Beacham v. Walker

896 N.E.2d 327, 231 Ill. 2d 51
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 18, 2008
Docket104176
StatusPublished
Cited by99 cases

This text of 896 N.E.2d 327 (Beacham v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Beacham v. Walker, 896 N.E.2d 327, 231 Ill. 2d 51 (Ill. 2008).

Opinion

896 N.E.2d 327 (2008)
231 Ill.2d 51

Reginald L. BEACHAM, Appellee,
v.
Roger E. WALKER, Jr., Director, Illinois Department of Corrections, Appellant.

No. 104176.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

September 18, 2008.

*329 Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield (Gary Feinerman, Michael A. Scodro, Solicitors General, Michael M. Glick, and Garson Fischer, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, of counsel), for appellant.

Jerold S. Solovy, Richard T. Franch, Spiridoula Mavrothalasitis, of Jenner & Block LLP, Chicago, for appellee, and Reginald L. Beacham, Danville, appellee pro se.

OPINION

Justice KARMEIER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion:

Plaintiff, Reginald Beacham, an inmate in the Illinois correctional system, filed a pro se complaint for order of habeas corpus,[1] naming Roger Walker, Director of Corrections, as defendant. Pursuant to the defendant's motion to dismiss, plaintiff's pro se complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and was thereafter superceded by an amended complaint filed by appointed counsel. Plaintiff's amended complaint suggested, inter alia, an irregularity in the imposition of his consecutive sentence for attempted murder and alleged that he was, consequently, unlawfully detained, as his initial sentence for murder would have expired if day-for-day good time were applied. The defendant moved to dismiss plaintiff's complaint pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2-615 (West 2004)). The defendant interpreted plaintiff's allegations as suggesting that his 30-year, consecutive sentence for attempted murder was void and argued that plaintiff was not entitled to immediate release in any event, because good-time credits cannot be considered in a habeas proceeding. The circuit court granted defendant's motion. The appellate court reversed and remanded, finding "[i]f plaintiff's claim that his 30-year sentence is void is meritorious and if DOC determines day-for-day good-conduct credit applies, he would be entitled to immediate release from prison." No. 4-06-0269 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). This court allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal (210 Ill.2d R. 315), and we now reverse the judgment of the appellate court.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff's amended complaint recounts the facts leading up to the filing of plaintiff's current habeas complaint. In Cook County case number 86-CR-7507, plaintiff was found guilty of the murder of Will James (counts I and II) and the attempted murder of Frank James (count III). He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for each of two counts of murder to be served concurrently, and to 30 years for one count of attempted murder to be served consecutively with the sentences for murder. As plaintiff notes, the State's evidence indicated that plaintiff first shot and injured Frank James, then shot and killed Will James when he and another man attempted to restrain plaintiff. Plaintiff's convictions *330 were affirmed on direct appeal. People v. Beacham, 189 Ill.App.3d 483, 136 Ill.Dec. 868, 545 N.E.2d 392 (1989). Plaintiff's amended complaint indicates that he has filed at least two prior complaints for habeas relief under state statutory provisions. Both were denied. A federal habeas complaint has been dismissed.

The current habeas proceedings were commenced on November 4, 2004, with the filing of a pro se complaint for habeas relief. Plaintiff's pro se complaint set forth an ill-defined one-act, one-crime argument, suggesting that one of his sentences is void, and averred that he would be entitled to release from custody if day-for-day good time were applied. Defendant responded with a motion to dismiss and a supporting memorandum of law, arguing that plaintiff had failed to attach relevant documents to his complaint, that plaintiff had failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted, and that the Department of Corrections had correctly calculated plaintiff's term of imprisonment, which had not expired. On August 1, 2005, the circuit court entered an order dismissing plaintiff's complaint without prejudice.

On September 22, 2005, plaintiff, who was then represented by appointed counsel, filed an amended complaint for order of habeas corpus, alleging that the time during which he could be legally detained had expired. Plaintiff suggested there was a one-act, one-crime violation with respect to his two murder convictions, but acknowledged: "It may be argued that this sentence [sic] of 40 years on count I and count II are harmless because the sentences are to be served concurrently." The gist of plaintiff's argument appears to have centered around the consecutive sentence he received for attempted murder, although his argument — if it can be called such — is more inferential than assertive. Plaintiff merely observes that section 1005-8-4(a) of the Unified Code of Corrections (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 1005-8-4(a), now 730 ILCS 5/5-8-4(a) (West 2004)) mandates concurrent sentences unless the sentencing court is of the opinion that a consecutive sentence is required to protect the public from further criminal conduct, in which case such a finding is to be "set forth in the record." Plaintiff then notes that no such finding was made of record in this case. Having made that observation, the plaintiff reiterates that his detention is unlawful and he should be released.

The defendant again filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to section 2-615 of the Code. The defendant characterized plaintiff's argument as follows: "Plaintiff generally argues that his attempt murder sentence is void, and that therefore, he is entitled to immediate release under Illinois's mandatory sentencing guidelines once day-for-day good conduct credits are considered." Citing this court's decision in People v. Gosier, 205 Ill.2d 198, 275 Ill. Dec. 493, 792 N.E.2d 1266 (2001), defendant noted that habeas relief is available in only two situations: "the court of conviction lacked subject matter or personal jurisdiction, * * * or some event subsequent to the prisoner's conviction entitles him to immediate release from custody." Defendant stated that plaintiff had not argued that the circuit court "lacked jurisdiction over him or his case" and thus he had failed "to allege a cause of action challenging the jurisdiction of the circuit court." Further, defendant averred that no event had occurred subsequent to conviction that would entitle plaintiff to immediate release from his place of confinement in that plaintiff had not served his maximum sentence. Defendant took the position that good-conduct credits could not be considered in that calculation, citing Taylor v. Cowan, 339 Ill.App.3d 406, 274 Ill.Dec. 124, 790 N.E.2d *331 897 (2003). Thus, the defendant argued, "[e]ven accepting as true plaintiff's allegation that only his 40-year sentence for murder is not void, plaintiff is still not entitled to habeas relief."

Plaintiff filed a handwritten "response" that initially purports to be filed "by his court appointed counsel," but is later acknowledged to be a pro se filing. Plaintiff's response was rambling and often unintelligible, but generally appeared to echo arguments made in his dismissed pro se complaint.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
896 N.E.2d 327, 231 Ill. 2d 51, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/beacham-v-walker-ill-2008.