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People v. Schutz

Case Date: 10/29/2003
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-00-3494 Rel

THIRD DIVISION
Date Filed: October 29, 2003

No. 1-00-3494


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,

               Plaintiff-Appellee,

               v.

RICHARD SCHUTZ,

               Defendant-Appellant.

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)		 Appeal from the
Circuit Court of
Cook County

No.  70 C 124

Honorable
Thomas R. Fitzgerald,
Judge Presiding.
 

JUSTICE HALL delivered the opinion of the court:

In 1970, the defendant, Richard Schutz, was convicted of themurder of Cheryl Littlejohn and sentenced to an indeterminateterm of 35 to 100 years' imprisonment. His conviction andsentence were affirmed on appeal. See People v. Schutz, 8 Ill.App. 3d 827, 291 N.E.2d 194 (1972). The defendant was releasedfrom prison after serving 14 years of his sentence.

On September 14, 1999, the defendant filed a petitionpursuant to section 116-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of1963 (725 ILCS 5/116-3 (West 1998)) seeking to havedeoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing performed on certain physicalevidence in his murder case.

On August 29, 2000, the circuit court dismissed the petitionafter being advised by the State that the evidence the defendantsought to have tested had been destroyed.

The defendant appeals, contending that the circuit courterred when it dismissed his petition without first determining ifthe State had destroyed the evidence in bad faith.

It is not disputed that forensic DNA testing was notavailable at the time of the defendant's trial in 1970. Effective January 1, 1998, the General Assembly enacted section116-3, which explains the process defendants must follow toobtain fingerprint or forensic testing not available at trialregarding actual innocence. Pub. Act 90-141,