Fourth District Appellate Court
QUINCY — The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 29 to deny a petition by Tim Bliefnick, a Quincy man convicted of murdering his estranged wife in February 2023, for leave to appeal the Nov. 8 judgment of the Appellate Court, Fourth Judicial District. Bliefnick’s appeal was one of 153 cases that were on the…
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QUINCY — Attorneys representing Tim Bliefnick, a Quincy man convicted of murdering his estranged wife in Feb. 2023, have petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court for leave to appeal the Nov. 8 judgment of the Appellate Court, Fourth Judicial District. A three-judge panel from the Illinois Appellate Court Fourth District — Raylene Grischow from Sangamon County,…
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QUINCY — The Appellate Court of Illinois Fourth District has denied the appeal of Gavin Masters, the Quincy man convicted of murdering one man and shooting another, resulting in paralysis, in July 2015. The court’s ruling, filed Monday, upheld the 115-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections after an Adams County jury convicted him…
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QUINCY — James Waller, an assistant appellate defender with the Office of the State Appellate Defender, Fourth District, said a case as important as the Tim Bliefnick murder case should be tried before a judge “whose career is not resting in the hands of the prosecutor trying the case.” Allison Paige Brooks, assistant appellate prosecutor…
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QUINCY — Justice Lisa Holder White and the Supreme Court of Illinois announced Wednesday that Justice Amy Lannerd has been appointed as an Appellate Court justice in the Fourth District. That announcement now allows for the Eighth Judicial Circuit to fill the circuit judge position Lannerd held while also being assigned to the Appellate Court. …
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QUINCY — Oral arguments in the appeal case for convicted murderer Tim Bliefnick will be held at 1 p.m. Oct. 16 by Zoom. Becky Bliefnick, who had three sons with Tim Bliefnick, was found dead by her father in her home on Feb. 23, 2023, after being shot 14 times. She was 41. Tim Bliefnick was convicted…
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QUINCY — Oral arguments in the Gavin Masters appeal before the Illinois Appellate Court Fourth District on Tuesday afternoon focused on the standard of review for a post-conviction petition. Masters, 26, received a 115-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections in December 2015 after an Adams County jury convicted him of first-degree murder in…
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QUINCY — The third and final brief in the appeal case for convicted murderer Tim Bliefnick was filed Thursday, July 25 in the Office of State Appellate Defender, Fourth District. The 19-page brief was filed by Catherine Hart, deputy defender with the Office of the State Appellate Defender, Fourth District, and James H. Waller, assistant…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The appellate attorneys for the people of the state of Illinois in the appeal case for convicted murderer Tim Bliefnick have filed a response brief in the Office of State Appellate Defender, Fourth District, arguing that a new trial is unnecessary. The 36-page brief was prepared by Allison Paige Brooks, assistant appellate prosecutor…
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Justice Lisa Holder White and the Illinois Supreme Court announced on Thursday the assignment of Seventh Circuit Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow to the Fourth District Appellate Court. “Judge Raylene DeWitte Grischow will make an outstanding addition to the Appellate Court,” Holder White said in a press release. “She is an accomplished, hardworking, community-minded person who…
Read Full Article QUINCY — The appellate defenders for convicted murderer Tim Bliefnick have filed a brief in the Office of State Appellate Defender, Fourth District, arguing many mistakes were made in Bliefnick’s May 2023 trial while asking for a new trial. The 50-page brief was prepared by Catherine Hart, deputy defender with the Office of the State…
Read Full Article QUINCY — Fourth District Appellate Court Justice Amy Lannerd has officially launched her campaign for a full term. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White and her colleagues on the Supreme Court unanimously assigned Lannerd to the Illinois Appellate Court, and she was sworn in on Dec. 5, 2022. Lannerd filled the vacancy when Justice…
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QUINCY — The Fourth District Appellate Court upheld an April 1 ruling by Judge Amy Lannerd in which she dismissed a charge of aggravated driving under the influence by Natasha McBride of Quincy in an Aug. 14, 2020 crash that killed four people. The appellate court’s ruling was filed Monday. McBride allegedly ran a traffic…
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QUINCY — Amy Lannerd, an avid sports fan, used a baseball terminology to explain the move from her position as a judge in the Eighth Circuit Court to becoming a justice in the Fourth District Appellate Court. “Trial court judges call balls and strikes,” she said. “As an appellate court justice, we’re instant replay.” Illinois…
Read Full Article April 12, 2025
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