People v. Collier

900 N.E.2d 396, 387 Ill. App. 3d 630, 326 Ill. Dec. 760, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 1285
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 19, 2008·No. 1-07-1014·Published·Cited by 78 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE TOOMIN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Shongo Collier, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Cook County denying him leave to file a successive petition for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122 — 1 et seq. (West 2006)). Defendant contends that the trial court erred because: (1) he presented a freestanding claim of actual innocence; and (2) the court improperly permitted input by the prosecutor during the first stage of the postconviction proceedings. Defendant also asserts that the court erred in imposing fees and costs pursuant to section 22 — 105 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/22 — 105 (West 2006)). He further requests that the mittimus be corrected to reflect a single conviction for the offense of first degree murder.

For the following reasons, we vacate the order for fees and costs, order the mittimus to be corrected and affirm the court’s judgment in all other respects.

BACKGROUND

In 1991, following a bench trial before Judge Howard Savage, defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 45 years’ imprisonment in the Department of Corrections. The conviction stemmed from the drive-by shooting of Keith Muldrew on November 18, 1990, at or near 7016 South Sangamon in the city of Chicago. At trial, the sole eyewitness, Terrence Franks, identified defendant as the driver and shooter. Erica Wright corroborated Franks’ testimony that he left her apartment and joined up with the victim just prior to the shooting. Additionally, Tyrone Freeman testified that at 11 p.m. he had dropped off defendant at his home, thereby contradicting defendant’s defense of alibi. Judgment was affirmed on direct appeal notwithstanding petitioner’s claims of reasonable doubt and excessive sentence. People v. Collier, No. 1 — 92—0598 (1995) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

On June 7, 1993, during the pendency of his direct appeal, defendant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief. The petition alleged, inter alia, (1) illegal arrest; (2) perjury by Terrence Franks; (3) the State’s manipulation of Tyrone Freeman’s testimony; and (4) trial counsel’s failure to properly investigate. The petition was summarily dismissed by the trial court upon a finding of res judicata or waiver. On April 18, 1995, the dismissal was affirmed. People v. Collier, No. 1 — 93—3513 (1995) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

On August 2, 1999, private counsel filed a successive postconviction on defendant’s behalf asserting a claim of actual innocence based upon newly discovered evidence. The petition incorporated affidavits of Terrence Franks and Erica Wright recanting their trial testimony. Franks now averred that he did not witness the murder and stated he had falsely identified and accused defendant at trial. Similarly, Erica now stated that she had fabricated her testimony to match that of Franks. On October 25, 1999, the trial court summarily dismissed the successive petition finding that defendant had failed to demonstrate that the proceedings on the original petition had been fundamentally deficient and that defendant’s claim was barred by res judicata. On March 19, 2001, we affirmed the dismissal, holding that petitioner had failed to show diligence in obtaining the affidavits of both Franks and Wright. People v. Collier, No. 1 — 99—4212 (2001) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

On April 26, 2005, defendant filed another pro se petition for relief, this time pursuant to section 2 — 1401 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2— 1401 (West 2004)). In that petition, he asserted that his right to due process had been violated by the State’s use of perjured testimony, as well as by the knowing use of testimony coerced by a key officer, Detective McWeeny. In support, he incorporated the identical affidavits of Franks and Wright that were earlier rejected in his successive petition. On June 9, 2005, the trial court by written order recharacterized the pleading as a petition for postconviction relief before summarily dismissing it as frivolous and patently without merit.

Defendant appealed, and on respondent’s motion, we remanded the matter pursuant to People v. Shellstrom, 216 Ill. 2d 45, 833 N.E.2d 863 (2005). People v. Collier, No. 1 — 05—2432 (2006) (unpublished order pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 23). On January 18, 2007, defendant was returned to court and given his Shellstrom admonishments. On that occasion, defendant elected to have his previously filed section 2 — 1401 petition treated as a successive petition for postconviction relief. Defendant requested 60 days to amend the petition, which the court allowed.

On March 7, 2007, defendant filed the instant petition for postconviction relief, facially captioned as “Newly Discovered Evidence of Actual Innocence.” In this second successive petition, he alleges that the State knowingly used perjured testimony of Tyrone Freeman, Terrence Franks and Erica Wright that had been coerced by Detective McWeeny. Defendant again incorporated the earlier affidavits of Franks and Wright, as well as Freeman’s affidavit dated October 7, 2006. Freeman averred that when Detective McWeeny and Assistant State’s Attorney Eileen Rubin took his statement, they directed that he change the time he dropped off defendant in such manner as to destroy defendant’s defense of alibi. In a supplement to the successive petition filed March 19, 2007, defendant further asserted that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to call Preston Berry, a potential witness who would have denied that an earlier altercation took place between Muldrew and the defendant, thereby contradicting the State’s “motive” evidence presented at trial.

On March 26, 2007, the trial court rejected the claims set forth in defendant’s successive petition and also granted the State’s motion for fees, costs and reduction of good-time credits. The dismissal order concluded:

“That the defendant’s second successor [sic] post-conviction petition is summarily dismissed pursuant to the cause and prejudice requirements set forth in People v. Pitsonbarger, 205 Ill. 2d 444, 793 N.E.2d 600 [sic] (2002) as these allegations are frivolous and patently without merit, res judicata, and otherwise waived. See also, People v. Blair, 215 Ill. 2d 427, 831 N.E.2d 604 (2005).”

ANALYSIS

1. Dismissal of the Second Successive Petition

We first address defendant’s contention that the trial court “misconstrued his free-standing claim of actual innocence to require compliance with the cause and prejudice test” and erred in summarily dismissing the petition because defendant presented the gist of an actual innocence claim based on newly discovered evidence. Alternatively, defendant asserts that his allegations sufficed to establish the cause-and-prejudice test. In response, the State maintains that the trial court’s order did not constitute a first-stage dismissal but, rather, denied defendant leave to file a second successive postconviction petition.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Collier, 900 N.E.2d 396, 387 Ill. App. 3d 630, 326 Ill. Dec. 760, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 1285 (Ill. Ct. App. 2008).

900 N.E.2d 396 (People v. Collier) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Malone
2025 IL App (1st) 241491-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2025)
People v. Thomas
2025 IL App (1st) 240908-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2025)
People v. Scott
2024 IL App (1st) 230517-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2024)
People v. White
2022 IL App (1st) 211196-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2022)
People v. Bryant
2021 IL App (1st) 200165-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2021)
People v. Rosalez
2021 IL App (2d) 200086 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2021)
People v. Martinez
2021 IL App (1st) 190490 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2021)
People v. Woods
2020 IL App (1st) 163031 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
People v. Brown
2020 IL App (1st) 190828 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
People v. Boyce
2020 IL App (1st) 170298-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
People v. Bruce
2020 IL App (1st) 180515-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
People v. Williford
2020 IL App (2d) 180479-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
People v. Bahena
2020 IL App (1st) 161515-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)
People v. Marshall
2020 IL App (1st) 190441-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2019)
People v. Shaw
2018 IL App (1st) 152994 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2018)
People v. Jackson
2018 IL App (1st) 171773 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2018)
People v. Bailey
2017 IL 121450 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2017)
People v. Evans
2017 IL App (1st) 143268 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)
People v. Mabrey
2016 IL App (1st) 141359 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
People v. Rivera
2016 IL App (1st) 132573 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)