People v. Grubb

493 N.E.2d 699, 143 Ill. App. 3d 822, 97 Ill. Dec. 892, 1986 Ill. App. LEXIS 2261
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 21, 1986
Docket4-85-0725
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 493 N.E.2d 699 (People v. Grubb) 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. Grubb, 493 N.E.2d 699, 143 Ill. App. 3d 822, 97 Ill. Dec. 892, 1986 Ill. App. LEXIS 2261 (Ill. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

JUSTICE SPITZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

On December 10, 1984, pursuant to a plea agreement, defendant pleaded guilty in the circuit court of Logan County to the offense of resisting a peace officer in violation of section 31 — 1 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 31 — 1). Defendant was sentenced to a one-year term of court supervision and was ordered to pay a fine of $200 and court costs of $76.80.

On July 4, 1985, defendant was arrested and charged with the offense of unlawful possession of cannabis. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 56%, par. 704(b).) Thereafter the State filed a petition to revoke defendant’s supervision. Prior to a hearing on the supervision revocation, defendant moved to suppress the evidence seized at the time of his arrest on the ground that it was the fruit of an illegal search and seizure. In reply the State argued that, irrespective of the propriety of the search and seizure, the fourth amendment’s exclusionary rule was not applicable in supervision revocation proceedings. Following a hearing, the circuit court determined that the exclusionary rule was applicable in such proceedings and, finding the evidence was obtained unlawfully, granted defendant’s motion to suppress. The State now appeals.

The sole issue presented for our review is whether the exclusionary rule applies in supervision revocation proceedings.

The exclusionary rule was adopted “to effectuate the Fourth Amendment right of all citizens ‘to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures ***.’ Under this rule, evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment cannot be used in a criminal proceeding against the victim of the illegal search,and seizure.” United States v. Calandra (1974), 414 U.S. 338, 347, 38 L. Ed. 2d 561, 571, 94 S. Ct. 613, 619.

The purpose of the rule is to deter future unlawful police conduct and preserve judicial integrity. (Elkins v. United States (1960), 364 U.S. 206, 217, 4 L. Ed. 2d 1669, 1677, 80 S. Ct. 1437, 1444; People v. Dowery (1975), 62 Ill. 2d 200, 340 N.E.2d 529.) Despite the rule’s broad deterrent purpose, it has never been interpreted to “proscribe the use of illegally seized evidence in all proceedings or against all persons.” (Brown v. Illinois (1975), 422 U.S. 590, 600, 45 L. Ed. 2d 416, 425, 95 S. Ct. 2254, 2260.) To determine whether the exclusionary rule should be extended to a certain proceeding, courts have applied a balancing test (United States v. Janis (1976), 428 U.S. 433, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1046, 96 S. Ct. 3021), limiting the application of the rule “to those areas where its remedial objectives are thought most efficaciously served” (People v. Calandra (1974), 414 U.S. 338, 348, 38 L. Ed. 2d 561, 571, 94 S. Ct. 613, 620; People v. Dowery (1975), 62 Ill. 2d 200, 204, 340 N.E.2d 529, 531). Thus, evidence seized in violation of the fourth amendment must be excluded from the prosecution’s case in chief at a criminal trial. (People v. Scalisi (1926), 324 Ill. 131, 154 N.E. 715; People v. Dalpe (1939), 371 Ill. 607, 21 N.E.2d 756.) However, Illinois and the majority of other jurisdictions have held that the fourth amendment’s exclusionary rule is not applicable to probation revocation proceedings or qualitatively comparable proceedings to revoke parole. See People v. Dowery (1975), 62 Ill. 2d 200, 205, 340 N.E.2d 529, 531, and cases cited therein.

While courts have been called upon to address the applicability of the exclusionary rule in a variety of settings, neither the Illinois Supreme Court nor United States Supreme Court has yet to address the precise issue before this court, i.e., whether that rule is applicable in supervision revocation proceedings. Defendant contends the recent United States Supreme Court decision, Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza (1984), 468 U.S. 1032, 82 L. Ed. 2d 778, 104 S. Ct. 3479, is instructive on this issue. The Lopez-Mendoza court determined that the exclusionary rule does not apply in civil deportation hearings held by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. In reaching its determination, the court utilized the balancing test set forth in United States v. Janis (1976), 428 U.S. 433, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1046, 96 S. Ct. 3021. The court weighed the likely social benefits of excluding unlawfully seized evidence against the likely costs. The court reasoned:

“On the benefit side of the balance ‘the “prime purpose” of the [exclusionary] rule, if not the sole one, “is to deter future unlawful police conduct.” ’ [Citations.] On the cost side there is the loss of often probative evidence and all of the secondary costs that flow from the less accurate or more cumbersome adjudication that therefore occurs.” (Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza (1984), 468 U.S. 1032, 1041, 82 L. Ed. 2d 778, 787, 104 S. Ct. 3479, 3486.)

It concluded that, on balance, this cost outweighed the likely social benefits achievable through application of the exclusionary rule in the Federal civil proceeding. It is the defendant’s position that the utilization of this balancing test in the instant case will require the application of the exclusionary rule to supervision revocation proceedings. We disagree.

Our supreme court in People v. Dowery (1975), 62 Ill. 2d 200, 340 N.E.2d 529, utilized this balancing test in determining that the exclusionary rule does not apply in probation revocation proceedings. The Dowery court determined that evidence obtained in violation of the fourth amendment, while normally inadmissible under the exclusionary rule, is not patently untrustworthy and is admissible in a revocation hearing because all reliable evidence should be available to the hearing judge to gauge a defendant’s rehabilitative effort. In reaching its determination the Dowery court stated:

“The grant of probation was imposed upon defendant in the present case after the trial court’s consideration that he was not likely to commit another offense; that his rehabilitation would be advanced by probation; and, that the public interest would be served by such disposition. *** During a revocation hearing the interests of society must be amply considered.

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Bluebook (online)
493 N.E.2d 699, 143 Ill. App. 3d 822, 97 Ill. Dec. 892, 1986 Ill. App. LEXIS 2261, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-grubb-illappct-1986.