People v. Dorsey

942 N.E.2d 535, 404 Ill. App. 3d 829, 347 Ill. Dec. 332, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1096
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 15, 2010
Docket4-07-0572
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 942 N.E.2d 535 (People v. Dorsey) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Dorsey, 942 N.E.2d 535, 404 Ill. App. 3d 829, 347 Ill. Dec. 332, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1096 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

JUSTICE TURNER

delivered the opinion of the court:

In June 2007, the Champaign County circuit court sua sponte dismissed the pro se postconviction petition of defendant, Jermari Dorsey. Defendant appealed, contending (1) his due-process rights were violated due to the trial court’s failure to admonish him his plea agreement included three years of mandatory supervised release (MSR) and (2) due process required the application of the rule of lenity because two conflicting sentencing provisions govern the sentencing on defendant’s conviction. We affirmed. Defendant filed a petition for leave to appeal, which the supreme court denied. However, in the exercise of its supervisory authority, that court vacated this court’s judgment and directed us to reconsider our decision in light of People v. Morris, 236 Ill. 2d 345, 925 N.E.2d 1060 (2010).

We have reconsidered our prior decision and now again affirm the trial court’s dismissal of defendant’s postconviction petition.

I. BACKGROUND

In April 2004, the State charged defendant with unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 2004)) for his actions on April 27, 2004. The next month, a grand jury indicted him on the same offense. Defendant and the State entered into a plea agreement under which defendant would plead guilty to the charge and the State would cap its sentencing recommendation at 20 years’ imprisonment and not mention defendant’s pending case (People v. Dorsey, No. 05 — CF—198 (Cir. Ct. Champaign Co.) (hereinafter case 198)).

In March 2005, the trial court held a plea hearing. The court explained the charge against defendant and confirmed defendant was going to be sentenced as a Class X offender because of his record. See 730 ILCS 5/5 — 5—3(c)(8) (West Supp. 2003). The court then stated the maximum penalties as follows:

“It’s a Class [1] felony, but if you have two or more prior Class [1] or greater felonies within the past 20 years, this becomes a Class X offense, which calls for a mandatory minimum sentence of [6] years, with a maximum sentence fixed at 30 years. If you’re sent to prison there’s a period of mandatory supervised release of three years. The maximum fine can be up to $250,000.”

Defendant responded in the affirmative when asked if he understood the maximum penalties. The court then continued to admonish defendant about the rights he was surrendering by pleading guilty.

Afterward, the trial court asked for the plea agreement and defendant’s criminal history. After hearing such information, the court stated the following:

“The court’s going to concur with the State’s cap. [Defendant], as I understand the situation, we’re going to continue this matter for a sentencing hearing, and at that sentencing hearing[,] your penalty range will be anything from [6] to 20 years, as opposed to [6] to 30 years. Is that your understanding of where we are right now?”

Defendant replied in the affirmative. MSR was not mentioned again. After hearing the factual basis, defendant pleaded guilty to the State’s charge, and the court accepted the plea.

In April 2005, the trial court held a sentencing hearing and sentenced defendant to 18 years’ imprisonment. In June 2005, the court denied defendant’s motion to reconsider his sentence and his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Defendant appealed. In July 2006, this court affirmed the trial court’s judgment. People v. Dorsey, No. 4 — 05—0560 (July 5, 2006) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). Defendant filed a petition for leave to appeal, which the Supreme Court of Illinois denied on November 29, 2006. People v. Dorsey, 222 Ill. 2d 583, 861 N.E.2d 658 (2006) (No. 103537).

In May 2007, defendant filed a pro se postconviction petition, asserting (1) he was entitled to sentencing credit for the 10 days he spent in Champaign County jail after being sentenced but before being transferred to state prison, (2) he was not admonished his plea agreement included a 3-year MSR term, (3) his presentence investigation report improperly mentioned case 198, and (4) he was denied effective assistance of counsel because his counsel did not address the improper information in the presentence investigation report. On June 15, 2007, the trial court entered a written order dismissing defendant’s postconviction petition as frivolous and patently without merit. The court noted the transcript of the plea hearing indicated defendant was “properly admonished that a Class X felony calls for a period of mandatory supervised release of 3 yrs.” On July 6, 2007, defendant filed a notice of appeal from the dismissal of his postconviction petition in compliance with Supreme Court Rules 606 and 651(d) (210 Ill. 2d R. 606; 134 Ill. 2d R. 651(d)). We affirmed the trial court’s first-stage dismissal of defendant’s postconviction petition, and defendant filed a petition for leave to appeal to the supreme court. As stated, the supreme court denied the petition for leave to appeal, but in the exercise of its supervisory authority, it vacated this court’s judgment and directed us to reconsider our decision in light of Morris, 236 Ill. 2d 345, 925 N.E.2d 1069. People v. Dorsey, 236 Ill. 2d 517, 925 N.E.2d 1173 (2010) (nonprecedential supervisory order on denial of petition for leave to appeal). We now do so.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

Here, defendant appeals the first-stage dismissal of his pro se post-conviction petition.

The Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Postconviction Act) (725 ILCS 5/122 — 1 through 122 — 8 (West 2008)) provides a defendant with a collateral means to challenge his or her conviction or sentence for violations of federal or state constitutional rights. People v. Jones, 211 Ill. 2d 140, 143, 809 N.E.2d 1233, 1236 (2004) (Jones I). Once the defendant has filed a petition under the Postconviction Act, the trial court must first, independently and without considering any argument by the State, decide whether the defendant’s petition is “frivolous or is patently without merit.” 725 ILCS 5/122 — 2.1(a)(2) (West 2008). To survive dismissal at this initial stage, the postconviction petition “need only present the gist of a constitutional claim,” which is “a low threshold” that requires the petition to contain only a limited amount of detail. People v. Gaultney, 174 Ill. 2d 410, 418, 675 N.E.2d 102, 106 (1996). Legal argument or citation to legal authority is not required. People v. Brown, 236 Ill. 2d 175, 184, 923 N.E.2d 748, 754 (2010). In analyzing the petition, courts are to take the allegations of the petition as true as well as liberally construe them. Brown, 236 Ill. 2d at 184, 923 N.E.2d at 754.

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Bluebook (online)
942 N.E.2d 535, 404 Ill. App. 3d 829, 347 Ill. Dec. 332, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1096, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-dorsey-illappct-2010.