People v. McCoy

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Michael McCoy’s successive postconviction petition asserting actual innocence. The court addressed the evaluation of newly discovered evidence, including a codefendant’s testimony, expert testimony concerning eyewitness identification reliability, and forensic blood testing. It held that the evidence, considered collectively, was not sufficiently conclusive to probably change the result on retrial.

Holdings

1. A circuit court's factual findings and credibility determinations following a third-stage postconviction evidentiary hearing are reviewed for manifest error.
2. To establish actual innocence, a petitioner must present evidence that is newly discovered, material, noncumulative, and so conclusive that, when considered with the trial evidence, it would probably change the result on retrial.
3. The circuit court properly considered the old and new evidence collectively, even though it discussed individual items of evidence separately before determining that the evidence as a whole was not sufficiently conclusive.
4. McCoy failed to establish actual innocence because Millighan's exculpatory testimony was not credible, and the remaining expert evidence concerning eyewitness identification and blood testing was not sufficiently conclusive to probably change the result on retrial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court applied the proper standard of review after the third-stage evidentiary hearing on McCoy's successive postconviction petition.
2. Whether McCoy's newly discovered evidence, considered together with the trial evidence, was sufficiently conclusive to establish actual innocence and probably produce a different result on retrial.
3. Whether the circuit court's credibility determination rejecting Millighan's exculpatory testimony was manifestly erroneous.

Disposition

affirmed