The appellate court reversed a murder conviction because the prosecution violated discovery rules by presenting undisclosed expert witness testimony and because the trial court denied the defendant's right to a public trial by excluding his mother from the courtroom as a potential witness — potential witnesses are generally not allowed in the courtroom before they testify under oath. The Illinois Supreme Court later reversed the appellate court's judgment and affirmed the circuit court's original conviction.

The appellate court reversed the circuit court's denial of FOIA civil penalties against the Chicago Police Department and remanded the case to determine the appropriate penalty amount, finding CPD's continued delay in producing records was a willful and intentional FOIA violation.

On a second appeal following an earlier reversal of his 66-year sentence and remand for resentencing, the appellate court upheld Nooner's new 56-year sentence for murder and attempted murder committed when he was 18, rejecting his youth- and trauma-based constitutional challenge.

The appellate court reversed and remanded, holding that a FOIA requester may qualify for attorney fees when a public body produces records only after being sued, even without a court order requiring disclosure.

The court reversed and remanded a denial of pretrial release for a determination of appropriate release conditions, finding the state had not shown that home confinement, GPS monitoring or the availability of inpatient treatment could not address the alleged risk.

Judge Knecht has publicly spoken against the originalism theory of constitutional interpretation.

Judge Knecht publicly weighed in on President Trump's impeachment proceedings, arguing that impeachment operates under a different standard than criminal prosecution and that there was no due-process violation in barring White House lawyers from participating, since the Constitution gives the House of Representatives full control over the investigation process.

Judge Knecht criticized the Trump administration's arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was charged with obstructing a pending federal proceeding and concealing a person from a federal arrest warrant after an April 2025 immigration-related incident, calling the arrest "reminiscent of King George, Hitler, and Mussolini." Dugan was later convicted of obstruction and acquitted of the concealment charge.

The appellate court vacated a predatory criminal sexual assault conviction because the trial was held in absentia, and the defendant's preexisting psychiatric diagnoses along with an overdose on acetaminophen were sufficient evidence that his absence from trial was not willful.

The court upheld a 23-year aggravated battery sentence, rejecting arguments that it was excessive or unfair compared with a codefendant's sentence, even though it was the codefendant who fired the weapon.

The Fifth District Appellate Court affirmed a firearm-possession conviction and 14-year sentence for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, in a case where the underlying felony was a nonviolent drug offense.