People v. Clark
Annotate this Case
In 1993, Clark entered Catlin's Galesburg apartment to commit robbery. Clark was 24 years old; Catlin was 89. Clark killed Catlin by cutting her throat, then robbed the apartment. Clark pled guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder and robbery. Clark suffered from antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, and fetal alcohol syndrome. He had an IQ of 79 and the intellectual ability of a 13-14-year-old; he had been severely abused as a child and had an extensive criminal history. Clark was sentenced to 90 years of imprisonment for the murder, with a consecutive 15-year prison sentence for the robbery. The appellate court affirmed. In 2001 and 2012 Clark filed unsuccessful post-conviction petitions.
In a 2018 motion for leave to file a successive postconviction petition, Clark challenged the constitutionality of his sentence as inconsistent with the Illinois Constitution's proportionate penalties clause. Clark argued that his sentence was the functional equivalent of a life sentence and that the circuit court failed to give sufficient weight to the characteristics of his intellectual disabilities and his young age as mitigation factors. The appellate court and Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the denial of relief.
The proportionate penalties clause requires penalties to be determined with the objective of restoring the offender to useful citizenship and provides a limitation on penalties beyond those afforded by the eighth amendment. Precedent does not establish “cause” for relaxing the res judicata doctrine with respect to the issues Clark raised, which were decided on direct appeal. Clark also cannot establish prejudice under the cause-and-prejudice test by advancing a challenge to his sentence as it relates to his intellectual disabilities. “Neurological development was not a prospect for” Clark.
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.