People v. King

948 N.E.2d 1035, 241 Ill. 2d 374, 350 Ill. Dec. 528
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 21, 2011
Docket109581
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 948 N.E.2d 1035 (People v. King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. King, 948 N.E.2d 1035, 241 Ill. 2d 374, 350 Ill. Dec. 528 (Ill. 2011).

Opinion

948 N.E.2d 1035 (2011)
241 Ill.2d 374
350 Ill. Dec. 528

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant,
v.
Ricky KING, Appellee.

No. 109581.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

January 21, 2011.
Rehearing Denied March 28, 2011.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Julia Rietz, State's Attorney, of Urbana (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Eldad Z. Malamuth, Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, and Patrick Delfino, Robert J. Biderman and Anastacia R. Brooks, of the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, of Springfield, of counsel), for the People.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Gary R. Peterson and Karen Munoz, Deputy Defenders, and Michael H. Vonnahmen, Assistant Appellate Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Springfield, for appellee.

OPINION

Justice KARMEIER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

In 2002, defendant, Ricky King, was charged with five counts of first degree *1036 murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1), (a)(2) (West 2000)), in connection with the August 8, 2002, beating death of Robert Nash. Defendant was 15 years of age at the time of the incident. On June 19, 2003, the State filed an additional count of attempted first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 9-1(a) (West 2000)) arising out of the same incident. That same day, defendant entered a negotiated plea to the attempted murder charge in exchange for dismissal of the murder charges and a 15-year sentence in the Department of Corrections. The circuit court of Champaign County immediately entered judgment pursuant to the plea agreement, sentenced defendant to the agreed-upon 15-year prison term, and dismissed the murder charges.

On October 10, 2008, defendant filed a pro se postconviction petition pursuant to the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2006)), arguing that he was not properly admonished about mandatory supervised release. The circuit court dismissed the petition as frivolous and patently without merit.

On appeal, defendant argued for the first time that his sentence was void because the State failed to request a hearing under section 5-130(1)(c)(ii) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (the Act) (705 ILCS 405/5-130(1)(c)(ii) (West 2000)) to determine whether he should be sentenced as an adult. The appellate court agreed. 395 Ill.App.3d 985, 992, 336 Ill.Dec. 33, 919 N.E.2d 958. Accordingly, the appellate court reversed the judgment of the circuit court and remanded with directions to vacate defendant's criminal conviction, enter an adjudication of delinquency, and enter an order sentencing him under the Act to time served as of his twenty-first birthday. Id. at 994-95, 336 Ill.Dec. 33, 919 N.E.2d 958.

The State sought review in this court, arguing that (1) defendant should be estopped from arguing that the sentencing provision of the fully negotiated plea agreement is void because he enjoyed the benefits of the plea agreement, including the dismissal of first degree murder charges; and (2) if the sentencing provision of the fully negotiated plea agreement is void, the plea should be vacated in its entirety, the murder charges reinstated, and the parties returned to the status quo ante for further plea proceedings or trial.

On this court's own motion, the parties were given leave to file supplemental briefs addressing the following two issues of statutory interpretation involving sections 5-130(1)(a) through (1)(c) of the Act (705 ILCS 405/5-130(1)(a) through (1)(c) (West 2000)): (1) whether an offense "covered by" section 5-130(1)(a) includes only those charges "specified in" that section or both charges "specified in" that section and "all other charges arising out of the same incident"; and (2) if an offense "covered by" section 5-130(1)(a) includes both charges "specified in" that section and "all other charges arising out of the same incident," whether section 5-130(1)(c)(ii) required the State to request a hearing to determine whether defendant should be sentenced as an adult or whether he was properly sentenced as an adult without a hearing pursuant to section 5-130(1)(c)(i). Both parties have filed supplemental briefs.

For the following reasons, we conclude that an offense "covered by" section 5-130(1)(a) includes both charges "specified in" that section and "all other charges arising out of the same incident," that section 5-130(1)(c)(ii) did not require the State to request a hearing to determine whether defendant should be sentenced as an adult, and that he was properly sentenced as an adult without a hearing pursuant to section 5-130(1)(c)(i). Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the *1037 appellate court and affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

II. ANALYSIS

The dispositive issues on appeal are issues of statutory construction, which are questions of law subject to de novo review. Solon v. Midwest Medical Records Ass'n, Inc., 236 Ill.2d 433, 439, 338 Ill.Dec. 907, 925 N.E.2d 1113 (2010).

Our primary objective in interpreting a statute is to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature. Id. at 440, 338 Ill.Dec. 907, 925 N.E.2d 1113. The best indicator of such intent is the language of the statute, which is to be given its plain and ordinary meaning. Id. In determining the plain meaning of the statute, we consider the statute in its entirety, the subject it addresses, and the apparent intent of the legislature in enacting it. Id.

With these principles in mind, we turn to the applicable statutory provision, section 5-130 of the Act, which provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

"(1)(a) The definition of delinquent minor under Section 5-120 of this Article shall not apply to any minor who at the time of an offense was at least 15 years of age and who is charged with first degree murder, aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated battery with a firearm committed in a school, on the real property comprising a school, within 1,000 feet of the real property comprising a school, at a school related activity, or on, boarding, or departing from any conveyance owned, leased, or contracted by a school or school district to transport students to or from school or a school related activity regardless of the time of day or time of year that the offense was committed, armed robbery when the armed robbery was committed with a firearm, or aggravated vehicular hijacking when the hijacking was committed with a firearm.
These charges and all other charges arising out of the same incident shall be prosecuted under the criminal laws of this State.
* * *

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

Related

People v. Ingram
2018 IL App (4th) 160099 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2018)
People v. Fort
2017 IL 118966 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2017)
People v. Goossens
2015 IL 118347 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2015)
People v. Gipson
2015 IL App (1st) 122451 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
In re M.I.
2011 IL App (1st) 100865 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
People v. Rich
960 N.E.2d 715 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
People v. Toney
2011 IL App (1st) 90933 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
948 N.E.2d 1035, 241 Ill. 2d 374, 350 Ill. Dec. 528, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-king-ill-2011.