Illinois Supreme Court makes ruling on innocence certificates
Updated 4/15/2021 3:40 PM
SPRINGFIELD A majority of the Illinois Supreme Court decided Thursday that the state law governing certificates of innocence requires exonerated individuals to prove their innocence only for the criminal offense with which they were initially charged.
The court s decision means that an exonerated person who seeks a certificate of innocence does not have to prove his or her innocence in every conceivable theory of criminal liability for that offense.
The effect of their decision has the most immediate impact for Charles Palmer, who was wrongfully convicted of a Decatur murder and spent nearly two decades in prison. Palmer s petition for a certificate of innocence was under review in the court s opinion.
ROCKFORD Two years after he was acquitted of a first-degree murder charge, former Rockford resident Patrick Pursley is celebrating another legal victory.
Judge Joseph McGraw granted Pursley’s petition for a certificate of innocence on Friday in the 1993 shooting death of Andy Ascher.
Pursley was convicted of Ascher’s murder in 1994 and spent 23 years of a life sentence in prison before he was granted a new trial after ballistics tests showed the Taurus 9 mm handgun used to convict him was not the murder weapon.
“I am convinced by the preponderance of the evidence that Mr. Pursley is actually innocent of the charge,” McGraw said in court Friday.