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SB2374 Engrossed |
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LRB094 17708 RLC 53007 b |
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| AN ACT concerning criminal law.
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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 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is |
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| amended by adding Section 115-10.6 as follows:
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| (725 ILCS 5/115-10.6 new) |
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| Sec. 115-10.6. Admissibility of prior statements of an |
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| unavailable witness whose absence was wrongfully procured. |
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| (a) Legislative intent. The Illinois General Assembly |
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| finds that no party to a criminal case who wrongfully procures |
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| the unavailability of a witness should be allowed to benefit |
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| from such wrongdoing by depriving the trier of fact of relevant |
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| testimony. |
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| (b) A statement of a witness is not excluded at the trial |
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| or hearing of any defendant by the hearsay rule or as a |
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| violation of any right to confront witnesses if the witness was |
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| killed, bribed, kidnapped, secreted, intimidated, or otherwise |
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| induced by a party, or one for whose conduct such party is |
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| legally responsible, to prevent the witness from being |
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| available to testify at such trial or hearing. |
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| (c) The party seeking to introduce the statement shall |
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| disclose the statement sufficiently in advance of trial or |
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| hearing to provide the opposing party with a fair opportunity |
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| to meet it. The disclosure shall include notice of an intent to |
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| offer the statement, including the identity of the declarant. |
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| (d) Prior to ruling on the admissibility of a statement |
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| under this Section, the court shall conduct a hearing outside |
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| the presence of the jury. During the course of the hearing the |
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| court may allow the parties to proceed by way of proffer. |
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| Except in cases where a preponderance of the evidence |
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| establishes that the defendant killed the declarant, the party |
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| seeking to introduce the statement shall be required to show by |