People v. Bassett

323 N.E.2d 607, 25 Ill. App. 3d 927, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3553
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 14, 1975
Docket73-245 & 73-247 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 323 N.E.2d 607 (People v. Bassett) 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. Bassett, 323 N.E.2d 607, 25 Ill. App. 3d 927, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3553 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE GUILD

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendants, David Barton Bassett and Dennis Earl Beebe, waived indictment and pled guilty to an information which charged them and three others with the offense of burglary and were each sentenced to a term of 2-6 years in the Illinois State Penitentiary. In their consolidated appeal the defendants contend (1) that the trial court erred in failing to advise the defendants of the nature of the charge and of their right of indictment in accordance with Supreme Court Rule 401(b) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 110A, par. 401(b)) when defendants waived indictment; (2) that the trial court erred in failing to inform the defendants of the nature of the charge in accordance with Supreme Court Rule 402(a)(1) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 110A, par. 402 (a)(1)) when the defendants pled guilty; and, (3) that the trial court erred in failing to vacate the guilty pleas and sua sponte order a competency hearing to determine the competency of the defendants to enter the pleas when the trial court was presented with the defendants’ presentence psychiatric reports.

The docket entries in the cases against both defendants state that at their arraignment on January 24, 1973, the nature of the charge of burglary was explained to each of them. On February 2, 1973, the public defender of Winnebago County, representing the defendants and the three codefendants, advised the court that the defendants “would like to waive prosecution by Indictment at this time.” The following colloquy ensued:

“THE COURT: If you don’t waive the Grand Jury then when the Grand Jury meets — it meets periodically — the State’s Attorney would present whatever evidence he has against you, and if the Grand Jury, or a majority of them, were of the opinion that there is probable cause to hold you for trial, they would return what is known as a true bill or Indictment and you would be arraigned and tried on the Indictment.
Where you waive the intervention of the Grand Jury, the State’s Attorney would file what is called an Information against you, which would charge that on the 22nd day of January, 1973, in the County of Winnebago and State of Illinois, David B. Bassett, Gary Lee Pounders, Gary Hall a/k/a. Gary Hull, Dennis Earl Beebe and Raymond Lee Gargani committed the offense of burglary, in that they, without authority, knowingly entered into tire building of Wayne H. Erickson, lessee, doing business as Wayne’s Western Auto, located at 3134 Eleventh Street, Rockford, Illinois, with intent to commit therein a theft or felony, in violation of Paragraph 19 — 1, Chapter 38 of the Illinois Revised Statutes.
Now burglary is an offense, under the new Criminal Code which went into effect January 1, 1973, which is called a Class II felony, and it provides that in case of conviction that you might be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a period of years not less than one year nor more than twenty years, or any indeterminate sentence between one and twenty years, any combination of years, not less than the minimum, plus three years parole or a fine not to exceed $10,000.00 or both fine and imprisonment.
After and if the Indictment would be returned or the Information filed, then the procedure is the same, whether it is by Indictment or Information.
Now, David Bassett, do you understand what I have just said?
DEFENDANT BASSETT: Yes.
THE COURT: Knowing that, you want to waive the Grand Jury.
DEFENDANT BASSETT: Yes.
# # #
THE COURT: Dennis Earl Beebe, do you understand what I have said.
DEFENDANT BEEBE: Yes, Your Honor.
THE COURT: And you want to waive the intervention of the Grand Jury.
DEFENDANT BEEBE: Yes.
# # #
THE COURT: Let the record show the defendants have been advised of their rights and die nature of the charge against them. They persist in their waiver of the Grand Jury. Leave given to file the Information.”

Almost immediately thereafter, the defendants and the three codefendants entered guilty pleas which, following admonitions by the court, were accepted.

In People v. Burdick (1969), 117 Ill.App.2d 314, 320, 254 N.E.2d 148, 151, this court considered a virtually identical admonition given prior to the acceptance of a waiver of indictment by the same trial judge as in this case. In Burdick we held:

“We find no merit in the defendant’s contention that his waiver of indictment was void. The trial court properly informed the defendant of his right to have the grand jury presented with the State’s evidence against him. He was also properly advised of the nature of the charge when the court expressly stated that, if he waived the intervention of the grand jury, ‘* * * you would be charged with aggravated incest * * * knowing that, do you wish to waive the intervention of the Grand Jury?’, to which the defendant replied, ‘Yes.’ [Citations.] In addition, the defendant was informed of the nature of the offense from a copy of the information proposed to be filed as well as an explanation of the charge when he appeared at the preliminary hearing. [Citation.]”

The defendants herein argue that the trial court did not refer to indictment as a right in his admonition. The court in People v. Bishop (1974), 19 Ill.App.3d 56, 59-60, 310 N.E.2d 891, 694, observed that:

“» « * there is no requirement that the court make a finding or elicit a specific expression of understanding where the record in its entirety shows that the waiver of indictment was intelligently, understandingly and voluntarily made.”

We note that the defendants herein, who were represented by counsel, do not argue that they were ignorant of their right to be indicted or that they were harmed or otherwise prejudiced by the failure of the court to expressly refer to indictment as a right. (See People v. Dudley (1974), 58 Ill.2d 57, 316 N.E.2d 773.) Accordingly, we find that the trial court satisfied the requirements of Supreme Court Rule 401 in informing the defendants of, and determining that they understood the nature of the charge and their right to indictment by a grand jury.

Once advised of the nature of the charge for purposes of waiver of indictment, the defendants cannot now complain that they were not specifically readvised of the nature of the charge in the immediately subsequent guilty plea proceedings. Such advice applies and carries over into the subsequent proceedings. (People v. Schyska (1973), 14 Ill.App. 3d 557, 302 N.E.2d 666

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
323 N.E.2d 607, 25 Ill. App. 3d 927, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3553, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bassett-illappct-1975.