183 Ill. 2d 213 - People v. Erickson’s Empirical Analysis
1998
Citation profile
4 federal appellate · 69 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 80 later decisions — most recently December 2025 · most notably 205 Ill. 2d 444 - People v. Pitsonbarger (2002), 187 Ill. 2d 406 - People v. Turner (1999)
4 federal appellate · 69 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Strickland v. Washington · United States v. Cronic · Ake v. Oklahoma · Refre v. United States · 153 Ill. 2d 264 - People v. Flores
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 80 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“Defendant contends that Weliczko’s testimony and his written report undermined the defense by portraying defendant as manipulative, aggressive and violent. While Weliczko’s negative characterization of defendant may not have helped the defense, it did not contribute to the trial court’s sentencing decision. The trial court explained in detail the' aggravating factors forming the basis for its decision, but made no reference to Weliczko’s testimony or written report. Rather, in sentencing defendant to death the court relied on its conclusions that defendant had devised the plot to abduct, rape and murder Elizabeth Launer and that he produced the necktie with which she was bound, the sock with which she was gagged, and the knife with which she was killed. The court emphasized the heinous nature of the crime, observing that the victim was “stripped, tied, gagged, subjected to the most ultimate indignity that could be forced upon a female and then executed in a brutal and savage attack,” that defendant ignored the victim’s pleas for mercy, and that defendant later boasted about the crime. The court also cited defendant’s prior history of sexual attacks against women. The trial court did briefly refer to Welic-zko’s testimony in its summary of mitigating evidence. While the trial court may not have given the evidence great weight in mitigation, it does not appear that the court considered the evidence to be aggravating. Moreover, regardless of the opinions Weliczko offered, the ci”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority““The [Act] contemplates the filing of only one post-conviction petition, although successive petitions may be allowed where the proceedings on the initial petition were deficient in some fundamental way. [Citation.]” Erickson, 183 Ill. 2d at 222-23 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment'”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.