People v. Benedetto

428 N.E.2d 1169, 102 Ill. App. 3d 10, 57 Ill. Dec. 489, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3644
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 24, 1981
Docket80-874
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 428 N.E.2d 1169 (People v. Benedetto) 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. Benedetto, 428 N.E.2d 1169, 102 Ill. App. 3d 10, 57 Ill. Dec. 489, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3644 (Ill. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

JUSTICE REINHARD

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, George Benedetto, was charged by information with the offenses of burglary (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 19—1(a)), possession of burglary tools (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 19 — 2), and theft over $150 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 16 — 1(a)(1)) as a result of an incident occurring on December 18, 1978. He pleaded guilty to the burglary charge and was sentenced to a three-year term of imprisonment for that offense. The State nolle prossed the remaining counts. The court also denied the defendant’s petition to be treated as a drug addict under the provisions of the Dangerous Drug Abuse Act (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 911/2, par. 120.1 et seq.).

The defendant appeals and presents four issues for review: (1) whether the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to grant his motion to withdraw his guilty plea; (2) whether the court failed to exercise any discretion or abused its discretion in determining that the defendant was not an addict; (3) whether the trial court erred in its interpretation of section 5 — 5—3(c) (2) (G) of the Unified Code of Corrections (Code) (111. Rev. Stat., 1978 Supp., ch. 38, par. 1005 — 5—3(c)(2)(G)) as it relates to sections 9 and 10 of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 91/2, pars. 120.9, 120.10), and whether the defendant was entitled to elect to proceed under the law as construed by People v. Teschner (1980), 81 Ill. 2d 187, 407 N.E.2d 49, or the law as revised by Public Act 81-851, effective September 20, 1979; and (4) whether the trial court properly concluded that section 5—5—3(c)(2)(G) precluded the defendant from receiving a sentence of probation.

On July 12,1979, the defendant informed the court that he wished to withdraw his prior plea of not guilty to the charges in question and enter a plea of guilty to the charge of burglary in return for the State’s agreeing to nolle pros the remaining charges. 1 After the court began to admonish the defendant, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 402 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 110A, par. 402), of his rights and the maximum and minimum sentences for burglary, a Class 2 felony, the State informed the court that the defendant would not be eligible for a sentence of probation under the provisions of section 5 — 5—3(c)(2)(G) because he had a prior conviction of a Class 2 felony (burglary) within 10 years of the commission of the present burglary offense. The court then advised the defendant that he was ineligible for probation for the reason the State had advanced. After a recess to allow the defendant to consider his plea and discuss the matter with his counsel and prior to the completion of the plea, the court continued the proceeding for one day to allow defendant to prepare and file a petition to be treated as a drug addict under the Act.

On the following day, July 13, the defendant filed his petition for treatment as an addict in which he alleged that he was an addict and none of the conditions set forth in section 8 of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 91/2, par. 120.8) precluding eligibility for such treatment applied to him. He requested that the court determine whether he qualified for treatment under the Act before he entered a plea. The court denied this request stating that the defendant had been scheduled for trial the previous Monday, the court continued the matter having been told there would be a plea, and that the defendant should have submitted his petition at an earlier date. Accordingly, the court indicated that it would rule on the petition either after the defendant pleaded guilty or after trial. The court then completed the admonishments under Supreme Court Rule 402 which it had commenced the day before. The defendant admitted that there was no agreement regarding the nature of the sentence on the burglary charge, that the only plea arrangement was that the State would nolle pros the remaining charges, and that no one had promised him what the disposition would be regarding his petition to be treated as an addict. Defendant persisted in his plea of guilty. The court then accepted the plea and found the defendant guilty after determining that a sufficient factual basis existed for the burglary charge. The matter was set for a presentence report and a hearing on the petition for treatment as an addict.

In establishing the factual basis for the defendant’s guilty plea, the prosecutor stated that the State’s witnesses would testify that the Naperville police department responded to a call which reported the sound of breaking glass in the vicinity of Washington and Jefferson Streets in Naperville, that the police discovered a broken window in the Naperville Pharmacy, which was owned by Daryl Jelinek, and upon entering the establishment found the defendant hiding behind the pharmacy’s drug counter. The defendant held a laundry bag containing a Polaroid camera and 117 bottles of various drugs, all of which merchandise was owned by Jelinek, who had not given the defendant permission to enter the building or to remove any merchandise from it. Both the defendant and his attorney agreed that the State’s witnesses would so testify if they appeared.

On January 25,1980, the matter came before the court for a hearing on the defendant’s petition for treatment as an addict. The State argued that, since the defendant was ineligible for probation under section 5 — 5—3(c)(2)(G) of the Code, he was similarly ineligible for treatment under section 10 of the Act. The defendant maintained that he need not first be qualified for probation to be eligible for drug addiction treatment under the Act and, further, that probation as defined and used in the Code carries a different connotation than it does under the Act. After a conference in chambers, the defendant orally asked leave to withdraw his guilty plea, and the State objected. Without ruling thereon, the court then allowed the defendant to introduce testimony as an offer of proof relating to his alleged addiction and his eligibility for treatment under the Act.

George Stovilkovic, an employee of T.A.S.C. (Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime), stated that another employee of his organization, Mr. Edinburg, had examined the defendant on October 23, 1979, and had determined that he was eligible for treatment as a drug addict. He related that he too spoke with the defendant and did not observe any physical signs of addiction, although the defendant did know a lot about drugs and told him that he was presently taking codeine. While he was inclined to believe that the defendant was a drug addict in need of rehabilitation, Stovilkovic was unable to determine positively that the defendant was a drug addict in light of the absence of physical signs of addiction and without having conducted a urinalysis.

The defendant testified that he is married and has been gainfully employed as a carpenter with various construction companies on a continuous basis from about June 1975, when he left college, until the present time. He stated that he used heroin for a six-month period in 1975 and that he attempted to treat his addiction through Dr. Schurz’ methadone maintenance program which he attended three times a week from May 1975 to November 1977.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
428 N.E.2d 1169, 102 Ill. App. 3d 10, 57 Ill. Dec. 489, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3644, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-benedetto-illappct-1981.