People v. Delvillar

922 N.E.2d 330, 235 Ill. 2d 507, 337 Ill. Dec. 207, 2009 Ill. LEXIS 2305
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 17, 2009
Docket106909
StatusPublished
Cited by211 cases

This text of 922 N.E.2d 330 (People v. Delvillar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Delvillar, 922 N.E.2d 330, 235 Ill. 2d 507, 337 Ill. Dec. 207, 2009 Ill. LEXIS 2305 (Ill. 2009).

Opinions

JUSTICE GARMAN

delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Chief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Thomas, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

Justice Freeman specially concurred, with opinion.

Justice Kilbride specially concurred, with opinion.

OPINION

Defendant, Leobardo Delvillar, was charged with several weapons violations. Defendant agreed to plead guilty to one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon in return for a sentence recommendation. Defendant later filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea on the grounds that he is a resident alien, and not a United States citizen, and that the circuit court failed to admonish him of the potential immigration consequences of his plea. The circuit court denied defendant’s motion. The appellate court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. 383 Ill. App. 3d 80. The State then petitioned this court for leave to appeal, which we allowed pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 315 (210 Ill. 2d R. 315(a)).

BACKGROUND

Defendant was arrested and charged in July 2003 with three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24 — 1.6(a)(1) (West 2002)) and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24 — 1.1(a) (West 2002)). Defendant and the State reached a plea agreement on these charges under which defendant pled guilty to one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. As agreed, the prosecutor recommended a sentence of four years in the Department of Corrections. The prosecutor also recommended the Department of Corrections’ impact incarceration program, commonly referred to as “boot camp.”

The plea hearing took place on November 2, 2005. The court first asked defendant if he was being forced or coerced into giving up the right to remain silent and to enter a guilty plea. Defendant answered “no.” The court also asked defendant whether he was entering his plea freely and voluntarily. He answered “yes.” Next, the court asked defendant whether he was a United States citizen. Defendant replied “yes.” Based in part on this response, the court did not admonish defendant of any potential immigration consequences that might be imposed on a noncitizen as a result of a guilty plea. The court then accepted defendant’s guilty plea. The court did not proceed to sentencing, however. Instead, in response to the request by defendant that he be permitted to finish a construction job, the court agreed to hold sentencing until a later court date.

At the sentencing hearing on November 30, 2005, the court ordered defendant to serve four years’ imprisonment and recommended boot camp in accordance with the State’s plea agreement offer. The court also advised defendant of his right to appeal, informing defendant that if he wished to appeal, he first had to file a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. The court admonished defendant that in his motion he would have to state all reasons for wanting to withdraw his guilty plea. Defendant indicated he had no questions about that requirement.

On December 15, 2005, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his conviction, asserting that he did not knowingly, intelligently, or voluntarily waive his right to trial or fully understand or comprehend the admonishments of the court at the time of his guilty plea. In his motion, defendant noted that at the time of his plea defense counsel was not aware of defendant’s immigration status. The motion stated that defendant is not a United States citizen, but a resident alien. Defendant also contended that the court was required to advise him of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea and that the court failed to do so.

In a hearing on defendant’s motion, the court reviewed the transcripts of defendant’s plea hearing and confirmed that he had stated he was a United States citizen. In response, defense counsel suggested that defendant was a resident alien and that was the source of defendant’s confusion at the plea hearing. The court stated, “he [defendant] lied to the court.” The court then denied defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Defendant appealed.

The appellate court reversed, holding that the circuit court was required to admonish defendant of the potential immigration consequences of a guilty plea. The State filed a petition for leave to appeal, which this court granted pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 315 (210 Ill. 2d R. 315(a)). We then allowed the Chicago Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago, the National Immigrant Justice Center, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and the Immigration Project to file a joint brief amicus curiae in support of defendant. 210 Ill. 2d R. 345.

The question presented to this court is whether the failure to admonish defendant of the possible immigration consequences of his guilty plea, pursuant to section 113 — 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, required the circuit court to grant defendant’s subsequent motion to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate a defendant’s conviction. For the reasons that follow, we conclude that the failure to admonish did not require the circuit court to allow defendant’s motion. We, therefore, reverse the decision of the appellate court and affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

ANALYSIS

Defendant’s argument in the appellate court and the appellate court decision itself rely on a particular interpretation of a provision within the Code of Criminal Procedure. The relevant provision is as follows:

“Before the acceptance of a plea of guilty, guilty but mentally ill, or nolo contendere to a misdemeanor or felony offense, the court shall give the following advisement to the defendant in open court:
‘If you are not a citizen of the United States, you are hereby advised that conviction of the offense for which you have been charged may have the consequences of deportation, exclusion from admission to the United States, or denial of naturalization under the laws of the United States.’ ” 725 ILCS 5/113 — 8 (West 2006).

The appellate court concluded that the above admonishment is mandatory and that the circuit court’s failure to admonish defendant in accordance with section 113 — 8 required a reversal, regardless of defendant’s immigration status. 383 Ill. App. 3d at 88-89. The appellate court also acknowledged that another appellate court decision, People v. Bilelegne, 381 Ill. App. 3d 292 (2008), came to a different conclusion. The Bilelegne court held that this section is directory, and that the circuit court did not err in denying the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Bilelegne, 381 Ill. App. 3d at 297.

Before this court, the State argues that the Bilelegne court was correct in holding that section 113 — 8 is directory in nature and does not require the circuit court to allow a motion to withdraw a guilty plea in all cases.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
922 N.E.2d 330, 235 Ill. 2d 507, 337 Ill. Dec. 207, 2009 Ill. LEXIS 2305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-delvillar-ill-2009.