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| People v. Majors, No. 4-98-0430 4th District, 23 November 1999 |
| THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SHAWN C. MAJORS, Defendant-Appellant. | | Appeal from Circuit Court of Coles County No. 97CF136 Honorable Ashton C. Waller, Judge Presiding. | JUSTICE MYERSCOUGH delivered the opinion of the court: In June 1997, the State charged defendant, Shawn Majors, with several counts of first degree murder for the May 1997 drowning death of Cheryl McRill. In March 1998, after a trial, the jury acquitted defendant of count I, which alleged defendant knew his acts would cause McRill's death (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1996)), but found defendant guilty of count II, which alleged defendant knew his acts would create a strong probability of death (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2) (West 1996)), and count III, which alleged defendant killed McRill while committing a forcible felony (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(3) (West 1996)). In May 1998, the trial court entered a conviction on count II and sentenced defendant to 45 years' imprisonment. Defendant appeals, arguing (1) his speedy trial rights were violated with respect to counts I and II and his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to move to dismiss the case on speedy trial grounds; (2) his speedy trial rights were also violated with respect to count III, which the State filed February 11, 1998, and his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to move to dismiss the count on that basis; (3) plain error occurred since the public act that modified the statutory provision on automatic fitness hearings (Pub. Act 89-689, |