People v. Morrison

CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 29, 2026
Docket5-26-0063
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Morrison (People v. Morrison) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Morrison, (Ill. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

NOTICE 2026 IL App (5th) 260063-U NOTICE Decision filed 04/29/26. The This order was filed under text of this decision may be NO. 5-26-0063 Supreme Court Rule 23 and is changed or corrected prior to not precedent except in the the filing of a Petition for IN THE limited circumstances allowed Rehearing or the disposition of under Rule 23(e)(1). the same. APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellant, ) Madison County. ) v. ) No. 25-CF-1829 ) JOSHUA J. MORRISON, ) Honorable Emily J. Nielsen, ) and Honorable Neil T. Schroeder, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judges, presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE CLARKE delivered the judgment of the court. Justices McHaney and Bollinger concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The trial court’s orders granting the defendant pretrial release with conditions and denying the State’s motion for relief are affirmed where conditions sufficiently mitigated the defendant’s risk.

¶2 The plaintiff, the State of Illinois, appeals the December 17, 2025, order from the Madison

County circuit court that denied the State’s petition to deny the defendant, Joshua Morrison,

pretrial release and the January 22, 2026, denial of its motion for relief. For the following reasons,

we affirm.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 On July 21, 2025, the defendant was charged with aggravated arson, a Class X felony;

arson, a Class 2 felony; and aggravated battery, a Class 3 felony. 720 ILCS 5/20-1.1(a), 20(a)(1),

12-3.05(a)(1) (West 2024). The defendant was later charged with a hate crime, a Class 4 felony. 1 Id. § 12-7.1. The State filed a verified petition to deny pretrial release on July 21, 2025. The

petition alleged that the defendant committed a detainable offense, that he posed a real and present

threat to any person or the community, and that he had a high likelihood of willful flight. 725 ILCS

5/110-6.1 (West 2024).

¶5 On July 23, 2025, the defendant’s counsel expressed a bona fide doubt as to the defendant’s

fitness, and he was scheduled for an evaluation. The hearing on the State’s petition to detain was

continued due to the allegation of unfitness. On July 25, 2025, the trial court found the defendant

was unfit to stand trial and ordered him to undergo treatment with the Illinois Department of

Human Services (IDHS). The defendant then participated in inpatient mental health treatment for

his schizophrenia. On December 10, 2025, IDHS filed a report, stating that the defendant had been

restored to fitness.

¶6 On December 16, 2025, the State filed an amended verified petition, alleging the same

information included within the original petition and additionally alleging that the defendant was

charged with a hate crime, which was a detainable offense. The matter proceeded to a hearing on

December 17, 2025. At the beginning of the hearing, the trial court found the defendant fit after

the parties stipulated to the DHS report.

¶7 The matter then proceeded to a hearing on the State’s petition to detain in front of Judge

Nielsen. The State proffered the information about the offense, stating that the defendant was

charged with aggravated arson, arson, aggravated battery involving great bodily harm, and a hate

crime, which were all detainable offenses. On July 19, 2025, the Bethalto Police Department

responded to an apartment building where the defendant was breaking windows of the building

and setting his pickup truck on fire. When they arrived, the defendant was yelling and “flailing his

arms” before fleeing back into the building. The defendant’s truck was parked approximately five

2 feet from the front door of the apartment building, and officers were unable to enter the building.

While waiting for the fire department, officers observed a victim through one of the windows

asking for help, and they could hear the defendant yelling from within the building. Officers heard

the defendant yell a homophobic slur. Officers also observed Winston Rulo exit the building with

blood coming from his face and head, and he indicated that the defendant attacked him.

¶8 The State further proffered that officers attempted to make contact with the defendant after

the fire was extinguished and indicated that he was under arrest, and asked him to surrender, which

he did not do. Officers saw the defendant through a window of the apartment building, holding a

knife. The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team attempted to get the defendant to come out

of the building, but he refused, and the team entered with the use of gas canisters to take him into

custody. The State proffered witness accounts from residents of the apartment building and

statements from the victims as well, including information about Rulo’s head injuries, which he

sustained from the defendant. Rulo suffered a fractured skull, fractured orbital bone, and a brain

bleed. Photos entered into evidence showed that the defendant’s residence was in “a complete state

of disarray” after his arrest. The defendant’s truck fire caused damage to the exterior and structure

of the apartment building and a neighboring vehicle.

¶9 The State proffered that on March 20, 2025, the defendant’s father contacted the police in

an effort to get help due to the defendant barricading himself in his apartment and having

psychiatric issues. Officers attempted to get the defendant to come out of his apartment, but he

refused. The defendant told his father that people were trying to kill him at that time, including the

police. The State said that the defendant posed an ongoing danger to the public and that he was a

flight risk. The State asked for the defendant to be detained.

3 ¶ 10 Defense counsel proffered that the defendant suffered from a debilitating mental illness,

and up until recently, it was controlled with medications and therapy. The defendant had no prior

criminal history and scored a zero on the pretrial risk assessment. Defense counsel stated, “I

believe [the defendant] was one of the sickest individuals that I’ve ever seen in my 20 plus years,

and that was evidenced” by the fact that the defendant received inpatient treatment within weeks

of his arrest, rather than waiting months. Defense counsel stated that the defendant was in

“complete psychosis” when the incident occurred.

¶ 11 When the defendant was in the Madison County Jail, his condition “significantly

decompensated” due to his mental illness being untreated. He had to receive physical treatment

before he could receive mental health treatment. Once he was placed in the mental health hospital,

the defendant rapidly improved due to voluntarily taking his medication and participating in

treatment. Defense counsel stated that it was a “process” for the defendant to be in psychosis, and

does not happen from missing one dose of his medication. The defendant did not have any

recollection of the events, but felt guilt and remorse for the outcome of it. The defendant’s family

was also aware of his psychosis and wanted to help him.

¶ 12 Defense counsel submitted a letter from a social worker with IDHS that stated the social

worker believed the defendant’s mental illness could be managed on an outpatient basis. The

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People v. Morrison, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-morrison-illappct-2026.