People v. Edwards

Summary

The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the denial of leave to file Walter Edwards's third and fourth successive postconviction petitions, both alleging actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence. Holding that a successive petitioner must make a colorable claim of actual innocence — supporting documentation raising the probability that it is more likely than not that no reasonable juror would have convicted in light of the new evidence — the court rejected the first-stage frivolous-or-patently-without-merit standard urged by petitioner and the appellate dissent. The alibi affidavits of Dominique and Kathleen Coleman were not newly discovered because petitioner, though aware of the alibi at trial, never attempted to subpoena the witnesses, and codefendant Eddie Coleman's affidavit, though newly discovered, never denied petitioner's presence and thus lacked the conclusive character needed to overcome his accountability conviction.