People v. Bramwell

2022 IL App (2d) 200227-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 17, 2022·No. 2-20-0227·Unpublished·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

No. 2-20-0227

Order filed May 17, 2022

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23(b) and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(l).

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court OF ILLINOIS, ) of Du Page County.

)

Plaintiff-Appellee, )

)

v. ) No. 15-CF-1974 )

ERIC SCOTT BRAMWELL, ) Honorable ) Alexander F. McGimpsey III, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE BRIDGES delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Hutchinson and Zenoff concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The trial court did not err in dismissing defendant’s first stage postconviction petition as his claims were patently without merit. We also modify defendant’s sentencing order to reflect the correct statutory citation. Therefore, we affirm as modified.

¶2 Defendant appeals pro se the dismissal of his first stage postconviction petition. Defendant was found guilty of one count of burglary. Because of defendant’s prior felony convictions, he was eligible for Class X sentencing under the General Recidivism Provisions of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-95(b) (West 2016)) and sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment. Defendant’s voluminous postconviction petition sought review of, inter alia, defendant’s

enhanced Class X sentencing; the trial court’s determination that defendant was ineligible to elect probation and treatment under section 40-5 of the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act (now the Substance Use Disorder Act) (20 ILCS 301/40-5 (West 2016)) (commonly referred to as Treatment Alternative to Street Crime or TASC probation), the Department of correction’s interference with defendant’s ability to file his direct appeal, and the fact that he was erroneously sentenced under repealed section 5-5-3(c)(8) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-5-3(c)(8) (West Supp. 2009) (recodified by Pub. Act 95-1052 (eff. July 1, 2009) as 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-95 (West 2010))). The trial court dismissed the petition as unintelligible and devoid of rational legal principles. For the following reasons we affirm as modified.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 On August 1, 2015, defendant and another man entered the common area of an apartment complex located at 121 North Cross Drive, Wheaton, Illinois, with the intention of stealing media equipment from the complex’s media room and rent monies from a drop box. The pair were interrupted by the building’s maintenance technician and fled the scene, making off with a universal remote from the media room. On October 22, 2015, defendant was charged by indictment with one count of burglary (720 ILCS 5/19-1 (West 2014)) related to the August 1, 2015, incident.

¶5 Because defendant had prior felony convictions, the State sought Class X sentencing under the General Recidivism Provisions of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-95(b) (West 2014)). Defendant was notified on numerous occasions that the State was seeking Class X sentencing. At the October 19, 2015, bond review hearing, the State indicated that defendant was eligible for Class X sentencing stating, “But being that that’s going to be a Class 2 felony, based on his history, he’s Class X sentencing eligible, so he’s going to be non-probationable on this

offense.” At the October 23, 2015, arraignment hearing, the State again indicated defendant was Class X eligible stating, “The Grand Jury did return a true bill on one count of burglary, a Class 2 felony, for which the defendant is extended term eligible. It’s non-probationable, Class X sentencing.”

¶6 On November 16, 2015, defendant filed a petition for TASC probation. Defendant’s petition was heard on December 21, 2015. Although defendant had been accepted by a TASC program, the trial court determined that because the State was seeking Class X sentencing, defendant was ineligible for TASC probation.

¶7 Defendant was again advised by the court that he was eligible for Class X sentencing at a January 17, 2016, discovery review. Up to this point defendant had been represented by counsel, but he thereafter elected to proceed pro se. While pro se, defendant was advised several more times he was eligible for Class X sentencing: the trial court advised defendant that he was Class X eligible on May 31, July 6, and 27, 2016; and on September 16, 2016, the State advised defendant and the court that it believed that defendant was Class X eligible based on his prior convictions.

¶8 A two-day jury trial was held on November 8 and 9, 2016, and defendant was found guilty of one count of burglary. On January 4, 2017, defendant was sentenced to 22 years’ imprisonment. At the sentencing hearing, evidence was presented that defendant had been found guilty of eight counts of burglary and one count of attempted armed robbery with use of force in Wisconsin. Further evidence was presented regarding nine other pending burglary charges in Illinois.

¶9 Defendant failed to timely file a direct appeal. Defendant subsequently filed a first stage postconviction petition, which is file stamped January 22, 2020. 1 The trial court dismissed the

1

Because no timely direct appeal was filed in this matter, defendant would have

petition finding that the petition was “essentially unintelligible” and that “no legal meaning or legal principles [were] intelligently put forth[.]” Defendant timely appealed the dismissal.

¶ 10 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 11 At issue in this appeal is whether the summary dismissal of defendant’s petition was proper. “The purpose of a post-conviction proceeding is to permit inquiry into constitutional issues involved in the original conviction and sentence that have not been, and could not have been, adjudicated previously upon direct appeal.” People v. Morgan, 187 Ill. 2d 500, 528 (1999). “The Act is not a substitute for an appeal, but rather, is a collateral attack on a final judgment.” People v. Edwards, 2012 IL 111711, ¶ 21. A postconviction proceeding has three stages. People v. Edwards, 197 Ill. 2d 239, 244 (2001). At the first stage, the trial court must determine whether “the petition is frivolous or patently without merit.” 725 ILCS 5/122-2.1(a)(2) (West 2020). “A postconviction petition is considered frivolous or patently without merit only if the allegations in

had three years from his January 4, 2017, to file his postconviction petition. 725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2020). However, defendant’s petition and affidavit weren’t received in the circuit clerk’s office until January 22, 2020. While January 22, 2020, was beyond the deadline for filing defendant’s postconviction petition, defendant had also mailed a letter to the circuit clerk, that was filed stamped January 14, 2020, wherein he stated he had mailed his postconviction petition on January 2, 2020, and the postconviction documents included an affidavit stating he had placed them in the prison mailbox on January 2, 2020.

Under the mailbox rule, a filing is considered timely when the filing is placed in the prison mail system by an incarcerated defendant. People v. Scott, 2019 IL App (2d) 160439, ¶ 16.

Therefore, defendant’s postconviction petition was timely filed.

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People v. Bramwell, 2022 IL App (2d) 200227-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2022).

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