(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The high-profile murder of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton in 2013 was before the Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday, as the attorney general's office tries to salvage a conviction.
The case put Chicago in the national spotlight for its gun violence, in part, because Hadiya Pendleton had just performed with classmates at the second Obama inauguration.
She was the unintended victim of a gang shooting. Prosecutors won a conviction in 2018 that was later overturned.
The appeals court ruled that Micheail Ward’s rights were violated because he invoked his right to remain silent, yet he was still questioned by detectives and confessed.
Assistant Attorney General Eric Levin argued there was enough evidence of Ward’s guilt even without the confession.
“A conviction should still be affirmed if it’s clear without a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have convicted the defendant,” Levin said during oral arguments.
Ward’s attorney, Stephen Richards, argued that “he invoked three times.”
“Once within an hour after being first given his Miranada warnings. And he said essentially the same thing. He said, ‘I have nothing more to say about it. I don’t want to talk about it,’” Richards said.
He also argued that other evidence was based on witness statements that were recanted.
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