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SB2718 Enrolled |
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LRB095 05870 RLC 25961 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. Hearsay exception for intentional murder of |
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| a witness. |
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| (a) A statement is not rendered inadmissible by the hearsay |
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| rule if it is offered against a party that has killed the |
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| declarant in violation of clauses (a)(1) and (a)(2) of Section |
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| 9-1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 intending to procure the |
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| unavailability of the declarant as a witness in a criminal or |
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| civil proceeding. |
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| (b) While intent to procure the unavailability of the |
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| witness is a necessary element for the introduction of the |
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| statements, it need not be the sole motivation behind the |
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| murder which procured the unavailability of the declarant as a |
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| witness. |
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| (c) The murder of the declarant may, but need not, be the |
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| subject of the trial at which the statement is being offered. |
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| If the murder of the declarant is not the subject of the trial |
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| at which the statement is being offered, the murder need not |
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SB2718 Enrolled |
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LRB095 05870 RLC 25961 b |
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| have ever been prosecuted. |
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| (d) The proponent of the statements shall give the adverse |
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| party reasonable written notice of its intention to offer the |
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| statements and the substance of the particulars of each |
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| statement of the declarant. For purposes of this Section, |
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| identifying the location of the statements in tendered |
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| discovery shall be sufficient to satisfy the substance of the |
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| particulars of the statement. |
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| (e) The admissibility of the statements shall be determined |
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| by the court at a pretrial hearing. At the hearing, the |
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| proponent of the statement bears the burden of establishing 3 |
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| criteria by a preponderance of the evidence: |
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| (1) first, that the adverse party murdered the |
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| declarant and that the murder was intended to cause the |
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| unavailability of the declarant as a witness; |
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| (2) second, that the time, content, and circumstances |
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| of the statements provide sufficient safeguards of |
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| reliability; |
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| (3) third, the interests of justice will best be served |
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| by admission of the statement into evidence. |
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| (f) The court shall make specific findings as to each of |
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| these criteria on the record before ruling on the admissibility |
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| of said statements. |
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| (g) This Section in no way precludes or changes the |
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| application of the existing common law doctrine of forfeiture |
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| by wrongdoing.
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