People v. Navarro

── People v. Navarro ── Court: Appellate Court of Illinois Date: April 17, 2026 Category: General 2026 IL App (1st) 211543-B No. 1-21-1543 Opinion filed April 17, 2026 Sixth Division IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT ) THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) ) Appeal from the Circuit Court Plaintiff-Appellee, ) of Cook County. ) v. ) No. 04 CR 10345 ) ANGEL NAVARRO, ) The Honorable ) Stanley J. Sacks, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding. JUSTICE HYMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice C.A. Walker and Justice Oden Johnson concurred in the judgment and opinion. OPINION ¶1 Actual innocence claims are an indispensable mechanism against wrongful convictions, one of the gravest injustices known in law. When faced with an actual innocence claim, courts bear a solemn responsibility to ensure that justice emerges clad in the robes of rectitude. ¶2 Angel Navarro argues that his successive petition asserted newly discovered evidence that bore on actual innocence. We agree. Navarro has raised the sliver of doubt necessary to establish a “colorable claim” and advance to second-stage postconviction proceedings. His pleading contains newly discovered evidence unavailable at the time of trial in the form of the investigating 1-21-1543-B officer’s prior record of police misconduct, which is material to his guilt or innocence, is non- cumulative in nature, and could potentially undermine the verdict. ¶3 In remanding for second-stage proceedings, we reassigned the case to a different circuit court judge. The State sought leave to appeal in the Illinois Supreme Court. While leave was denied, the Court directed us to reconsider our directive in light of People v. Class, 2025 IL 129695. Class addressed when an appellate court may sua sponte order the reassignment on I remand. After reconsidering under Class, we find this record inadequate to support a sua sponte reassignment on remand. ¶4 We reverse the denial of the motion for leave to file a successive postconviction petition and remand for a second-stage hearing. ¶5 Background ¶6 In April 2004, Josue Guerra was killed after being shot in the back. A short time later, police arrested Navarro on a nearby parkway. Witnesses Artemio Magdaleno, Heber Garcia, and Carlos Colon testified that Navarro shot at Guerra three times. ¶7 According to Magdaleno, on that night, he, Guerra, and some friends were walking to a store on Fullerton Avenue, when they encountered Navarro with a group of about five or six men. Navarro asked them, “[W]hat [sic] you looking at?” According to Magdaleno, one of his friends replied, “[W]e ain’t [sic] looking at you.” After that, Magdaleno, Guerra, and the others continued to the store. After they left, the group went through an alley to Leclaire Avenue and then proceeded on Leclaire Avenue towards Montana Street. As they did, Magdaleno heard a gunshot and bent down. Looking across Montana Street, Magdaleno saw Navarro’s face. Magdaleno ran home but later returned as Guerra was placed into an ambulance. -2- 1-21-1543-B ¶8 On cross-examination, Magdaleno maintain