People v. Collins
- Decided
- February 22, 1985
- Docket
- 55659
- Status
- Published
- Jurisdiction
- Illinois
Cited 2,507 timesNo negative treatment found in this library
What later courts said
- adopting Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U.S. 307 , 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781 , 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979) — People v. Gaciarz (2017)
- defining possession as element of unlawful use or possession of weapons by felons — People v. Carpenter (2024)
- finding no reasonable expectation of privacy in a garbage bag left on a second floor landing of an outside stairway because such area was an openly accessible common area of the apartment building — People v. Hillman (1992)
Each line is a later court’s own words about this case, not a summary. Read the opinion before relying on it.
How the opinion begins
JUSTICE RYAN delivered the opinion of the court:
The defendants, Roger Collins and William Bracey, were indicted along with Murray Hooper for the armed robbery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 18 — 2), aggravated kidnaping (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 10— 2(a)(3)), and murder (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 9— 1(a)(1)), of Frederick Lacey, R. C. Pettigrew and Richard Holliman. Hooper was tried separately and is not a party to this appeal. Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, the defendants were found guilty of each offense. A two-stage sentencing hearing was held where the same jury found the existence of statutory aggravating factors and concluded that there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude imposition of the death penalty. As a result, the trial court sentenced the defendants to death. The sentence was stayed (87 Ill. 2d R. 609(a)), pending direct appeal to this court (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, sec. 4(b); 87 Ill. 2d R. 603). The trial court also imposed on each defendant concurrent 60-year prison sentences for the armed-robbery and aggravatedkidnaping convictions.
On November 12, 1980, sometime after 10 p.m., Frederick Lacey, R. C. Pettigrew and Richard Holliman were taken from apartment 206 at 2240 South State Street in Chicago, placed in a red Oldsmobile, and driven to a viaduct at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street, where they were shot to death. Police officers investigating at the scene found Lacey lying on the ground on the driver’s side of the automobile. Pettigrew was lying partially under the right front bumper with pieces of rope and cloth tied around his right wrist. Three expended shotgun shells were found near his body. Holliman was discovered in the back seat, his hands bound with cloth. The record shows that Lacey had been shot in the back of the head. Pettigrew, in addition to being shot in the face, chest and leg, had four shotgun wounds in his back. Holliman had been shot three times in the chest and once in the back of the neck.
Cite this
People v. Collins, 478 N.E.2d 267 (1985)Read the full opinion
Reading the library on this site uses your account’s daily calls, the same as the connector and the API. The Free plan needs no card. Calls a day on each plan.