Gerald Berry is serving a life sentence for murder, even though he didn't kill anyone.

On Dec. 27, 2001, Berry said he and three friends drove to South suburban Country Club Hills to case a house that they had planned to burglarize. Berry, then a certified HVAC technician, was 20 and married with three children. He often hung around with an older friend, Loree Scott Young, 35, who suggested ways for them to make quick money.

After Berry, Young and the other two men in their crew arrived at the house in Country Club Hills, they realized that one of the homeowners was there, so they considered targeting other homes, according to court records. Berry said Young still encouraged them to go through with the robbery.

Young and Trumaine McClure, 18, went inside the house, while Berry waited in the getaway car with 27-year-old John McGowan, according to court records.

Things quickly went south after another person who lived in the house, Torrey James, returned home. Young demanded money from the man, who drew a gun and shot Young twice. McClure returned fire, hitting James.

James and Young died.

McClure pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years. He was released on parole last November. McGowan was acquitted at trial.

But Berry was convicted of both murders under the felony murder rule -- a legal doctrine that allows prosecutors to bring murder charges against anyone who participates in certain felonies, such as robbery, if a death happens during commission of the crime. The doctrine applies even if the defendant wasn't directly responsible for the killing. Most U.S. states have felony murder laws.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220212/illinois-felony-murder-rule-change-still-leaves-some-who-didnt-kill-anyone-in-prison-for-life

Maybe a criminal attorney can weigh in on this.





The guy who actually went in the house and the other get away driver (who stands in the same position as Berry) didn't get popped on the felony murder rule too? Feels like this story is incomplete.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220212/illinois-felony-murder-rule-change-still-leaves-some-who-didnt-kill-anyone-in-prison-for-life

Maybe a criminal attorney can weigh in on this.





The guy who actually went in the house and the other get away driver (who stands in the same position as Berry) didn't get popped on the felony murder rule too? Feels like this story is incomplete.

Yeah, how does the guy who didn't pull the trigger get life and the guy who did is already out?

Dont really feel sorry for criminals involved in invading someones home. Kill em all.

Dont really feel sorry for criminals involved in invading someones home. Kill em all.

whoa

heavy topic

can we go back to talking about chickens ?

While I'm generally in favor of criminal justice reform and believe we the US and A lock way too many people up for way too long, if you're involved in either invading someone's home or facilitating invading someone's home, fuck you and fuck your life: rot in prison. No one should waste their time and money trying to get anyone involved in such activities any sort of clemency. Far more worthy cases out there on which to spend your time and resources.

I think it can be a little more complicated than that. Like the dopey teenagers in the Elkhart case who thought they were gonna rob the neighbor's house while he was at work. The neighbor shot their friend who was robbing with them and now they're charged with his murder. I might think having your friend die in your arms over a stupid teenage mistake you all made together is enough.

Now, if they had come in there packing pistols I'd feel differently.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20220212/illinois-felony-murder-rule-change-still-leaves-some-who-didnt-kill-anyone-in-prison-for-life

Maybe a criminal attorney can weigh in on this.





The guy who actually went in the house and the other get away driver (who stands in the same position as Berry) didn't get popped on the felony murder rule too? Feels like this story is incomplete.

I think it can be a little more complicated than that. Like the dopey teenagers in the Elkhart case who thought they were gonna rob the neighbor's house while he was at work. The neighbor shot their friend who was robbing with them and now they're charged with his murder. I might think having your friend die in your arms over a stupid teenage mistake you all made together is enough.

Now, if they had come in there packing pistols I'd feel differently.

Don't be a party to dangerous felonies that could foreseeably turn violent and/or result in death. It's rather quite simple.

Agree on the Elkhart case, they weren't packing, were dumbass kids doing dumbass thing, probably not a case where you should run them through for a life sentence.

Felony murder rule--like the death penalty in many states where it's still on the books but no one's ever executed anymore, they exist as hammers for prosecutors to bludgeon plea deals out of perps and get co-defendants to spill on their other fellow criminals to avoid life in prison or the chair. At the state level, if you refuse a plea deal and go to trial you're getting charged with the maximum charge and if convicted getting a max sentence. Almost always at the state level defendants who go to trial and lose could've plead out and done a comparatively nominal custodial term. Federal system with relatively rigorous sentencing guidelines reduces the delta between your likely sentence going to trial and getting convicted and what federal prosecutors can offer as a plea deal.

Hard to disagree with that sentiment. I was more interested in disparate outcomes based on what appear to be an identical set of facts. So your comment is not the dunk you think it is.

Hello, I'm Trumaine McClure. You may remember me from such late night suburban burglaries as Plano Was His Name-O and Bartlett IV: The Search For Cash.