2016 IL 119271
IN THE
SUPREME COURT
OF
THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
(Docket No. 119271)
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee, v.
ZACHARY A. REYES, Appellant.
Opinion filed September 22, 2016.
PER CURIAM
OPINION
¶1 The defendant, Zachary A. Reyes, was charged by indictment in the circuit
court of Kendall County with the first degree murder of Jason Ventura and the
attempted murders of Eduardo Gaytan and Jorge Ruiz. The indictment alleged that
on December 20, 2009, defendant personally discharged a firearm in the direction
of a vehicle occupied by Ventura, Gaytan, and Ruiz and that defendant’s actions
caused the death of Ventura as well as serious injury to Gaytan. Defendant, who
was 16 years old at the time of the shootings, was prosecuted as an adult (see 705
ILCS 405/5-130(1)(a)(i) (West 2008)). Following a jury trial, he was found guilty
of the charged offenses.
¶2 At defendant’s sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed the mandatory
minimum sentence of 45 years’ imprisonment for the first degree murder
conviction. This sentence consisted of the minimum 20-year sentence for murder
(see 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-20(a) (West 2008) (providing a range of 20 to 60 years)),
plus a minimum 25-year mandatory firearm enhancement (see 730 ILCS
5/5-8-1(a)(1)(d)(iii) (West 2008) (providing for an add-on of 25 years to natural
life)). The court also sentenced defendant to 26 years’ imprisonment for each of the
two attempted murder convictions. The 26-year sentences consisted of the
minimum 6-year sentence for attempted murder (see 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-25(a) (West
2008) (providing range of 6 to 30 years)), plus a 20-year mandatory firearm
enhancement (see 730 ILCS 5/5-8-1(a)(1)(d)(ii) (West 2008)). In addition, the trial
court determined that, pursuant to section 5-8-4(d)(1) of the Unified Code of
Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-8-4(d)(1) (West 2008)), all of defendant’s sentences
were required to run consecutively to each other. As a result, defendant was
sentenced to a mandatory minimum aggregate sentence of 97 years’ imprisonment.
Further, in light of the truth in sentencing statute (730 ILCS 5/3-6-3(b)(i)-(ii) (West
2008)), defendant was required to serve a minimum of 89 years of the 97-year
sentence imposed before he would be eligible for release. Defendant appealed.
¶3 In the appellate court, defendant argued that his sentence was unconstitutional
pursuant to Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. ___, 132 S. Ct. 2455 (2012). In Miller, the
Supreme Court held that the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution
“forbids a sentencing scheme that mandates life in prison without possibility of
parole for juvenile offenders.” Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2469. Citing its earlier
decisions in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005) (holding it unconstitutional to
impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18), and
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010) (holding it unconstitutional to sentence
juvenile offenders to life imprisonment without possibility of parole for
nonhomicide offenses), the Court in Miller explained that “children are
constitutionally different from adults for purposes of sentencing” (id. at ___, 132 S.
Ct. at 2464) and that “in imposing a State’s harshest penalties, a sentencer misses
too much if he treats every child as an adult” (id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2468). The
Supreme Court emphasized that a mandatory sentencing scheme for juveniles
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prevents the trial court from considering numerous mitigating factors, such as the
juvenile offender’s age and attendant characteristics; the juvenile’s family and
home environment and the circumstances of the offense, including the extent of the
juvenile’s participation and the effect of any familial or peer pressure; the
juvenile’s possible inability to interact with police officers or prosecutors or
incapacity to assist his or her own attorneys; and “the possibility of rehabilitation
even when the circumstances most suggest it.” Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2468. The
Court concluded:
“[A] judge or jury must have the opportunity to consider mitigating
circumstances before imposing the harshest possible penalty for juveniles. By
requiring that all children convicted of homicide receive lifetime incarceration
without possibility of parole, regardless of their age and age-related
characteristics and the nature of their crimes, the mandatory sentencing
schemes before us violate this principle of proportionality, and so the Eighth
Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.” Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at
2475.
¶4 The Court clarified that its holding was not a categorical prohibition of
life-without-parole sentences for juvenile murderers. Id. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2469.
Rather, the Court’s holding required that life-without-parole sentences be based on
judicial discretion rather than statutory mandates. Id.
¶5 In the appellate court, defendant acknowledged that he had not received an
actual life sentence without possibility of parole. However, he contended that the
various sentencing statutes to which he was subject had combined in such a way so
as to eliminate all judicial discretion and impose on him a mandatory prison term
that could not be served within one lifetime, i.e., a de facto natural life sentence
without possibility of parole. Defendant maintained that the principles of Miller
were applicable to such a de facto life sentence and, therefore, his sentence was
unconstitutional.
¶6 The appellate court rejected defendant’s argument. 2015 IL App (2d) 120471.
The appellate court declined to extend the eighth amendment rationale in Miller to
the facts of this case, concluding that Miller applied only to actual sentences of life
without the possibility of parole and not to aggregate consecutive sentences that
amounted to a de facto life term. Id. ¶¶ 23-25. The appellate court therefore
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affirmed defendant’s sentence. We granted defendant’s petition for leave to appeal.
Ill. S. Ct. R. 315 (eff. Jan. 1, 2015).
¶7 In this court, defendant again argues that he has received a de facto mandatory
life sentence without the possibility of parole and that such a sentence is
unconstitutional under Miller. Defendant therefore contends that his sentence
should be vacated and the cause remanded for a new sentencing hearing.
¶8 The State, in response, has filed a brief in which it concedes that the Miller
rationale applies to a mandatory term of years that “indisputably amount[s]” to life
imprisonment without the possibility of parole for a single offense or for offenses
committed in a single course of conduct. We agree.
¶9 A mandatory term-of-years sentence that cannot be served in one lifetime has
the same practical effect on a juvenile defendant’s life as would an actual
mandatory sentence of life without parole—in either situation, the juvenile will die
in prison. Miller makes clear that a juvenile may not be sentenced to a mandatory,
unsurvivable prison term without first considering in mitigation his youth,
immaturity, and potential for rehabilitation. As one court has stated:
“the teachings of the Roper/Graham/Miller trilogy require sentencing courts to
provide an individualized sentencing hearing to weigh the factors for
determining a juvenile’s ‘diminished culpability and greater prospects for
reform’ when, as here, the aggregate sentences result in the functional
equivalent of life without parole. To do otherwise would be to ignore the reality
that lengthy aggregate sentences have the effect of mandating that a juvenile
‘die in prison even if a judge or jury would have thought that his youth and its
attendant characteristics, along with the nature of his crime, made a lesser
sentence (for example, life with the possibility of parole) more appropriate.’
Miller, 567 U.S. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2460. Such a lengthy sentence ‘ “means
denial of hope; it means that good behavior and character improvement are
immaterial; it means that whatever the future might hold in store for the mind
and spirit of [the juvenile convict], he will remain in prison for the rest of his
days.” ’ Graham, 560 U.S. at 70, 130 S. Ct. at 2027 (quoting Naovarath v.
State, 105 Nev. 525, 779 P.2d 944, 944 (1989)). That is exactly the result that
Miller held was unconstitutional. Miller, 567 U.S. at ___, 132 S. Ct. at 2460.”
Bear Cloud v. State, 2014 WY 113, ¶ 33, 334 P.3d 132 (Wyo. 2014).
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See also, e.g., Brown v. State, 10 N.E.3d 1, 7-8 (Ind. 2014) (150-year sentence
“ ‘forswears altogether the rehabilitative ideal’ ” as stated in Miller, 567 U.S. at
___, 132 S. Ct. at 2465 (internal quotation marks omitted)); Fuller v. State, 9
N.E.3d 653, 657-58 (Ind. 2014) (same); State v. Null, 836 N.W.2d 41 (Iowa 2013)
(Miller applies to a sentence that amounts to the functional equivalent of life
without parole); Moore v. Biter, 725 F.3d 1184, 1193-94 (9th Cir. 2013) (sentence
of 254 years is unconstitutional); People v. Caballero, 282 P.3d 291, 295 (Cal.
2012). Accordingly, we hold that sentencing a juvenile offender to a mandatory
term of years that is the functional equivalent of life without the possibility of
parole constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the eighth
amendment.
¶ 10 In this case, defendant committed offenses in a single course of conduct that
subjected him to a legislatively mandated sentence of 97 years, with the earliest
opportunity for release after 89 years. Because defendant was 16 years old at the
time he committed the offenses, the sentencing scheme mandated that he remain in
prison until at least the age of 105. The State concedes, and we agree, that
defendant will most certainly not live long enough to ever become eligible for
release. Unquestionably, then, under these circumstances, defendant’s
term-of-years sentence is a mandatory, de facto life-without-parole sentence. We
therefore vacate defendant’s sentence as unconstitutional pursuant to Miller.
¶ 11 Having vacated defendant’s sentence, we must determine the proper remedy.
Both the State and defendant note that, during the pendency of this appeal, our
legislature enacted a new law, codified in section 5-4.5-105 of the Unified Code of
Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-105 (West Supp. 2015)), which provides a new
sentencing scheme for individuals under 18 years of age at the time of the
commission of an offense. In general, the new statute requires the sentencing judge
to take into account several factors in mitigation in determining the appropriate
sentence for those under 18. In addition, the statute provides that the imposition of
firearm enhancements is a matter of discretion with the trial court:
“(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), the court may sentence the
defendant to any disposition authorized for the class of the offense of which he
or she was found guilty as described in Article 4.5 of this Code, and may, in its
discretion, decline to impose any otherwise applicable sentencing enhancement
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based upon firearm possession, possession with personal discharge, or
possession with personal discharge that proximately causes great bodily harm,
permanent disability, permanent disfigurement, or death to another person.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the defendant is
convicted of first degree murder and would otherwise be subject to sentencing
under clause (iii), (iv), (v), or (vii) of subsection (c) of Section 5-8-1 of this
Code based on the category of persons identified therein, the court shall impose
a sentence of not less than 40 years of imprisonment. In addition, the court may,
in its discretion, decline to impose the sentencing enhancements based upon the
possession or use of a firearm during the commission of the offense included in
subsection (d) of Section 5-8-1.” 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-105(b), (c) (West Supp.
2015).
¶ 12 Both the State and defendant agree that, pursuant to section 4 of the Statute on
Statutes (5 ILCS 70/4 (West 2014)), defendant is entitled, on remand, to be
resentenced under the sentencing scheme found in section 5-4.5-105. See People v.
Hollins, 51 Ill. 2d 68, 71 (1972) (section 4 of the Statute on Statutes entitles a
defendant “to be sentenced under either the law in effect at the time the offense was
committed or that in effect at the time of sentencing”). In addition, both the State
and defendant agree that by applying this new sentencing scheme, the circuit court
will have the discretion not to apply the firearm sentencing enhancements and,
without these enhancements, the mandatory minimum aggregate sentence to which
defendant would be subject is 32 years, a term that is not a de facto life sentence.
Because defendant would not be subject to a mandatory, life-without-parole
sentence under section 5-4.5-105, we remand this matter to the trial court with
directions that a new sentencing hearing be held in accordance with this statute.
¶ 13 CONCLUSION
¶ 14 The judgments of the circuit and appellate courts are reversed. The cause is
remanded to the circuit court for resentencing in accordance with section 5-4.5-105
of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-105 (West Supp. 2015)).
¶ 15 Appellate court judgment reversed.
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¶ 16 Circuit court judgment reversed.
¶ 17 Cause remanded.
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