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People v. Mertz11/17/2005
Docket No. 96288-Agenda 1-May 2005.
Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Coles County, defendant, Anthony B. Mertz, was convicted of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a) (West 2000)), home invasion (720 ILCS 5/12-11(a) (West 2000)), and aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/12-14(a) (West 2000)). At a subsequent death penalty hearing, the same jury found defendant eligible for the death penalty, and thereafter concluded there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude the imposition of a death sentence. Accordingly, the circuit court sentenced defendant to death on the first degree murder conviction. The court also sentenced defendant to 60 years' imprisonment on the home invasion conviction. No sentence was imposed for aggravated criminal sexual assault. Because defendant was sentenced to death, his appeal was brought directly to this court. Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, §4(b); 134 Ill. 2d R. 603.
At the outset, we note that defendant's guilt is not in question. He does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence in that regard. He raises no issue pertaining to the guilt/innocence phase of his trial. All issues defendant advances in this appeal relate to the propriety of his death sentence.
Specifically, defendant contends (1) evidence of his "political statements, books, guns, tattoos, photos of girlfriends, internet articles, and sexually explicit sites" was either irrelevant or unreliable aggravation and was admitted in violation of the United States and Illinois constitutions; (2) aggravation testimony by a criminal "profiler" was improper as it was irrelevant and unreliable; (3) the use of "unreliable jailhouse informants and unreliable, uncharged crimes" in aggravation denied defendant a fair sentencing hearing; (4) "the death penalty is `fundamentally unjust' under section 9-1(i) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (720 ILCS 5/9-1(i) (West 2000)), when recently adopted legislative reforms in death penalty proceedings were unavailable; the aggravation relied on uncharged, unproven crimes; and the death sentence is disproportionate to lesser sentences for similar crimes"; (5) the imposition of a death sentence is excessive "in light of the influence of prescription drugs on defendant, defendant's inherited alcoholism, military service, employment, attending college, minor criminal conviction, church attendance, low risk of future dangerousness, and dysfunctional family"; (6) Illinois' death penalty statute is unconstitutional under Apprendi v. New Jersey, because the State is not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there are no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude a death sentence; and (7) Illinois' death penalty is arbitrarily applied, "based on race, geography, procedural evolution, discretion, and mistakes of fact, in violation of the federal and Illinois constitutions' due process and sentencing rights."
We have thoroughly reviewed the record in this case. As the basis for our decision is dependent to a significant extent upon specific facts adduced at trial, the relationship of proper evidence to challenged evidence, and the weight of evidence in aggravation and mitigation, we set forth, hereafter, a comprehensive summary of pertinent evidence from defendant's lengthy trial.
BACKGROUND
On June 12, 2001, Shannon McNamara was found murdered in her apartment near the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois. The primary cause of McNamara's death was subsequently determined to have been "asphyxia due to choking, due to a wash rag virtually stuffed into her mouth." The wash cloth had been so tightly packed into McNamara's mouth that it had to be removed "forcibly" duri
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