were not entitled to the benefit of the new rules, his sentence of death could not stand. For the reasons set forth in my partial concurrence and partial dissent in People v. Bull, 185 Ill. 2d 179 (1998), the Illinois death penalty law is void and unenforceable because it violates the eighth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amends. VIII, XIV) and article I, section 2, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 2). Absent the new rules, there is no basis for altering that conclusion. At a minimum, Munson’s sentence of death should therefore be vacated, and he should be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. 720 ILCS 5/9 — l(j) (West 2000).