People v. Jones

873 N.E.2d 562
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 10, 2007·No. 1-05-0020·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

873 N.E.2d 562 (2007)

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Larry JONES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-05-0020.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

August 10, 2007.

*563 Michael J. Pelletier, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago (Brian Carroll, of counsel), for Appellant.

Richard A. Devine, Cook County State's Attorney, Chicago (James E. Fitzgerald, John E. Nowak, Jennifer A. Jostes, of counsel), for Appellee.

Justice FROSSARD delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant Larry Jones was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. The trial court also ordered defendant to pay $1,224. On appeal, defendant does not challenge his conviction or sentence, but raises three contentions concerning the order to pay $1,224: (1) that he was denied due process when he was ordered to pay a $5 fee for deposit in the Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis Cure Research Trust Fund; (2) that the trial court improperly imposed a $20 fine for deposit in the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Fund; and (3) that he is entitled to apply a $5-per-day credit for incarceration on a bailable offense to the $100 Trauma Center Fund charge, the $500 controlled substance assessment, and the $4 traffic and criminal conviction surcharge. Defendant also contends that the extraction of his blood and perpetual storing of his DNA profile pursuant to section 5-4-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4-3 (West 2004)) violates his fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The Illinois Supreme Court has entered a supervisory order (People v. Jones, No. 103091 (May 3, 2007)) directing this court to vacate our previous opinion (People v. Jones, 366 Ill.App.3d 666, 304 Ill.Dec. 114, 852 N.E.2d 364 (2006)) and reconsider our judgment in light of People v. Jones, 223 Ill.2d 569, 308 Ill.Dec. 402, 861 N.E.2d 967 (2006), to determine if a different result is warranted.

BACKGROUND

At trial, Officer Brian Kinnane testified that on the evening of February 20, 2004, *564 he and his partner, Officer Frank Sarabia, conducted a narcotics surveillance operation near 2101 South Christiana, Chicago, where defendant was standing on the sidewalk. On three separate occasions during the surveillance operation, Officer Kinnane observed an unknown man engage defendant in a brief conversation and hand defendant money. After these conversations, defendant would walk across the street to an abandoned vehicle, retrieve a small black box from under the driver's side wheel well, take a small item from the box, walk back across the street, and give the item to the unknown man. After three such transactions, the officers broke their surveillance and approached defendant. Officer Kinnane detained defendant while Officer Sarabia recovered the black box.

Officer Sarabia testified that the black box contained six Ziploc bags of what he believed to be crack cocaine. The parties stipulated that Monica Kinslow, a forensic chemist with the Illinois state crime lab, would have testified that the six plastic bags weighed .8 grams total, and that the one bag she analyzed tested positive for the presence of cocaine.

The trial court found defendant guilty of possession of a controlled substance, sentenced defendant to five years in prison, and ordered defendant to pay $1,224 in "costs and fees." The costs and fees included the following amounts: (1) $5 designated "Trauma Fund Spinal Cord"; (2) $20 designated "Violent Crime Victim Assistance"; (3) $100 designated "Trauma Fund"; (4) $500 designated "Assessment Controlled Substance"; and (5) $4 designated "Criminal/Traffic Conviction Surcharge." The trial court also ordered defendant to submit a blood sample for DNA analysis. Defendant was incarcerated for 265 days prior to being convicted.

ANALYSIS

On appeal, defendant challenges the various fines and fees imposed against him and contends that the extraction of his blood and perpetual storing of his DNA profile violates his fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. We review the constitutionality of statutes de novo. People v. Dinelli, 217 Ill.2d 387, 397, 299 Ill.Dec. 236, 841 N.E.2d 968 (2005).

I. Spinal Cord Fund Fee

Defendant contends that he was denied due process when he was ordered to pay a $5 fee for deposit in the Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis Cure Research Trust Fund (Spinal Cord Fund) pursuant to section 5-9-1.1 of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-9-1.1 (West 2004)). Defendant argues that there is no reasonable relationship between his conviction for possession of a controlled substance and the public interest in funding spinal cord research.

Section 5-9-1.1 provides, in relevant part, as follows:

"(a) When a person has been adjudged guilty of a drug related offense involving possession or delivery of cannabis or possession or delivery of a controlled substance as defined in the Cannabis Control Act, as amended, or the Illinois Controlled Substances Act, as amended, in addition to any other penalty imposed, a fine shall be levied by the court at not less than the full street value of the cannabis or controlled substances seized.
* * *
(c) In addition to any penalty imposed under subsection (a) of this Section, a fee of $5 shall be assessed by the court, the proceeds of which shall be collected by the Circuit Clerk and remitted to the State Treasurer under Section 27.6 of the Clerks of Courts Act for deposit into *565 the Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis Cure Research Trust Fund. This additional fee of $5 shall not be considered a part of the fine for purposes of any reduction in the fine for time served either before or after sentencing." 730 ILCS 5/5-9-1.1(c) (West 2004).

The Illinois Supreme Court recently affirmed the constitutionality of section 5-9-1.1(c) in Jones, 223 Ill.2d at 596, 308 Ill. Dec. 402, 861 N.E.2d 967. As in the instant case, the defendant in Jones argued that the statute violated substantive due process. Jones, 223 Ill.2d at 596, 308 Ill. Dec. 402, 861 N.E.2d 967. Since the statute does not impact fundamental rights, the court held that the standard by which the statute should be evaluated is a rational basis review. Jones, 223 Ill.2d at 596, 308 Ill.Dec. 402, 861 N.E.2d 967. To be upheld under this standard, the statute need merely bear a rational relationship to a legitimate state interest. Jones, 223 Ill.2d at 596, 308 Ill.Dec. 402, 861 N.E.2d 967.

The court in Jones analyzed the language of the statute and held the charge described by section 5-9-1.1(c), "although labeled a `fee,' is in fact in the nature of the fine." Jones, 223 Ill.2d at 605, 308 Ill.Dec.

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People v. Jones, 873 N.E.2d 562 (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

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