125124 No. 125124 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS _____________________________________________________________________________ PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Appellate Court of ) Illinois, No. 1-11-0580. Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) There on appeal from the Circuit Court -vs- ) of Cook County, Illinois , No. 93 CR ) 26477 (04). ) ANTONIO HOUSE, ) Honorable ) Kenneth J. Wadas, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge Presiding. ) _____________________________________________________________________________ BRIEF OF APPELLEE CROSS-RELIEF REQUESTED JAMES E. CHADD State Appellate Defender DOUGLAS R. HOFF Deputy Defender LAUREN A. BAUSER Assistant Appellate Defender Office of the State Appellate Defender First Judicial District 203 N. LaSalle St., 24th Floor Chicago, IL 60601 (312) 814-5472 [email protected] COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLEE ORAL ARGUMENT REQUESTED E-FILED 12/11/2020 12:47 PM Carolyn Taft Grosboll SUPREME COURT CLERK SUBMITTED - 11462688 - Carol Chatman - 12/11/2020 12:47 PM 125124 TABLE OF CONTENTS AND POINTS AND AUTHORITIES Page Nature of the Case. 1 Issues Presented for Review. 1 Statement of Facts. 2 Argument. 12 I. As applied to Antonio House, a teenage accomplice, the mandatory natural life sentencing statute for multiple murders shocks the conscience and violates Illinois’ proportionate penalties clause. Consistent with the appellate court’s decision, remand for a new sentencing hearing is therefore appropriate . 12 People v. House, 2015 IL App (1st) 110580. passim 730 ILCS 5/5-8-1(a)(1)(c)(ii)(1993) . 12 Ill. Const., art I, § 11 . 12, 15 U.S. Const., amends. VIII . 16 People v. Harris, 2018 IL 121932 . passim People v. Leon Miller, 202 Ill. 2d 328 (2002). passim Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005). passim Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) . passim Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012). 13, 17 A. Legal Principles Relevant to the Sentencing of Youth . 15 People v. Clemons, 2012 IL 107821 . 15, 16, 27 Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350 (1993) . 17 -i- SUBMITTED - 11462688 - Carol Chatman - 12/11/2020 12:47 PM 125124 Ruben C. Gur, Declaration of Ruben C. Gur, Ph.D., Patterson v. Texas, Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court (2002). 18 Andrea MacIver, The Clash Between Science and the Law, 35 Northern Illinois University Law Review (Fall 2014). 18 Andrew Michaels, A Decent Proposal: Exempting Eighteen-to-Twenty-Year-Olds From The Death Penalty, 40 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 139 (2016) . 18 Kevin J. Holt, The Inbetweeners: Standardizing Juvenileness and Recognizing Emerging Adulthood For Sentencing Purposes After Miller, 92 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1393 (2015). 18 Kelsey B. Shust, Extending Sentencing Mitigation For Deserving Young Adults, 104 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 667 (2014) . 18 People v. Thompson, 2015 IL 118151 . passim B. Pursuant to these legal principles and the ongoing evolution of our laws’ treatment of emerging adults, the record is sufficiently developed to conclude that imposing a mandatory life sentence on then-19-year-old Antonio without any consideration of his age or role a mere lookout shocks the moral conscience of the community . 19 People v. Rizzo, 2016 IL 118599 . 20, 27 Karen U. Lindell & Katrina L. Goodjoint, Rethinking Justice for Emerging Adults: Spotlight on the Great Lakes Region, The Juvenile Law Center (2020) . 21 705 ILCS 405/1-3(10), 5-105(10) (West 2018) . 22 705 ILCS 405/1-3(2) (West 2018) . 22 705 ILCS 405/5-301(1)(a), (e) (West 2018) . 22 705 ILCS 405/5-305 (West 2018). 22 705 ILCS 405/5-310 (West 2018). 22 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-110 . 22 People ex rel. Bradley v. Illinois State Reformatory, 148 Ill. 413 (1894) . 23 235 ILCS 5/6-16(a)(I) (West 2018) . 23 -ii- SUBMITTED - 11462688 - Carol Chatman - 12/11/2020 12:47 PM 125124 235 ILCS § 25 (eff. July 1, 2019) . 23 720 ILCS 675/1 (West 2018) . 23 230 ILCS 10/18(b)(1) (West 2018). 23 430 ILCS 65/4(a)(2)(I) (West 2018) . 23 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-95(b) (West 2018) . 23 People v. Mosley, 2015 IL 115872 . 23 760 ILCS 20/2(1) (West 2018) . 23 People v. Minniefield, 2020 IL App (1st) 170541 . 24 Alex A Stamm,Young Adults are Different, too: Why and How We Can Create a Better Justice System for Young People Age 18 to 25, 95 Tex. L. Rev. (2017) . 24 State v. O’Dell, 692 (2015). 24 Commonwealth v. Watt, 484 Mass. 742 (2020) . 24 Atkins v. Virgina, 122 S. Ct. 2242 (2002). 25 Thompson v. Oklahoma, 108 S. Ct. 2687 (1988) . 25 Enmund v. Florida, 102 S. Ct. 3368 (1982). 25 Coker v. Georgia, 97 S. Ct. 2861 (1977) . 25 Trop v. Dulles, 78 S. Ct. 590 (1958). 25 People v. Coty, 2020 IL 123972 . 26, 42, 43 People v. Taylor, 102 Ill. 2d 201 (1984). 26 C. Because no further record development is necessary to conclude that the mandatory sentencing statute shocks the conscience as-applied to Antonio, the appellate court properly remanded the case for a new sentencing hearing. Harris does not compel a different outcome. 27 People v. White, 2020 IL App (5th) 170345 . 29 People v. Pittman, 2018 IL App (1st) 152030 . 29 -iii- SUBMITTED - 11462688 - Carol Chatman - 12/11/2020 12:47 PM 125124 People v. Green, 2020 IL App (5th) 170462 . 30 People v. Ramsey, 2019 IL App (3d) 160759 . 30, 36, 37 People v. Handy, 2019 IL App (1st) 170213 . 30 People v. Ruiz, 2020 IL App (1st) 163145 . 30 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-105(a)(1) (2017). 32 People v. Holman, 2017 IL 120655 . 32, 33 725 ILCS 5/122 (West 2016) . 33 People v. Davis, 2014 IL 115595 . 33 People v. Lusby, 2020 IL 124046 . 34 D. The State provides no legal basis for its request that this Court remand the case for second-stage post-conviction proceedings . 34 Ill. R. Evid. 408 (effective January 1, 2011). 35 Ill. S. Ct. R. 402(f) . 35 Ill. S. Ct. R. 651(c) . 36 People v. Turner, 187 Ill. 2d 406 (1999) . 36 People v. Johnson, 154 Ill. 2d 227 (1993) . 36 People v. Donelson, 2013 IL 113603 . 36 People v. Horrell, 235 Ill. 2d 235 (2009) . 37 People v. Gaultney, 174 Ill. 2d 410 (1996) . 37 -iv- SUBMITTED - 11462688 - Carol Chatman - 12/11/2020 12:47 PM 125124 II. Antonio House has made a substantial showing of actual innocence based on the newly discovered evidence of a key State witness’ recantation of her trial testimony and attesting that she was present at the time of the kidnapping leading to the murders and never saw Antonio there. (Cross-Relief Requested) . 39 People v. Robinson, 2020 IL 123849 . 39 Ill. S. Ct. R. 318(a) (eff. Feb 1, 1994). 40 People v. Hopkins, 235 Ill. 2d 453 (2009) . ..