Oct 7, 2008 2:05 pm US/Central
New Law Allows Testimony From Dead People
Law Is Designed To Deter Murder Of Potential Witnesses
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (STNG) ―
Legislation signed by Gov. Blagojevich on Tuesday will allow courts to admit a statement from a witness who was murdered by the defendant to prevent the witness from testifying.
Senate Bill 2718, initiated by Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow, is designed to eliminate the incentive for criminals to kill witnesses in an attempt to prevent them from testifying. The legislation allows prosecutors to enter into evidence the relevant statements from witnesses who were killed, a release from the governor's office said.
With support from bill sponsors, advocates and prosecutors, Blagojevich used his amendatory veto power to give the act an immediate effective date. The governor says he took the action because without the amendatory veto, the legislation would not take effect until June 2009.
The General Assembly will now need to act to accept the amendatory veto for the law to take effect immediately.
It will allow a judge to decide at a pretrial hearing whether the court will consider hearsay testimony if it is determined the defendant murdered the witness to make the witness unavailable for testimony, if the unavailable witness' statements are reliable, and if justice is best served if the statements are admitted into evidence.
The new law is supported by the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision of Giles v. California which upheld the common law doctrine called "the forfeiture of wrongdoing," which states the defendant forfeits his/her rights under the Sixth Amendment to confront the witness if the defendant has caused the witness to be unavailable, the release said. The bill codifies the common law doctrine to make it enforceable in Illinois.
This doctrine has been made into law in more than a dozen other states, including Maryland, California, Connecticut and North Carolina.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2008. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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