People v. Beachem

784 N.E.2d 285, 336 Ill. App. 3d 688, 271 Ill. Dec. 67
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 24, 2002
Docket1-99-0852
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 784 N.E.2d 285 (People v. Beachem) 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. Beachem, 784 N.E.2d 285, 336 Ill. App. 3d 688, 271 Ill. Dec. 67 (Ill. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

784 N.E.2d 285 (2002)
336 Ill. App.3d 688
271 Ill.Dec. 67

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Dionna BEACHEM, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-99-0852.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Third Division.

December 24, 2002.

*286 Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender, and Michael H. Orenstein, Assistant Appellate Defender, Chicago, for Appellant.

*287 Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney of Cook County, Chicago (Renee Goldfarb, Christine Cook, Alan J. Spellberg, William D. Carroll and Michele Grimaldi Stein, of counsel), for Appellee.

Justice WOLFSON delivered the opinion of the court:

In Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that penetrates the constitutional foundation of this State's extended sentencing procedures. In this appeal from a summary dismissal of her post-conviction petition, Dionna Beachem (Beachem) challenges the constitutionality of the extended sentence of 90 years she received for first degree murder. The threshold question before us is whether Apprendi reaches beyond a direct appeal to an appeal of the dismissal of a timely-filed post-conviction petition. We hold that it does. We also hold the defendant was properly sentenced.[1]

FACTS

On December 5, 1994, Annie Jones (Jones), a 77 year-old woman living alone on Chicago's south side, was fatally beaten in her apartment. That day, Beachem was arrested and subsequently released on bond for attempting to use Jones' newly-issued credit card at a suburban mall jewelry store. Two days later, Jones' landlord discovered her body.

Beachem was charged with and convicted of residential burglary, home invasion, robbery, and first degree murder. Though the trial court found her eligible for the death penalty, Beachem was sentenced to an extended term of 90 years' imprisonment for the murder conviction, 30 years for the home invasion conviction, 15 years for the residential burglary conviction, and six years for the robbery conviction, all sentences running concurrently.

Beachem appealed her convictions and sentences. We affirmed. People v. Beachem, No. 1-96-3260, 294 Ill.App.3d 1094, 242 Ill.Dec. 570, 721 N.E.2d 849 (1998) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

Beachem then filed a pro se post-conviction petition. In a 23-page "MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER," the trial court dismissed Beachem's petition. This appeal followed.

DECISION

Beachem raises two issues in her initial brief.

First, Beachem contends the trial court erred in summarily dismissing the allegation in her post-conviction petition that her trial attorney failed to advise her of a plea-bargain offer. Beachem's petition said: "After my sentencing, 8-26-96 my attorney told my aunt * * * and my mother * * * that the state offered me 20 years and I turned it down. This offer was never brought to my attention. If the state told me that they were offering me 20 years, it was my attorney's job to discuss that issue with me."

The trial judge found Beachem failed to provide the gist of a constitutional claim, which is all that is required at the first stage of a post-conviction proceeding. See People v. Frieberg, 305 Ill.App.3d 840, 847, 238 Ill.Dec. 964, 713 N.E.2d 210 (1999). The petition should be dismissed if it is frivolous and patently without merit. People v. Gaultney, 174 Ill.2d 410, 418, 221 Ill.Dec. 195, 675 N.E.2d 102 (1996).

*288 Here, Beachem's petition alleged her attorney should have discussed with her any offer made by the prosecution. Assuming Beachem is contending her attorney failed to advise her, this allegation lacks any record support. Beachem relies on a sworn February 5, 1999, handwritten statement from her mother. But this statement was addressed "To the Appellate Court" nearly a month after the trial court dismissed Beachem's petition. The trial judge did not have it.

In exercising our de novo review (People v. Mitchell, 189 Ill.2d 312, 322, 245 Ill.Dec. 1, 727 N.E.2d 254 (2000)), we agree with the trial court: Beachem's plea-bargain offer allegation was "frivolous or * * * patently without merit." 725 ILCS 5/122-2.1 (West 1996). It was pure unsupported conclusion.

Second, Beachem contends the trial court erred in summarily dismissing her allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Because Beachem's petition contained no such allegations, this claim is waived. 725 ILCS 5/122-3 (West 1996).

In a supplemental brief, Beachem raises another, more substantial issue never addressed in the trial court. Beachem contends her extended term sentence was unconstitutional.

In Beachem's first appeal, we held the trial court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a 90-year extended term sentence. The court found two statutory aggravating factors, "that the crime was exceptionally brutal and heinous, indicative of wanton cruelty, and based on the fact that the victim was over 60 years of age." These findings triggered the extended term sentence provision of the Unified Code of Corrections. See 730 ILCS 5/5-8-2(a)(1) (West 1996).

After Beachem's direct appeal, and after the denial of her post-conviction petition, the United States Supreme Court decided Apprendi.

Justice Stevens' opinion for a 5-4 majority of the Court framed the issue:

"The question presented is whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that a factual determination authorizing an increase in the maximum prison sentence for an offense * * * be made by a jury on the basis of proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 468, 120 S.Ct. at 2351, 147 L.Ed.2d at 442.

The Court then said:

"Our answer to that question was foreshadowed by our opinion in Jones v. United States, 526 U.S. 227, 119 S.Ct. 1215, 143 L.Ed.2d 311 (1999), construing a federal statute. We there noted that `under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and the notice and jury trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment, any fact (other than prior conviction) that increases the maximum penalty for a crime must be charged in an indictment, submitted to a jury, and proven beyond a reasonable doubt.' [Citation.] The Fourteenth Amendment commands the same answer in this case involving a state statute." Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 476, 120 S.Ct. at 2355, 147 L.Ed.2d at 446.

Noting the constitutional founders would have recognized no distinction between an element of a felony offense and a so-called "sentencing factor," the Court offered an historical overview of the principle that a criminal defendant is entitled to a jury determination of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt on every element of the charged offense. The Court assured, however, "nothing in this history suggests that it is impermissible for judges to exercise discretion—taking into consideration various factors relating both to offense and offender—in imposing a judgment within the *289 range prescribed by statute." (Emphasis in original.) Apprendi, 530 U.S. at 481, 120 S.Ct. at 2358, 147 L.Ed.2d at 449.

The Court did not provide legislatures any leeway.

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Bluebook (online)
784 N.E.2d 285, 336 Ill. App. 3d 688, 271 Ill. Dec. 67, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-beachem-illappct-2002.