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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
91_HB1569eng HB1569 Engrossed LRB9105288DJpr 1 AN ACT to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 by 2 changing Section 115-4. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is 6 amended by changing Section 115-4 as follows: 7 (725 ILCS 5/115-4) (from Ch. 38, par. 115-4) 8 Sec. 115-4. Trial by Court and Jury.)9 (a) Questions of law shall be decided by the court and 10 questions of fact by the jury. 11 (b) The jury shall consist of 12 members. 12 (c) Upon request the parties shall be furnished with a 13 list of prospective jurors with their addresses if known. 14 (d) Each party may challenge jurors for cause. If a 15 prospective juror has a physical impairment, the court shall 16 consider such prospective juror's ability to perceive and 17 appreciate the evidence when considering a challenge for 18 cause. 19 (e) A defendant tried alone shall be allowed 20 20 peremptory challenges in a capital case, 10 in a case in 21 which the punishment may be imprisonment in the penitentiary, 22 and 5 in all other cases; except that, in a single trial of 23 more than one defendant, each defendant shall be allowed 12 24 peremptory challenges in a capital case, 6 in a case in which 25 the punishment may be imprisonment in the penitentiary, and 3 26 in all other cases. If several charges against a defendant 27 or defendants are consolidated for trial, each defendant 28 shall be allowed peremptory challenges upon one charge only, 29 which single charge shall be the charge against that 30 defendant authorizing the greatest maximum penalty. The 31 State shall be allowed the same number of peremptory HB1569 Engrossed -2- LRB9105288DJpr 1 challenges as all of the defendants. 2 (f) After examination by the court the jurors may be 3 examined, passed upon, accepted and tendered by opposing 4 counsel as provided by Supreme Court rules. 5 (f-5) The court must make all reasonable efforts to 6 respect the safety and privacy of prospective jurors, 7 utilizing any practicable means, including, but not limited 8 to, a pre-trial jury questionnaire or an in camera 9 examination with all parties present, to obtain personal 10 information from the prospective jurors for the court and the 11 parties. 12 (f-6) In its discretion, and if there is no other 13 reasonable or practicable means of protecting the safety and 14 privacy of the prospective jurors, the court may close the 15 courtroom to spectators during the process of jury selection, 16 but only for the limited purpose of eliciting responses to 17 those questions which, in the opinion of the court, involve 18 the safety or privacy of the prospective jurors. 19 (g) After the jury is impaneled and sworn the court may 20 direct the selection of 2 alternate jurors who shall take the 21 same oath as the regular jurors. Each party shall have one 22 additional peremptory challenge for each alternate juror. If 23 before the final submission of a cause a member of the jury 24 dies or is discharged he shall be replaced by an alternate 25 juror in the order of selection. 26 (h) A trial by the court and jury shall be conducted in 27 the presence of the defendant unless he waives the right to 28 be present. 29 (i) After arguments of counsel the court shall instruct 30 the jury as to the law. 31 (j) Unless the affirmative defense of insanity has been 32 presented during the trial, the jury shall return a general 33 verdict as to each offense charged. When the affirmative 34 defense of insanity has been presented during the trial, the HB1569 Engrossed -3- LRB9105288DJpr 1 court shall provide the jury not only with general verdict 2 forms but also with a special verdict form of not guilty by 3 reason of insanity, as to each offense charged, and in such 4 event the court shall separately instruct the jury that a 5 special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity may be 6 returned instead of a general verdict but such special 7 verdict requires a unanimous finding by the jury that the 8 defendant committed the acts charged but at the time of the 9 commission of those acts the defendant was insane. In the 10 event of a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, a 11 hearing shall be held pursuant to the Mental Health and 12 Developmental Disabilities Code to determine whether the 13 defendant is subject to involuntary admission. When the 14 affirmative defense of insanity has been presented during the 15 trial, the court, where warranted by the evidence, shall also 16 provide the jury with a special verdict form of guilty but 17 mentally ill, as to each offense charged and shall separately 18 instruct the jury that a special verdict of guilty but 19 mentally ill may be returned instead of a general verdict, 20 but that such special verdict requires a unanimous finding by 21 the jury that: (1) the State has proven beyond a reasonable 22 doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offense charged; 23 and (2) the defendant has failed to prove his insanity as 24 required in subsection (b) of Section 3-2 of the Criminal 25 Code of 1961, as amended, and subsections (a), (b) and (e) of 26 Section 6-2 of the Criminal Code of 1961, as amended; and (3) 27 the defendant has proven by a preponderance of the evidence 28 that he was mentally ill, as defined in subsections (c) and 29 (d) of Section 6-2 of the Criminal Code of 1961, as amended, 30 at the time of the offense. 31 (k) When, at the close of the State's evidence or at the 32 close of all of the evidence, the evidence is insufficient to 33 support a finding or verdict of guilty the court may and on 34 motion of the defendant shall make a finding or direct the HB1569 Engrossed -4- LRB9105288DJpr 1 jury to return a verdict of not guilty, enter a judgment of 2 acquittal and discharge the defendant. 3 (l) When the jury retires to consider its verdict an 4 officer of the court shall be appointed to keep them together 5 and to prevent conversation between the jurors and others; 6 however, if any juror is deaf, the jury may be accompanied by 7 and may communicate with a court-appointed interpreter during 8 its deliberations. Upon agreement between the State and 9 defendant or his counsel the jury may seal and deliver its 10 verdict to the clerk of the court, separate, and then return 11 such verdict in open court at its next session. 12 (m) In the trial of a capital or other offense, any 13 juror who is a member of a panel or jury which has been 14 impaneled and sworn as a panel or as a jury shall be 15 permitted to separate from other such jurors during every 16 period of adjournment to a later day, until final submission 17 of the cause to the jury for determination, except that no 18 such separation shall be permitted in any trial after the 19 court, upon motion by the defendant or the State or upon its 20 own motion, finds a probability that prejudice to the 21 defendant or to the State will result from such separation. 22 (n) The members of the jury shall be entitled to take 23 notes during the trial, and the sheriff of the county in 24 which the jury is sitting shall provide them with writing 25 materials for this purpose. Such notes shall remain 26 confidential, and shall be destroyed by the sheriff after the 27 verdict has been returned or a mistrial declared. 28 (o) A defendant tried by the court and jury shall only 29 be found guilty, guilty but mentally ill, not guilty or not 30 guilty by reason of insanity, upon the unanimous verdict of 31 the jury. 32 (Source: P.A. 86-392.)