This case is an appeal from a second-stage dismissal of a post-conviction based on a Miller claim due to the fact that the defendant was 17 when this rape and murder took place.
The case was tried in the mid eighties, and a re-sentencing took place in 1992. The appellate court found that certain comments made by the sentencing court over 25 years ago which led to a life sentence complied with the U.S. Supreme Court’s relatively recent decision in Miller v. Alabama. The appellate court was not moved by any information that’s been learned about the psychological development of juveniles in the last 25 years and affirmed.
The case is People v. Curtis Croft, 1-15-0043
http://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Opinions/AppellateCourt/2018/1stDistrict/1150043.pdf