People v. Murray, 94 N.E.3d 212

Background

Defendant Deontae Murray, a Latin Kings member, was convicted by a Boone County jury of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a street-gang member for the April 21, 2013 shooting death of Richard Herman; jury also found he was armed. Sentence: aggregate 60 years (35 + 15 enhancement + consecutive 10). Mittimus later corrected to 733 days' credit.
Incident: at a Shell station defendant and co-defendant Marco Hernandez (also Latin Kings) confronted Max Cox (Surenos 13) and Richard Herman; Hernandez fired the fatal shot. Eyewitnesses placed defendant at scene, saw a gun displayed, and saw defendant and Hernandez flee together.
Physical evidence: a Glock Model 30 used in the murder was recovered at a coconspirator’s residence; Perez’s apartment contained the gun case; Perez’s prints were on the slide. Surveillance video and witness IDs linked defendant to the scene. Gang-related phone videos showed defendant and associates disparaging Surenos.
Trial issues included: whether defendant was legally accountable for the murder (shared criminal design/aid), admissibility and use of a jailhouse witness’s prior inconsistent statement (Swanson), proof that the Latin Kings qualify as a “street gang” under Illinois law, and sentencing/credit calculation.
The court affirmed convictions (with mittimus correction), held certain evidentiary errors were not prejudicial, found the gang-possession statute constitutional, and denied defendant’s challenges to sentence length.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence / accountability for murder	Evidence supports that Murray promoted/facilitated the shooting (shared criminal design; displayed gun; provoked fight; fled with shooter).	Cox’s and Murray’s accounts are consistent and do not prove Murray intended Hernandez to kill; insufficient to show shared intent.	Affirmed: jury could find Murray legally accountable under common-criminal-design theory.
Admission/use of Swanson’s prior inconsistent statement	Used to impeach witness; prosecution argued it corroborated Murray’s statement that he gave gun to Hernandez.	Statement inadmissible as substantive evidence (Swanson in jail at time) and should not have been used as such; plain error and ineffective assistance for failing to object.	Error in admitting statement as substantive was clear, but not plain error or prejudicial given overall evidence; no ineffective-assistance relief.
Proof Latin Kings are a “street gang” under Act	Gang expert testified to hierarchy/structure, gang conduct, and that Latin Kings are a street gang; jury could infer course/pattern of criminal activity.	Expert did not specify dates/incidents showing a course or pattern; cites Lozano.	Affirmed: expert opinion on organizational nature and present-tense testimony sufficed for jury to find Latin Kings a street gang.
Constitutionality of 720 ILCS 5/24-1.8(a)(1) (gun-possession by gang member without FOID)	Statute targets conduct (possession without FOID by a gang member), not immutable status; consistent with precedent distinguishing status from act.	Statute criminalizes status of gang membership in violation of Eighth Amendment (Robinson/Youkhana).	Affirmed: statute penalizes an act (possession without FOID), not mere status; constitutional.

Key Cases Cited

People v. Taylor, 186 Ill. 2d 439 (sufficiency-of-evidence standard for criminal convictions)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective-assistance-of-counsel two-prong test)
Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (criminalizing status violates Eighth Amendment)
Powell v. Texas, 392 U.S. 514 (distinguishing criminal acts from status-based punishment)
People v. Kessler, 57 Ill. 2d 493 (accountability and acts in furtherance of common design)
People v. Fernandez, 2014 Ill. 115527 (common-criminal-design rule explained)
People v. Piatkowski, 225 Ill. 2d 551 (plain-error doctrine standards)
Nettles v. People, 34 Ill. 2d 52 (possession is an act, not status)