People v. Saunders

Following a bench trial, defendant Michael Saunders was convicted of first degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault and sentenced to consecutive prison terms of 34 years and 6 years, respectively. Defendant contends on appeal that collateral estoppel barred the trial court from reconsidering its ruling on defendant’s motion to suppress his statement as involuntary and that the court erred in reversing its original finding.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Defendant’s convictions arose from a November 6, 1994, incident at 5356 South Bishop in Chicago in which defendant and…