People v. Podcast: This Week in Illinois Criminal Caselaw

David R. Drwencke
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Every week, the Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court hand down criminal decisions that change how cases are defended, charged, and tried across the state. People v. Podcast breaks down each new published criminal decision in plain English — what happened, what the court held, and why it matters — in about three minutes per case. Hosted by David Drwencke, Chicago criminal defense attorney, founder of DRD Law, LLC, and author on Illinois criminal defense. Built for Illinois defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, law students, and anyone who wants to stay current on Illinois criminal law without reading every slip opinion. New episodes weekly. This podcast is for informational purposes only — it is not legal advice.

  1. 40m ago

    Week of October 24, 2026: 3 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week's roundup covers post-conviction pleading standards, pretrial release revocation, and the limits of appellate jurisdiction over electronic monitoring conditions. People v. Sullivan — The Fourth District held that a post-conviction ineffective assistance claim based on a victim impact statement is cognizable, but Sullivan's petition failed first stage because he never identified an actual false statement available to counsel before sentencing — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11043312/people-v-sullivan/ People v. Henry — The First District held that at a pretrial release revocation hearing, the State need only prove the defendant was charged with a qualifying new offense and that no conditions will prevent future charges, not that the new crime actually occurred — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11043150/people-v-henry/ People v. Broyles — The First District held that a circuit court's refusal to modify an existing electronic monitoring condition is not an appealable order under Supreme Court Rule 604(h) — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11042098/people-v-broyles/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  2. Oct 17

    Week of October 17, 2026: 4 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week: hearsay confessions, roadside confusion, emerging adults, and a juvenile plea waiver. People v. Scott — Fourth District reversed a murder conviction because counsel failed to object to a witness's secondhand hearsay being admitted as a substantive confession — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11037125/people-v-scott/ People v. Schneringer — Fifth District reversed an obstruction conviction, holding brief roadside confusion without proof of actual impediment to police is insufficient — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11037033/people-v-schneringer/ People v. Landerman — Third District held a mandatory natural life sentence claim for an emerging adult can't be dismissed at the second stage despite brutal facts, reversing for an evidentiary hearing — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11035168/people-v-landerman/ People v. Shief — First District held a fully negotiated juvenile guilty plea waives a later Graham-based de facto life sentencing challenge, over a dissent — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11035167/people-v-shief/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  3. Oct 10

    Week of October 10, 2026: 3 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week's roundup covers ineffective assistance claims in plea deals, restitution orders, and self-defense theories across three Illinois appellate decisions. People v. Manuel — The Third District held that proper judicial plea admonishments do not cure counsel's specific misrepresentation about the State's actual sentencing recommendation, reversing denial of a motion to withdraw plea — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11019258/people-v-manuel/ People v. Rachall — The Fourth District vacated a restitution award because it included losses not proximately tied to the convicted offense and lacked evidentiary support, finding counsel's failure to object constituted ineffective assistance — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11019256/people-v-rachall/ People v. Rutigliano — A divided First District panel found sufficient evidence of ineffective assistance, based on counsel's failure to call an expert witness and clearly argue a second degree murder theory, warranting a full evidentiary hearing — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11019255/people-v-rutigliano/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  4. Oct 3

    Week of October 3, 2026: 1 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    Quick hits on the latest Illinois criminal rulings. People v. Duffy — The First District affirmed pretrial detention, holding that independent evidence like license plate readers and surveillance footage can satisfy proof evident even when the key eyewitness recanted, and that a prior escape from electronic monitoring undermines any argument that conditions could mitigate dangerousness — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/11008545/people-v-duffy/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  5. Sep 26

    Week of September 26, 2026: 9 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week: nine new Illinois criminal decisions covering ineffective assistance, suppression, DUI, gun possession, sentencing, and postconviction issues. People v. Gordon — Counsel must advise that deportation is mandatory, not merely possible, when a federal statute clearly makes an offense a deportable crime of child/sexual abuse — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10984045/people-v-gordon/ People v. Qualls — Officers' show of force in a gated yard turned an encounter into an unlawful seizure lacking reasonable suspicion, requiring suppression of the gun — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10983920/people-v-qualls/ People v. Aguilar — A license suspension for failing to maintain SR-22 insurance cannot elevate misdemeanor DUI to felony aggravated DUI under subsection H — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10982906/people-v-aguilar/ People v. Benson — An as-applied Second Amendment challenge to felon-in-possession must first be raised and developed in the trial court before appellate review — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10982905/people-v-benson/ People v. Nibbelin — A missed Rule 404(e) fee-waiver certification must be raised via a Rule 472 motion in the trial court, not as ineffective assistance on appeal — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10982904/people-v-nibbelin/ People v. Wade — Only one aggravated kidnapping conviction can stand per kidnapping regardless of the number of aggravating predicate felonies — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10982903/people-v-wade/ People v. Soto — A certificate of innocence requires proof that known police coercion actually drove the decision to plead guilty, not merely that misconduct existed elsewhere in the case — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10979339/people-v-soto/ Taliani v. Anderson — Mandamus cannot compel a state's attorney to file a discretionary resentencing petition, and Rule 3.8 creates no such ongoing duty — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10979338/taliani-v-anderson/ People v. Johnson — A defendant who discharges successive postconviction counsel and proceeds pro se cannot later claim that counsel provided unreasonable assistance — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10978328/people-v-johnson/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  6. Sep 19

    Week of September 19, 2026: 7 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week's roundup covers commitment proceedings, felony murder, sentencing challenges, gun charges, and post-conviction practice from across Illinois's appellate districts. In re Commitment of D. — The First District held the State may voluntarily dismiss and same-day refile a mental health commitment petition, with the respondent bearing the burden to show case-specific good cause to block dismissal, and found the officer-identification requirement under section 3-606 was triggered — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10976881/in-re-commitment-of-d/ People v. Williams — The First District held the new statutory amendment eliminating the cause requirement for successive postconviction petitions by emerging adults applies retroactively and that Williams made a sufficient prejudice showing to proceed — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10976875/people-v-williams/ People v. Doolin — The Fifth District held that a shooting cannot serve as its own felony murder predicate for the intended target under the merger doctrine, but felony murder can still apply to an unintended victim killed in the same act — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10976205/people-v-doolin/ People v. Chambers — The Fourth District affirmed dismissal of a postconviction petition, holding a 42-year sentence for a murder committed a month after turning eighteen does not violate the proportionate penalties clause despite expert evidence of cognitive impairment — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10975420/people-v-chambers/ People v. Gerger — The First District held a concealed carry licensee is statutorily exempt from felony unlawful use of a weapon prosecution for carrying into a bar, and that a chaotic struggle over the gun defeated proof of reckless discharge — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10974735/people-v-gerger/ People v. Plant — The Fifth District held that DNA testing continuances toll, rather than add to, the Pretrial Fairness Act's ninety-day detention clock, requiring a day-by-day tolling calculation — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10970576/people-v-plant/ People v. Riddlespriger — The Fifth District held postconviction counsel is not required to retain a juvenile brain science expert for emerging-adult proportionate penalties claims, as lay testimony can satisfy the reasonable assistance standard — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10970216/people-v-riddlespriger/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  7. Sep 5

    Week of September 5, 2026: 2 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week on People v. Podcast, two First District rulings on postconviction and post-sentencing relief. People v. Colbert — The First District held the circuit court must actually apply the gender-based-violence and postpartum-psychosis sentencing relief statutes rather than rely on the original sentencing record, vacating and remanding for an evidentiary hearing — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10967518/people-v-colbert/ People v. Moore — The First District reversed denial of leave to file a third successive postconviction petition, holding a recanting eyewitness's affidavit was newly discovered, noncumulative, and sufficient to warrant further proceedings — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10967429/people-v-moore/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

  8. Aug 29

    Week of August 29, 2026: 2 New Illinois Criminal Decisions

    This week we cover two Illinois appellate decisions on pretrial release and detention procedure. People v. Franklin — The Second District held that the Corrections Code exclusion for offenses like first degree murder applies only at sentencing, not to pretrial electronic home monitoring, vacating the detention order. — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10961698/people-v-franklin/ People v. Mayer — The Fourth District held that a defendant waived his conflict-of-interest claim regarding counsel by failing to raise it in his motion for relief from detention as required by Supreme Court Rule 604(h)(2), affirming the denial. — https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10961697/people-v-mayer/ People v. Podcast is presented by DRD Law, LLC, Chicago | drdlawllc.com | (312) 909-6570. This podcast is attorney advertising and is not legal advice.

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Every week, the Illinois Supreme Court and Illinois Appellate Court hand down criminal decisions that change how cases are defended, charged, and tried across the state. People v. Podcast breaks down each new published criminal decision in plain English — what happened, what the court held, and why it matters — in about three minutes per case. Hosted by David Drwencke, Chicago criminal defense attorney, founder of DRD Law, LLC, and author on Illinois criminal defense. Built for Illinois defense attorneys, prosecutors, judges, law students, and anyone who wants to stay current on Illinois criminal law without reading every slip opinion. New episodes weekly. This podcast is for informational purposes only — it is not legal advice.

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