People v. Cashaw, 2016 IL App (4th) 140759

In March 2006 James E. Cashaw was convicted of criminal sexual assault; the trial court sentenced him to 12 years’ imprisonment and imposed a $200 domestic-violence fine.
Cashaw did not challenge the domestic-violence fine on direct appeal and pursued multiple unsuccessful postconviction and collateral petitions without raising the fine issue.
In May 2014 Cashaw sought leave to file a successive postconviction petition alleging ineffective assistance; the trial court denied leave, and Cashaw appealed.
For the first time on appeal Cashaw challenged the statutory authorization for the $200 domestic-violence fine, arguing it was void and therefore subject to collateral attack.
The State conceded the trial court lacked statutory authority to impose the fine but relied on People v. Castleberry (which abolished the void-sentence rule) to argue the fine is not void and Cashaw’s claim is forfeited.
The appellate court held Castleberry applies to this collateral proceeding, declined to apply Teague to bar Castleberry’s application, concluded Cashaw forfeited the claim, and affirmed the fine and sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Cashaw)	Held
Whether the $200 domestic-violence fine is void and thus subject to collateral attack despite forfeiture	Castleberry abolished the void-sentence rule; the fine is not void and Cashaw forfeited the claim by not raising it earlier	Castleberry should not apply retroactively to finalized cases; therefore the fine remains void and may be attacked now	Castleberry applies; fine is not void for collateral-attack purposes; Cashaw forfeited the claim and fine is affirmed
Whether Teague retroactivity doctrine prevents application of Castleberry in this collateral proceeding	Teague does not control because defendant seeks to rely on older law to disturb finality; applying Castleberry preserves finality	Teague (and related retroactivity principles) bar Castleberry’s retroactive application here	Teague does not bar Castleberry’s application; the retroactivity objection fails

People v. Castleberry, 43 N.E.3d 932 (Ill. 2015) (abolished Illinois void-sentence rule)
Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989) (federal retroactivity framework for new rules in collateral review)
Griffith v. Kentucky, 479 U.S. 314 (1987) (new rules apply to cases pending on direct review)
People v. Flowers, 561 N.E.2d 674 (Ill. 1990) (Illinois adopts Teague framework for state collateral proceedings)
People v. Arna, 658 N.E.2d 445 (Ill. 1995) (earlier recognition of void-sentence rule abrogated by Castleberry)
Schriro v. Summerlin, 542 U.S. 348 (2004) (distinction between substantive and procedural new rules for retroactivity)