People v. Jones

579 N.E.2d 1192, 219 Ill. App. 3d 301, 162 Ill. Dec. 378, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1672
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided September 30, 1991·No. No. 4—91—0245·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE KNECHT

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant appeals from the denial of his motion to withdraw his guilty plea to one count of aggravated battery with a firearm. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 12 — 4.2.) He contends he was denied effective assistance of counsel at the motion to withdraw the plea because his trial attorney raised and argued his own ineffectiveness at the hearing. We affirm.

An information filed December 13, 1990, charged defendant with attempt (first-degree murder) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, pars. 8 — 4(a), 9 — 1) and aggravated battery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 12— 4(bXl)). On February 13, 1991, a third charge was added alleging defendant committed aggravated battery with a firearm (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 12 — 4.2). The defendant pleaded guilty on February 19, 1991, to aggravated battery with a firearm and, pursuant to the plea agreement, the court dismissed the other charges. Matthew Maurer, court-appointed counsel, represented defendant.

At the plea hearing, the court carefully explained the defendant’s rights to him. The defendant stated he understood his rights and the ramifications of waiving them. Specifically, the court asked about legal representation:

“THE COURT: You have the right to be represented by an attorney. Are you satisfied with the representation Mr. Maurer has provided you?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.”

The defendant also indicated no threats or promises had been made to induce him to plead guilty. The court found the defendant voluntarily waived his rights. The court accepted the guilty plea and sentenced the defendant to seven years’ imprisonment.

On March 3, 1991, the defendant, through Maurer, filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Maurer wrote and filed the motion which included a claim defendant was confused when he entered his guilty plea and inadequately represented by counsel.

At the March 12 hearing on the motion to withdraw the guilty plea, the only statement Maurer made to the court consisted of a brief summary of the written motion and the following comment:

“I think [defendant] probably can indicate better than I could as to — as far as what his confusion was and what his beliefs are as far as myself not adequately representing him than I probably could.”

Only the defendant testified at the hearing. On direct examination by Maurer, the defendant claimed he was confused when he entered his plea and did not know what to do, “other than I was told that this would be best for me to take this.” In response to a question about his claim of ineffective representation, the defendant stated:

“Well, every time I turn around you was saying it would be best if I took some time, you know. First it was eight years, then it was seven years. You never even — every time I would point something out to you, you know, any kind of something concerning the case, you was like well, that’s nothing, and like you wasn’t even going to really represent me, like you was just, you know — like you was just there and my case was there and then there was things you didn’t even know. I pointed out in pieces of my case, papers that I had from the motion from discovery which I still ain’t got back, that then, you know, you said you didn’t know nothing about it, well, I ain’t got this piece of your papers, you know, and then when I try to explain to you about something that occurred earlier, before the incident occurred where the victim had got shot, I mean I had brought that to your attention, some things that occurred and you never even checked into none of that. You know, I was asking you to check into things and you had never checked into them.”

After cross-examination by the State, the court questioned the defendant.

“THE COURT: And do you remember when you entered your plea of guilty my asking you if you were satisfied with the representation of Mr. Maurer? Do you remember my asking you that?
THE DEFENDANT: Uh-huh.
* * *
THE COURT: What was that?
THE DEFENDANT: I believe yes.
THE COURT: Well, we don’t do things twice just because you want to. Motion denied.”

On appeal, defendant argues there is a per se conflict of interest when an attorney raises his own ineffectiveness. Due to this conflict, the defendant claims he was denied effective assistance of counsel at the hearing on the motion to withdraw his guilty plea. He urges this court to vacate the trial court’s order and remand for a new hearing on the motion to withdraw.

The Illinois Supreme Court decided People v. Krankel (1984), 102 Ill. 2d 181, 464 N.E.2d 1045, in 1984. The defendant in Krankel was found guilty of burglary. Defense counsel subsequently moved for a new trial. The defendant filed a pro se motion for a new trial repeating the assertions in counsel’s motion and asserting ineffective assistance of counsel, based on counsel’s refusal to present an alibi defense and investigate defendant’s whereabouts at the time of the offense. The trial court denied all post-trial motions. On appeal, the parties agreed the trial court should have appointed a different attorney to represent the defendant at the post-trial hearing on his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The supreme court agreed.

Appellate courts have refused to interpret Krankel as holding there is a per se conflict of interest any time an attorney raises his own ineffectiveness. “We do not interpret the holding in Krankel to establish a per se rule that all pro se motions for new trial by defendants alleging ineffective assistance of trial counsel mandate appointment of new counsel to assist in the motion irrespective of the basis of the motion and in the absence of a request for new counsel.” (People v. Mallette (1985), 131 Ill. App. 3d 67, 75, 475 N.E.2d 237, 243; see also People v. Jackson (1985), 131 Ill. App. 3d 128, 139, 474 N.E.2d 466, 474.) There is no per se rule requiring appointment of new counsel to represent a defendant on his claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, particularly when the defendant does not request a new attorney. People v. Davis (1986), 151 Ill. App. 3d 435, 442-43, 502 N.E.2d 780, 785.

While the motion to withdraw the plea here was prepared and filed by counsel, it is apparent the motion was filed at the behest of defendant, who had apparently complained to his counsel of confusion and inadequate representation. We do not believe this poses a per se conflict. Defendant was permitted to testify on his contention and his counsel did not make any arguments to refute the contention. In our view, this is analogous to the defendant filing a pro se motion and Mallette and Jackson are applicable.

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People v. Jones, 579 N.E.2d 1192, 219 Ill. App. 3d 301, 162 Ill. Dec. 378, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1672 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

579 N.E.2d 1192 (People v. Jones) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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