People v. Edwards

331 N.E.2d 342, 29 Ill. App. 3d 625, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2489
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided June 26, 1975·No. 74-336·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE JONES

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Kenneth E. Edwards, was charged in a two-count information with burglary and theft over $150. Pursuant to plea negotiations he pled guilty to the burglary charge and received the recommended sentence of 2 to 6 years.

On this appeal, defendant raises three issues: (1) whether the guilty plea was not knowing and voluntary because induced by an illusory bargain; (2) whether the trial court should have inquired into defendant’s drug abuse history before sentencing the defendant to a term of imprisonment; and (3) whether defendant made a valid waiver of his right to a presentence hearing.

The facts pertinent to discussion of these issues are as follows. On July 15, 1974, defendant made an initial appearance before the trial court. At the beginning of the proceeding the court questioned defendant concerning routine background information, such as his residence, age, education, and employment. During this questioning the court asked the defendant whether he had ever had any treatment for a mental problem. Defendant responded, “No sir, outside of drug treatment.” The court then proceeded to explain the nature of the charges and the possible penalties and to admonish the defendant of his various rights.

On July 24,1974, defendant appeared before the court for arraignment. After defendant had been admonished of and had waived his right to counsel the State’s attorney explained that a plea agreement had been reached. The terms of this agreement were that the defendant would plead guilty to the burglary charge and that in return, the theft charge would be dismissed, a sentence of 2 to 6 years would be recommended, and a letter would be written by the State’s attorney to the parole board recommending parole at the earliest possible date.

Also during the arraignment the following colloquy occurred:

“Court: And if you do enter a plea of guilty, you have a right to a presentence healing at which evidence will be presented by both the People and by you to help the court in making up its mind on what the penalty should be. You understand that?
Defendant: Yes, sir.
Court: And you desire at this time to waive trial by jury and waive trial by the Court and enter a plea of guilty. Is that right?
Defendant: Yes, sir.
Court: And you are then desirous to waiving hearing on the presentence hearing. Is that right?
Defendant: Yes, sir.”

The court then proceeded to admonish the defendant, determined the existence of a factual basis for the plea, determined the plea to be voluntary, and finally accepted the plea and imposed sentence.

Defendant’s first contention on this appeal is that his plea was not knowingly and intelligently made because it was induced by an “illusory” bargain. Defendant’s rationale for this contention is that by offering to dismiss the theft charge, which was based on the same act and property as was the burglary charge, the State’s attorney offered defendant nothing more than the law required. And, since the defendant was not advised that he could not be convicted and sentenced on both theft and burglary, he thought he was receiving a concession which he actually was not, and therefore he did not intelligently enter the guilty plea.

There is no doubt that when a burglary and a theft result from the same conduct and involve the same property, defendant cannot be convicted and sentenced for both offenses. (People v. Sullivan, 12 Ill.App. 3d 394, 297 N.E.2d 586; People v. Staggs, 12 Ill.App.3d 339, 297 N.E.2d 621.) But it does not follow that defendant’s negotiated plea of guilty to burglary must be vacated merely because defendant could not have been convicted and sentenced on both burglary and theft upon a trial. The trial court does not have a duty to assure that defendant receives the best bargain possible through negotiations, nor is it incumbent on the court to advise the defendant that he would receive the same sentence without the bargain. People v. Merchant, 4 Ill.App.3d 937, 283 N.E.2d 721.

Defendant does not allege on this appeal that he would not have pled guilty had he known he could not have been convicted and sentenced on both offenses. Nor do we think tire record would justify such an assertion, for the plea bargain called not only for dismissal of the theft charge, but also for recommendation of a sentence of 2 to 6 years and for submittal of a letter to the parole board by the State’s attorney recommending the earliest possible parole. In light of the fact that defendant was on parole after a sentence of 2 to 4 years from a previous burglary conviction at the time of the instant offense, the recommendation of the 2-to 6-year sentence alone would seem to be adequate consideration for the plea.

Neither of the two cases which defendant cites as requiring the plea to be vacated on this issue are dispositive. This is not a case of an unfulfilled or unfulfillable promise as was People v. Spurlock, 19 Ill.App.3d 474, 311 N.E.2d 739; nor is this a case in which the defendant was misled as to the consequences of his plea, as was People v. Jackson, 13 Ill.App.3d 232, 300 N.E.2d 557.

The Committee Comments to Supreme Court Rule 402 (Ill. Ann. Stat. ch. 110A, § 402 (Smith-Hurd 1975 Supp.) state:

“Paragraph (a) sets forth the admonitions which must be given to the defendant to insure that his guilty plea is intelligently and understandingly made, as required by Boykin.”

The record shows that the defendant was adequately admonished according to Rule 402(a).

The defendant next contends that the trial court committed an abuse of discretion by not inquiring into the defendant’s past drug activity. Defendant asserts that his response during the July 15, 1974, hearing that he had not had any treatment for a mental problem outside of drug treatment put the court on notice of defendant’s past difficulty with drugs and that, therefore, the court should have explored this area in light of the Illinois Dangerous Drug Abuse Act (Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 91%, par. 120.1 et seq.).

Section 9 of the Dangerous Drug Abuse Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 911/2, par. 120.9) states in part:

“If a court has reason to believe that an individual charged with a crime is an addict or the individual states that he is an addict and the court finds that he is eligible to make the election provided for in Section 8, the court may advise him that the prosecution of the charge may be continued if he elects to submit to treatment and is accepted for treatment by the Department.”

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

People v. Edwards, 331 N.E.2d 342, 29 Ill. App. 3d 625, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2489 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

331 N.E.2d 342 (People v. Edwards) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

In Re Detention of Lindsay
776 N.E.2d 304 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
People v. Lindsay
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002
People v. Braje
474 N.E.2d 1364 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1985)
People v. Noascono
400 N.E.2d 720 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1980)
People v. Flores
398 N.E.2d 1132 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1979)
People v. Miller
356 N.E.2d 1345 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. Davis
355 N.E.2d 730 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. Melson
343 N.E.2d 258 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. McLean
338 N.E.2d 902 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1975)
People v. Payne
341 N.E.2d 735 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1975)
People v. Newlin
334 N.E.2d 349 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1975)
People v. Stickler
334 N.E.2d 471 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1975)