People v. Jackson

874 N.E.2d 592, 375 Ill. App. 3d 796, 314 Ill. Dec. 496, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 964
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 29, 2007·No. 3-05-0692·Published·Cited by 83 cases

Opinions

JUSTICE CARTER

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial, defendant, Todd E. Jackson, was convicted of one count of unlawful possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and two counts of unlawful delivery of cocaine. Defendant was sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment of 20, 14, and 8 years, and was assessed three mandatory drug assessment fees, one for each conviction. Defendant appeals and argues that: (1) the trial judge committed an abuse of discretion in sentencing him to a lengthy prison term, and (2) two of the three mandatory drug assessment fees must be vacated. We affirm the prison terms that were imposed upon defendant, vacate two of the three mandatory drug assessment fees, and remand this case to the trial court with directions to amend the defendant’s sentence and the memorandum of judgment accordingly.

FACTS

Defendant was found guilty by a jury of one count of unlawful possession of cocaine with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(a)(2)(A) (West 2004)), a Class X felony, and two counts of unlawful delivery of cocaine (720 ILCS 570/401(c) (2) (West 2004)), a Class 1 felony. After the findings of guilty, a sentencing hearing was held. A presentence investigation report (PSI) was prepared for the sentencing hearing.

At the start of the sentencing hearing, the trial judge asked the parties if either of them had any modifications to the PSI. The trial judge pointed out to the parties a correction that he had noticed that needed to be made.

Moving further into the proceeding, although the trial judge did not specifically mention “aggravation,” he allowed the State to call a witness to testify regarding defendant’s involvement in the beating of a police officer. The witness testified that the officer who was beaten specifically identified defendant as being involved and told investigators that everyone who was in the vehicle (defendant was one of the persons in the vehicle) started kicking him.

After the State finished presenting evidence, the trial judge asked for “mitigation.” Defense counsel presented the trial judge with a letter that defendant had written on his own behalf. The trial judge stated that he had read the letter and asked defendant if there was anything he wanted to add.

The trial judge then called for and considered the arguments and recommendations of the State as to sentencing alternatives. The State pointed out that defendant had a prior criminal history. The PSI indicated that defendant had been continuously involved with the criminal justice system from about the age of 16. In 2000, defendant was placed on court supervision as a juvenile for resisting a police officer. During his supervision period, defendant was kicked out of the house by his mother for being disrespectful and out of control. A violation report was filed in January of 2001 alleging that defendant had stolen a bicycle. A second violation report was filed in May of 2001 alleging defendant had committed a theft. A third violation report was filed in June of 2001 alleging defendant had committed a retail theft. In July of 2001, police notified the juvenile probation office that defendant had been accused of threatening his brother-in-law with a steel pipe. Also in July of 2001, a supplemental juvenile petition was filed alleging defendant had committed retail theft. Defendant’s juvenile court supervision was later terminated unsuccessfully after defendant was charged as an adult with aggravated criminal sexual abuse. As an adult, defendant was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in January of 2002 and sentenced to 36 months’ probation. Defendant’s probation was subsequently revoked after he failed to report and failed to obtain sex offender counsebng. In February of 2003, defendant was sentenced to a new term of 36 months’ probation. Defendant’s probation was again revoked after defendant had been present in a school zone (unlawful for a child sex offender) and had contact with his codefendant. Defendant was sentenced to a new term of 30 months’ probation in April of 2004. The instant offenses occurred in June and July of 2004 and defendant was arrested for the instant offenses in July of 2004.

After hearing the State’s argument and recommendation, the trial judge inquired of the State regarding the nature of the sentences to be imposed and confirmed that there was nothing about the offenses that made them mandatory consecutive.

The trial judge then called for the argument and recommendation of defense counsel as to sentencing alternatives. Defense counsel pointed out that the evidence regarding the beating of the police officer was presented in a hearsay format and that the victim was not brought before the court to testify. Defense counsel noted that defendant had not been convicted of that offense and that it was currently scheduled to be set for trial. Defense counsel commented that defendant was only 21 years old and that testimony was presented at trial which indicated that defendant may have committed the offenses because the undercover police officer had promised to get defendant a job. Defense counsel asked the trial judge to take into account defendant’s “youthful age” and the fact that defendant’s criminal conduct was initiated by the police. Defense counsel also pointed to references in the letter defendant had written to the trial judge (defendant’s statement in allocution) indicating that defendant’s family was having financial problems when the offenses were committed. The PSI indicated that although defendant had been kicked out of school for disciplinary reasons, he had obtained his GED while he was incarcerated and that he had some history of previous employment.

After hearing the arguments and recommendations of counsel, the trial judge imposed sentence. In doing so, the trial judge noted that he had considered the evidence presented at trial and at sentencing and had considered the PSI. The trial judge commented on defendant’s character (defendant had been disrespectful to his mother and had been kicked out of school for disciplinary reasons), on defendant’s prior criminal activity, and on the potential hardship the imprisonment of defendant would impose upon defendant’s family. The trial judge sentenced defendant to concurrent sentences of 20, 14, and 8 years’ imprisonment. In addition, three mandatory drug assessment fees were imposed upon defendant, one for each conviction. A judgment was taken against defendant for the total amount of fines, fees, and costs owed and a memorandum of judgment was filed.

Defendant filed a motion to reconsider sentence. In the motion, defense counsel alleged that the sentence imposed was not keeping with “the defendant’s past history of criminality, mental history, family situation, economic status, education, occupational or personal habits” or with the “alternatives available to the court to assist the defendant in his rehabilitation.”

At the hearing on the motion, defense counsel argued:

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People v. Jackson, 874 N.E.2d 592, 375 Ill. App. 3d 796, 314 Ill. Dec. 496, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 964 (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

874 N.E.2d 592 (People v. Jackson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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