# People v. Buss

> Illinois Supreme Court · April 15, 1999 · 187 Ill. 2d 144

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9860332

## Case

- **Full name:** The PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v. TIMOTHY D. BUSS, Appellant
- **Court:** Illinois Supreme Court
- **Decided:** April 15, 1999
- **Citations:** 187 Ill. 2d 144; 240 Ill. Dec. 520; 718 N.E.2d 1; 1999 Ill. LEXIS 663
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurring in part by Harrison
- **Judges:** Harrison, McMORROW
- **Cited by:** 232 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Red flag:** Abrogated on other grounds by In re G.O., 191 Ill. 2d 37 (2000).
- Negative treatments: 2
- Distinguished by: 0
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9860332

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that one of the jury’s eligibility verdicts properly established the defendant’s eligibility for the death penalty notwithstanding that the jury’s other eligibility verdict, which was based on murder in the course of a felony, was legally insufficient under Mack becaus…
- holding that counsel was not ineffective where defendant has not demonstrated prejudice resulting from his counsel's failure to object to the portion, of the argument at issue
- stating DEA’s knowledge of facts supporting probable cause imputed to a local law enforcement officer
- rejecting the defendant’s argument that the determination of probable cause was affected by police officers’ testimony that they did not believe that they had probable cause to arrest the defendant
- noting the circuit court’s ruling on a motion to suppress may be affirmed “for any reason in the record, regardless of whether the circuit court expressed this reason as a basis for its conclusion”

## Opinion text

JUSTICE HARRISON, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree that Timothy Buss’ convictions should be upheld. For the reasons set forth in my dissent in People v. Bull, 185 Ill. 2d 179 (1998), however, this state’s present death penalty law does not meet the requirements of the eighth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amends. VIII, XIV) or article I, section 2, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 2). Accordingly, we should vacate Buss’ death sentence and remand the cause to the circuit court for imposition of a sentence of imprisonment. 720 ILCS 5/9—1(j) (West 1994). There is, however, no need for the circuit court to conduct another sentencing hearing. Under the circumstances of this case, the only authorized disposition is a term of natural life imprisonment. 730 ILCS 5/5—8—1(1)(b) (West 1994).

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9860332. Public record. Not legal advice.