People v. Griffin
Annotate this Case
In 2011, Shamar Griffin entered a guilty plea in the circuit court of Cook County, Illinois, to one count of first-degree murder in exchange for a 35-year sentence and the dismissal of additional charges. Several years later, Griffin filed a motion to file a successive post-conviction petition, alleging actual innocence and ineffective assistance of counsel. The circuit court denied the motion, finding that Griffin's guilty plea precluded his actual innocence claim. The appellate court reversed, allowing Griffin to file a petition alleging actual innocence despite his guilty plea.
The Supreme Court of Illinois held that the same standard applies to all petitioners when determining whether to grant leave to file a successive post-conviction petition based on an actual innocence claim, regardless of whether the petitioner was convicted following a trial or pleaded guilty. The court also held that each claim in a successive post-conviction petition must meet the applicable standard in order to advance to second-stage post-conviction proceedings.
In this case, the court found that Griffin presented a colorable claim of actual innocence based on newly discovered evidence that, if true, could lead to his acquittal on retrial. This evidence included two affidavits identifying a different individual as the actual shooter. The court affirmed the appellate court's decision allowing Griffin to file a successive post-conviction petition based on his actual innocence claim, but it remanded the case to the appellate court for further consideration of Griffin's claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.