People v. Sanders

Defendant Italic Sanders 1 appeals from the third-stage dismissal of his postconviction petition for new trial. In 1994, defendant was convicted of first-degree murder for the shooting death of John Pinkerton amidst evidence that the shooting was a gang-related crime. He subsequently filed for postconviction relief, contending that the trial court erred in failing to inquire into potential gang bias of venire members under the standard articulated in People v. Strain, 194 Ill. 2d 467, 742 N.E.2d 315 (2000), which provides that such inquiry must be made where gang-related evidence is integral…