People v. Doyle

578 N.E.2d 15, 217 Ill. App. 3d 770, 160 Ill. Dec. 836, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 925
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 5, 1991
DocketNo. 2-89-0977
StatusPublished

This text of 578 N.E.2d 15 (People v. Doyle) 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. Doyle, 578 N.E.2d 15, 217 Ill. App. 3d 770, 160 Ill. Dec. 836, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 925 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE GEIGER

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from the trial court’s order certifying the defendant, Donald D. Doyle, as an habitual child sex offender pursuant to the Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 221 et seq.). The defendant challenges the application of the Act to him as well as its constitutionality. We affirm.

On March 10, 1989., the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault (counts I and XX) (111. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 12 — 14(b)(1)). The remaining counts were nolprossed. The factual basis for the pleas shows that, during the period June 1 through July 4, 1987, the defendant engaged in acts of sexual penetration with C.W., a minor child under 13 years of age (count I). Sometime during the period of June, July or August of 1985, the defendant committed a similar offense against A.W, also a minor child under 13 years of age (count XX). The defendant was admonished of his rights, and the trial court accepted the pleas. The court entered the convictions and sentenced the defendant to two concurrent 10-year terms of imprisonment.

Immediately following the imposition of sentence, the State moved to certify the defendant as an habitual child sex offender pursuant to the Act. The trial court reserved the issue for later consideration in response to the defendant’s objection and to allow further research on the issue. The defendant filed his formal written motion on August 14, 1989, arguing that the Act did not apply to him in that he was not convicted “a second or subsequent time” where his two convictions were the result of simultaneous guilty pleas on charges from the same indictment. In his motion, the defendant also sought to declare the Act unconstitutional. The court denied the defendant’s motion and amended the order of commitment by certifying him as an habitual child sex offender under the Act. The defendant’s motion to reconsider was denied on September 22,1989.

The defendant’s appeal presents two issues for consideration. First, the defendant raises the issue whether the order certifying the defendant as an habitual child sex offender should be vacated because two simultaneous pleas of guilty resulted in the entry of convictions with concurrent sentences and there was no second or subsequent conviction as specified by the Act. Second, in the alternative, the defendant challenges the constitutionality of the Act and requests this court to reconsider its recent decision upholding its constitutionality in People v. Adams (1990), 198 Ill. App. 3d 74, appeal allowed (1990), 133 Ill. 2d 560.

We first address the defendant’s claim that the Act is unconstitutional since the application of its provisions depends on whether the Act is constitutional. Our examination of the defendant’s brief persuades us that the defendant has failed to argue adequately the issue or cite authority therefor. In conclusory fashion, the defendant merely claims that the Act is unconstitutional and requests this court to reconsider its recent decision in Adams. The defendant neither argues specifically why the Act is unconstitutional nor cites any authority contrary to our prior decision. While we are aware that Adams has been appealed to our supreme court, the defendant offers us no compelling reason to revisit that decision. Since the defendant has failed to brief this issue properly, we deem it waived. See People v. Foster (1990), 195 Ill. App. 3d 926, 951; People v. Trimble (1989), 181 Ill. App. 3d 355, 356.

We next address whether the Act was properly applied to the defendant. Section 222 of the Act specifies that an habitual child sex offender is one who, “after July 1, 1986, is convicted of a second or subsequent time” for any of the sex offenses specified, including aggravated criminal sexual assault. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 222.) Upon such conviction, the court shall certify that the person is an habitual child sex offender and shall include the certification in the order of commitment. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 222.) However, section 222 excludes from coverage as a second or subsequent conviction those convictions “which result from or are connected with the same act, or result from offenses committed at the same time” and provides that such convictions “shall be counted for the purpose of this Article as one conviction.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 222.) That section also excludes, as a second or subsequent conviction, any “conviction set aside pursuant to law.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 222.) Once the offender is so certified, he is required to register with the police chief or sheriff in the municipality or county in which the offender resides. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 223.

We have found no case interpreting this statute regarding the meaning of a “second or subsequent” conviction qualifying a defendant for certification and registration as an habitual child sex offender. The intent of the legislature is best determined by the plain and ordinary meaning of the statutory language (People v. Pettit (1984), 101 Ill. 2d 309, 313), and, if there is any ambiguity or the intent of the legislature is not manifest, we may apply the rules of statutory construction. (See People ex rel. Moss v. Pate (1964), 30 Ill. 2d 271, 273; People v. Dunlap (1982), 110 Ill. App. 3d 738, 743.) Additionally, a statute should be construed so as to avoid an absurd result. Dunlap, 110 Ill. App. 3d at 743.

The two offenses to which the defendant pleaded guilty were separate offenses committed against two different victims at different times. The defendant argues that, because he pleaded guilty to these offenses at the same time and the convictions were entered at the same time, he has not been convicted a “second” time within the meaning of the statute. Such an argument is neither supported by the plain and ordinary meaning of the language of the statute nor the rules of statutory construction. In construing the statute as a whole and in examining the context in which the words “second or subsequent” are used, it becomes clear that the legislature intended that the accused be qualified for status as an habitual child sex offender when he commits and is convicted of two sex offenses which are separate in time. If the legislature wanted to qualify the word “second” so as to require that the convictions be entered at different times, it would have so specified. For example, the legislature could have stated that the additional conviction be second and subsequent to the first, as opposed to second or subsequent. We construe the word “second” here as meaning that the defendant qualifies if he is convicted twice of any of the enumerated offenses and the second of two convictions stemmed from a different act or from an offense that occurred at a different time from the other.

When the legislature has intended that the convictions be entered in a particular sequence of times, for example, to qualify a defendant for habitual criminal offender status for purposes of imposing an extended sentence, it has had no difficulty in expressing its intention.

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Related

People v. Pettit
461 N.E.2d 991 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1984)
People v. Dunlap
442 N.E.2d 1379 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1982)
People Ex Rel. Difanis v. Barr
414 N.E.2d 731 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1980)
People v. Trimble
537 N.E.2d 363 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1989)
People v. Adams
555 N.E.2d 761 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)
People Ex Rel. Moss v. Pate
195 N.E.2d 641 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1964)
People v. Foster
552 N.E.2d 1112 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)
People v. Hamilton
401 N.E.2d 318 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1980)
Lunde v. Rockford Public Library Board
506 N.E.2d 385 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1987)
People v. Taylor
561 N.E.2d 393 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
578 N.E.2d 15, 217 Ill. App. 3d 770, 160 Ill. Dec. 836, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 925, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-doyle-illappct-1991.