People v. Burke

517 N.E.2d 1191, 164 Ill. App. 3d 468, 115 Ill. Dec. 505, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 3586
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 31, 1987·No. 2-86-0646·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE DUNN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Philip Burke, was charged by information with six counts of deceptive practice. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 17— l(B)(d).) After a jury trial, the defendant was convicted on all counts and sentenced to concurrent three-year terms of imprisonment. The office of the State Appellate Defender was appointed to represent defendant on appeal and raised the following issues: (1) whether the prosecutor’s reference to defendant’s prearrest and post-arrest silence denied him a fair trial; (2) whether the trial judge prejudiciously injected his personal knowledge into the sentencing determination; and (3) whether the defendant was properly convicted of six counts of felony deceptive practice.

After defendant filed his reply brief, but prior to the scheduled date for oral argument, we allowed defendant’s motion to substitute counsel. Thereafter, we granted substitute counsel leave to file a supplemental brief, set a supplemental briefing schedule, and rescheduled oral argument. Defendant’s motion for leave to file late his supplemental reply brief, which was taken with the case, is granted. In his supplemental brief, defendant argues the insufficiency of the proof at trial and the insufficiency of the indictment precluded defendant from being convicted of felony deceptive practices. At oral argument, defendant waived consideration of the second and third issues raised by the appellate defender except as they related to the arguments raised in his supplemental brief. We agree with defendant that the second argument raised by the appellate defender is without merit. We therefore shall confine our discussion to the first issue raised by the appellate defender and the defendant’s challenges to his six felony convictions.

Defendant’s convictions stemmed from his delivery of six checks between March 1 and March 26, 1985. The total amount of the checks was $329.94. None of the checks exceeded $150. Five of the checks were delivered to a Piggly Wiggly grocery store between March 1 and 5; the sixth check was delivered to an auto parts store on March 26. The checks were written upon defendant’s business account at the Citizens Bank.

Defendant first argues the prosecutor’s references to his prearrest and post-arrest silence denied him a fair trial. In support of his argument, defendant relies exclusively on two recent cases that decided issues concerning prearrest and post-arrest silence on the basis of Illinois evidentiary rules. (People v. Nolan (1987), 152 Ill. App. 3d 260; People v. McMullin (1985), 138 Ill. App. 3d 872.) The failure to invoke a rule of evidence by timely objection waives consideration of the issue on appeal. (People v. Neidhofer (1986), 150 Ill. App. 3d 518, 521-22.) Defendant did not object at trial or in his post-trial motion to the testimony and comment he now claims were prejudicial. Therefore, this issue is waived. We decline to accept defendant’s invitation to address his claims under the plain error rule because we do not believe the evidence was closely balanced. (Compare McMullin, 138 Ill. App. 3d at 876.) Furthermore, our review reveals that the error, if any, was harmless.

We proceed to the central focus of defendant’s appeal. In essence, defendant contends he was improperly convicted and sentenced on six counts of felony deceptive practice. The appellate defender argued only one felony conviction and sentence should have been entered. Substitute counsel argues defendant’s felony convictions cannot stand and requests this court to either remand the case for the imposition of sentence on a misdemeanor basis or for a new trial on a felony basis.

Section 17 — l(B)(d) of the Criminal Code of 1961 provides in pertinent part:

“A person commits a deceptive practice when, with intent to defraud:
* * *
(d) With intent to obtain control over property or to pay for property, labor or services of another, *** he issues or delivers a check or other order upon a real or fictitious depository for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be paid by the depository.
* * *
Sentence.
A person convicted of deceptive practice under paragraphs (a) through (e) of this subsection (B), except as otherwise provided by this Section, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
A person convicted of a deceptive practice in violation of paragraph (d) a second or subsequent time shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.
A person convicted of deceptive practices in violation of paragraph (d), when the value of the property so obtained, in a single transaction, or in separate transactions within a 90 day period, exceeds $150, shall be guilty of a Class 4 felony.
In the case of a prosecution for separate transactions totaling more than $150 within a 90 day period, such separate transactions shall be alleged in a single charge and provided in a single prosecution.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 17 — 1(B).

In the present case, defendant was charged by information with six counts of deceptive practice. Each count was predicated on a single check and set out the amount of the check and the date it was presented. Nothing in the information specified whether the charges were brought on a felony or misdemeanor basis. It made no mention of a prior conviction; nor were the six transactions, which occurred within 90 days and exceeded $150, combined in a single charge. At arraignment, the assistant State’s Attorney asked leave to file the six-count information. The assistant public defender representing defendant acknowledged receipt of the information, and stated “[i]t appears to be a Class 4 felony.” The court then stated, “Mr. Burke, I will advise you at this time these are Class 4 felonies,” and proceeded to describe the corresponding sentencing alternatives. Prior to trial, the assistant State’s Attorney indicated defendant had a prior deceptive practice conviction which could be used to attack defendant’s credibility. The prior conviction was not referred to by the State at trial. The jury returned guilty verdicts on each of the six counts. The criminal history section of the presentence report included an entry indicating that defendant had been arrested by the Rosemont police department for deceptive practice in 1984, convicted, and sentenced to a $150 fine. Defendant did not object to this entry at the sentencing hearing. At the sentencing hearing, the State, without objection, relied on the prior deceptive practice as an aggravating factor. In imposing a sentence of three years’ imprisonment the trial judge placed primary emphasis on defendant’s prior deceptive practice conviction.

For the first time on appeal, defendant challenges the propriety of the six felony convictions and sentences entered thereon. It is apparent from our review of the record that the State, defense counsel, and the trial court were all proceeding on the basis that defendant was charged under the felony provisions of the deceptive practices statute. This is manifest from the proceedings at arraignment and at sentencing.

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People v. Burke, 517 N.E.2d 1191, 164 Ill. App. 3d 468, 115 Ill. Dec. 505, 1987 Ill. App. LEXIS 3586 (Ill. Ct. App. 1987).

517 N.E.2d 1191 (People v. Burke) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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