People v. Sanchez

Following a jury trial in 1986, defendant, Hector Sanchez, was convicted of murder, attempted murder, aggravated kidnaping, rape, and deviate sexual assault. Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder conviction, but in January 2003, defendant’s death sentence was commuted. On October 27, 2003, defendant filed a pro se motion for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing under section 116 — 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (725 ILCS 5/116 — 3 (West 2002)). In an ex parte hearing in which the State claimed that the evidence to be tested no longer existed, the trial court…