Background
Lamar Plant was charged with armed robbery and aggravated battery after the alleged victim reported that Plant demanded more money during a paid ride, threatened him with a knife, stabbed him in the arm, and took his money and phones. The Champaign County circuit court initially granted the State’s petition to detain Plant, finding that he posed a real and present safety threat and that release conditions could not mitigate it.
While Plant remained detained, the State sought continuances under section 103-5(c) of Illinois’s Speedy Trial Act to complete DNA testing on a knife and suspected blood recovered from Plant’s vehicle. Plant objected and later sought release under section 110-6.1(i) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, arguing that the 90-day pretrial-detention period plus the 120-day DNA extension permitted no more than 210 days of detention. The circuit court released him on conditions on May 1, 2026, and denied the State’s request to reinstate detention.
The Court’s Holding
The Fifth District affirmed the denial of the State’s motion for relief, though on reasoning different from the circuit court’s. Section 110-6.1(i)’s 90-day detention period is tolled—not permanently stopped—during a State-requested continuance granted with good cause under section 103-5. Thus, Plant’s 90-day clock ran for 32 days before the State’s first DNA continuance.
The court held that the DNA-testing provision itself limits such tolling to no more than 120 additional days. Once that period expired, the 90-day detention clock resumed at day 33 and reached day 90 on May 1, 2026. The State therefore could not continue to deny Plant pretrial release. The court stressed that its ruling was limited to DNA-testing continuances and did not establish a universal 210-day detention rule.
Key Takeaways
- A State DNA-testing continuance tolls the 90-day pretrial-detention period under section 110-6.1(i).
- The tolling is constrained by section 103-5(c)’s 120-day maximum for DNA testing.
- After the permitted DNA-delay period ends, the 90-day detention clock resumes; continued detention then requires trial before that clock expires.
Why It Matters
The decision rejects the State’s argument that a good-cause speedy-trial continuance can indefinitely suspend the Pretrial Fairness Act’s detention deadline. It preserves a time limit on detention while allowing the State a defined period to obtain material DNA results.
For Illinois practitioners, the ruling makes the duration and statutory basis of each DNA-related continuance critical when calculating whether a detained defendant must be released pending trial.