# People v. Christiansen

> Illinois Supreme Court · February 20, 1987 · 116 Ill. 2d 96

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9737355

## Case

- **Full name:** The PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. EDGAR CHRISTIANSEN, Appellant
- **Court:** Illinois Supreme Court
- **Decided:** February 20, 1987
- **Citations:** 116 Ill. 2d 96; 107 Ill. Dec. 198; 506 N.E.2d 1253; 1987 Ill. LEXIS 168
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurring in part by Simon
- **Judges:** Moran, Simon
- **Cited by:** 45 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9737355

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- recognizing that where a defendant fails to remain silent after being apprised of his right to do so and instead makes oral statements, the defendant has relinquished his rights under the fifth amendment and cannot claim that testimony indicating he was unwilling to subsequent…
- stating the rule that this court “will ‘not lightly overturn the findings of the trial court, particularly when they are amply supported by the record’ ” applies to findings made during the aggravation and mitigation phase of the death penalty hearing

## Opinion text

JUSTICE SIMON, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree that the convictions should be affirmed. However, for the reasons set forth in my separate opinions in People v. Lewis (1981), 88 Ill. 2d 129, 179 (Simon, J., dissenting), in People v. Silagy (1984), 101 Ill. 2d 147, 184 (Simon, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), and in People v. Albanese (1984), 104 Ill. 2d 504, 549 (Simon, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part), I believe that the Illinois death penalty statute is unconstitutional and that the death sentence in this case should be vacated. See also United States ex rel. Lewis v. Lane (C.D. Ill. Jan. 8, 1987), No. 86 — 2086, slip op. at 29 (expressing “grave doubts” over the constitutionality of the Illinois death penalty statute); Note, Stare Decisis and the Illinois Death Penalty, 1986 U. Ill. L. Rev. 177 .

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9737355. Public record. Not legal advice.