People v. Bond

942 N.E.2d 585, 405 Ill. App. 3d 499, 347 Ill. Dec. 382, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1170
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 1, 2010·No. 4-09-0511·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinions

JUSTICE POPE

delivered the opinion of the court:

In February 2005, a jury convicted defendant, Jonas D. Bond (born July 16, 1987), of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (cocaine) (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 2004)) (count I) and possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 2004)) (count II). In April 2005, the trial court sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment and imposed a $220 street-value fine.

Defendant appeals, arguing (1) he was denied effective assistance of counsel, (2) the evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty of possession with intent to deliver beyond a reasonable doubt, and (3) the trial court erred in imposing a $220 street-value fine. We affirm as modified and remand with directions.

I. BACKGROUND

Prior to the start of trial, defendant filed a motion in limine to exclude the State’s use of defendant’s juvenile adjudications for impeachment purposes. Defendant sought to exclude the following adjudications: robbery, a Class 2 felony; possession of firearms, a Class 4 felony; and retail theft with a prior robbery conviction, a Class 4 felony. The trial court granted defendant’s motion with respect to the firearm-possession adjudication, but denied it as to the other adjudications.

During defendant’s February 2005 trial, Decatur police officer Thomas Pratt testified he arrested defendant on November 22, 2004, after defendant ran from a vehicle Pratt had pulled over. Defendant testified he ran because he was scared. During a search of defendant, Pratt found a piece of white paper containing five small, white, rock-like items wrapped in a clear plastic bag. The bag contained 1.3 grams of cocaine. According to defendant’s testimony, at the time of his arrest, he did not know it was crack or cocaine but he did know it was some kind of drug. Defendant explained that when he got into the vehicle, the driver asked him to hold the drugs as a favor for him because the driver was on parole. Defendant testified he had no intention of selling the drugs and was simply holding them for the driver until defendant got home. Defendant testified he was just around the corner from his home when police stopped the vehicle.

While defendant’s trial counsel questioned him regarding various facts during direct examination, defendant’s counsel did not ask him if he had any prior delinquency adjudications. The State also did not raise the question of defendant’s juvenile adjudications during its cross-examination. Following the State’s cross-examination, the trial court asked defense counsel if he had any “redirect,” whereupon counsel requested leave to “open up [his] direct examination.” The State showed no objection and the court granted counsel’s request. During the reopened direct examination, the following colloquy took place:

“[MR. ELLISON (defendant’s attorney):] [Y]ou got in trouble as a juvenile in your past, is that correct?
[DEFENDANT:] Yes.
[MR. ELLISON:] And you had — you were put on eighteen months[’] probation for a robbery in March of [20]03, is that correct?
[DEFENDANT:] Yes, sir, it is.
[MR. ELLISON:] And then in January of [20] 04, as a juvenile you got three more yearsf] probation for retail theft, is that correct?
[DEFENDANT:] Yes.
[MR. ELLISON:] And those both happened in juvenile case [No.] 02 — JD—275, is that correct?
[DEFENDANT:] Yes.
[MR. ELLISON:] No other questions.”

In February 2005, a jury convicted defendant of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (count I) and possession of a controlled substance (count II).

In April 2005, the trial court sentenced defendant to 10 years’ imprisonment on count I and imposed a $220 street-value fine. Defendant did not appeal his conviction or sentence.

However, in July 2008, defendant filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief, arguing his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel by failing to timely file an appeal despite defendant’s request.

On April 8, 2009, the trial court granted defendant’s petition and allowed him to file a late notice of appeal.

On April 14, 2009, defendant filed a notice of appeal. On April 27, 2009, defendant filed an amended notice of appeal.

On April 28, 2009, defendant filed a pro se motion to reduce sentence.

On May 5, 2009, the trial court struck both notices of appeal and set the motion to reconsider sentence for hearing.

Following a July 10, 2009, hearing, the trial court denied defendant’s motion to reconsider sentence, appointed the appellate defender to represent defendant, and directed the clerk of the court to file a notice of appeal on defendant’s behalf, which the clerk did on July 10, 2009.

This appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Jurisdiction

While the parties do not address this court’s jurisdiction, we have an independent duty to ascertain our jurisdiction before considering the merits of an appeal. See People v. Haldorson, 395 Ill. App. 3d 980, 981, 918 N.E.2d 1280, 1281 (2009).

In July 2008, defendant filed a petition for postconviction relief, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel where his trial counsel failed to file an appeal. Defendant contended his counsel would have argued (1) defendant’s juvenile adjudications should not have been admitted because they were prejudicial and (2) juvenile convictions are not usually admissible against a criminal defendant.

The docket entry shows arguments were had on defendant’s petition on April 9, 2009, after which the trial court took the matter under advisement. However, no transcript of that hearing appears in the record.

According to an April 9, 2009, docket entry, the trial court made the following findings:

“1) The case the [c]curt referred to at the conclusion of oral arguments on the [a]mended [p]ost[c]onviction [pjetition in this case is People v. Ross, 229 Ill. 2d 255[, 891 N.E.2d 865 (2008)].
2) Based upon that case, the [c]curt concludes that the appropriate remedy available to the [c]curt in this case is to allow [p]etitioner leave to file a late notice of appeal without analysis of likelihood of success on appeal.”

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People v. Bond, 942 N.E.2d 585, 405 Ill. App. 3d 499, 347 Ill. Dec. 382, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1170 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

942 N.E.2d 585 (People v. Bond) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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