People v. Bannister

              SECOND DIVISION
FILED: December 4, 2007
No. 1-04-2894
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF
ILLINOIS,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JAMES BANNISTER,
Defendant-Appellant.
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APPEAL FROM THE
CIRCUIT COURT OF
COOK COUNTY
No. 90 CR 1812
THE HONORABLE
JAMES SCHREIER,
JUDGE PRESIDING.
JUSTICE HOFFMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
Following a jury trial in 1991, the defendant, James Bannister, was convicted of two counts
of first degree murder and sentenced to natural life imprisonment. His convictions and sentence were
affirmed on direct review. People v. Young, 263 Ill. App. 3d 627, 635 N.E.2d 473 (1994). He
subsequently sought relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West
1992)), asserting, inter alia, actual innocence premised on newly discovered evidence of the
recantation of trial testimony against him. The defendant’s postconviction petition initially was
dismissed without an evidentiary hearing on this question. On appeal, this court reversed and
remanded for an evidentiary hearing on the recantation issue. See People v. Bannister, No. 1-97-
2876 (1998) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). Following the evidentiary hearing,
the trial court granted the defendant’s request for postconviction relief, vacated his convictions, and
ordered a new trial. The defendant was retried in a bench trial in 2004 and again found guilty of two
counts of first degree murder and sentenced to natural life in prison.
On appeal, the defendant challenges his convictions, asserting that (1) his retrial violated his
right to be free from double jeopardy, (2) he was denied due process and deprived of a fair trial based