People v. Carrasquillo, 2020 IL App (1st) 180534

Background

In October 1976 Ronnie Carrasquillo (age 18) fired multiple shots during a gang fight; Officer Terrence Loftus was killed. Carrasquillo admitted firing 3–5 times; four casings matched a recovered .32 pistol. He was convicted after a 1977 bench trial by Judge Frank Wilson and sentenced to an indeterminate 200–600 years (parole-eligible under the old statute after 20 years).
Years later it emerged Judge Wilson had accepted a $10,000 bribe in an unrelated 1977 trial (Aleman). That bribery was revealed during Operation Greylord investigations; Wilson later denied it and committed suicide in 1990.
In 2015 Carrasquillo filed a section 2-1401 petition seeking to void his conviction/sentence for judicially caused extrinsic fraud/compensatory bias; an evidentiary hearing was held and the trial court denied relief, finding no nexus or actual bias.
Carrasquillo also sought leave to file a successive postconviction petition asserting his 200–600 year indeterminate sentence imposed at age 18 is a de facto life term violating the Illinois proportionate-penalties clause and the Eighth Amendment; the trial court found cause but not prejudice and denied leave.
On appeal the court affirmed denial of the 2-1401 petition (no nexus/actual bias proved) but reversed the denial of leave to file a successive postconviction petition and granted leave to file for the proportionality/"de facto life" claim.

Issues

Issue	People’s Argument	Carrasquillo’s Argument	Held
Timeliness of 2-1401 petition (two‑year bar) / voidness exception	Section 2‑1401 two‑year bar applies; only narrow voidness categories bypass the limit	Judgment is void for extrinsic fraud/compensatory bias so time bar should not apply	The alleged voidness did not fall within the recognized exceptions; court reviewed merits and denied 2‑1401 on factual grounds
Judicial bias / compensatory bias (nexus and actual/personal interest)	Bribe in an unrelated case alone does not show bias in this case; no procedural irregularities or direct evidence tying Wilson’s bribery to Carrasquillo trial	Wilson took a bribe earlier in 1977 and may have retaliated/rehabilitated reputation by convicting/sentencing harshly in Carrasquillo’s case	No sufficient nexus or evidence of actual bias/personal interest; 2‑1401 relief denied (trial court’s factual finding not an abuse of discretion)
Successive postconviction leave: de facto life / proportionate penalties & Eighth Amendment	Sentence was indeterminate with parole eligibility after 20 years; Carrasquillo was not a juvenile, so Miller/Buffer juvenile rules don’t directly apply; parole‑board issues are not a substitute for an as‑applied constitutional claim	200–600 years imposed on an 18‑year‑old is de facto life without parole in practice (given repeated parole denials), thus merits an as‑applied proportionality/Eighth Amendment challenge; new juvenile‑maturity jurisprudence justifies successive petition	Court found cause and prejudice to permit a successive postconviction petition; trial‑court denial of leave was reversed and leave granted (appellant may develop record)

Key Cases Cited

Bracy v. Gramley, 520 U.S. 899 (U.S. 1997) (district‑court ordered discovery where judge’s bribery in surrounding cases and trial irregularities suggested compensatory bias)
People v. Fair, 193 Ill. 2d 256 (Ill. 2000) (judge’s corruption in other cases does not automatically taint all decisions; nexus required)
People v. Titone, 151 Ill. 2d 19 (Ill. 1992) (defendant alleging judicial bias must show nexus and actual bias from extrajudicial conduct)
People v. Hawkins, 181 Ill. 2d 41 (Ill. 1998) (clarifies probability of bias vs. actual bias and that personal interest can substitute for actual bias)
Warren County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. Walters, 2015 IL 117783 (Ill. 2015) (section 2‑1401 standards; distinguishes fact‑dependent challenges from purely legal voidness challenges)
People v. Thompson, 2015 IL 118151 (Ill. 2015) (limits categories of judgments that are void for purposes of escaping 2‑year 2‑1401 limit)
People v. Castleberry, 2015 IL 116916 (Ill. 2015) (abolished the prior void‑sentence rule for sentencing errors)
People v. Buffer, 2019 IL 122327 (Ill. 2019) (categorical rule: juvenile de facto life line drawn at >40 years; sentencing courts must consider youth’s attendant characteristics)
People v. Harris, 2018 IL 121932 (Ill. 2018) (as‑applied proportionality claims by 18‑year‑olds evaluated in postconviction proceedings; record development required)
Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (U.S. 2012) (mandatory life without parole for juveniles unconstitutional; courts must consider youth features)
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (U.S. 2005) (death penalty for juveniles unconstitutional)
Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (U.S. 2010) (life without parole for nonhomicide juvenile offenses unconstitutional)