People v. Manoharan

916 N.E.2d 134, 334 Ill. Dec. 101, 394 Ill. App. 3d 762, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 923
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 21, 2009
Docket4-08-0883
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 916 N.E.2d 134 (People v. Manoharan) 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. Manoharan, 916 N.E.2d 134, 334 Ill. Dec. 101, 394 Ill. App. 3d 762, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 923 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JUSTICE STEIGMANN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In December 2006, defendant, Ramkumar Manoharan, offered to plead guilty to two counts of delivering a controlled substance within 1.000 feet of a school (720 ILCS 570/407(b)(2) (West 2006)). After admonishing defendant pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 402 (177 Ill. 2d R. 402), the trial court accepted his guilty plea, sentenced him to two concurrent six-year prison terms, and recommended that defendant be considered for impact incarceration under section 5 — 8— 1.1 of the Unified Code of Corrections (Unified Code) (730 ILCS 5/5— 8 — 1.1 (West 2006)).

Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) the trial court erred by failing to admonish him that deportation was a possible consequence of his guilty plea, as required by section 113 — 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code of Criminal Procedure) (725 ILCS 5/113 — 8 (West 2006)); (2) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to advise him that he was not eligible for impact incarceration; and (3) the impact-incarceration statute (730 ILCS 5/5 — 8—1.1 (West 2006)) violates the separation-of-powers requirement of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. II, §1). We disagree and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In May 2006, the State charged defendant, a resident alien, with three counts of delivering a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/401(d) (West 2006)) and three separate counts of doing so within 1,000 feet of a school (720 ILCS 570/407(b)(2) (West 2006)). In December 2006, defendant entered into a fully negotiated plea with the State in which he agreed to plead guilty to two counts of delivering a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school (720 ILCS 570/407(b)(2) (West 2006)). In exchange for defendant’s guilty plea, the State agreed to (1) recommend that the trial court (a) sentence defendant to six years in prison and (b) consider him for impact incarceration, and (2) move to dismiss the remaining four counts against him. Defendant also signed a consent-to-impact-incarceration agreement at that time, which stated, in part, as follows:

“I understand that my commitment to the [i]mpact[-i]ncarceration [p]rogram is entirely dependent upon the decision of the Illinois Department of Corrections [(DOC)].
I understand that I have been recommended by the [c]ourt for this [p]rogram but may not be accepted by [DOC] for participation in the [i]mpact[-i]ncarceration [p]rogram.” (Emphasis in original.)

Before accepting defendant’s guilty plea, the trial court admonished defendant pursuant to Rule 402 (177 Ill. 2d R. 402) but also emphasized the requirements and implications of the impact-incarceration program as follows:

“Under the terms of the agreement, *** upon your plea of guilty to these two charges, you would be sentenced to a term of six years in [DOC] with credit for one actual day previously spent in detention against that sentence.
Most importantly from your perspective would be a recommendation from the [S]tate and your attorney *** that you be sentenced to what’s known as impact incarceration, otherwise known as boot camp. There is an offender’s consent to impact incarceration *** included in the packet of materials that [the court has] before [it. T]ake a look at that document with [the court’s] initial question being if that is your signature which appears on the second page of the document?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: And did you review the form with [defense counsel] before signing it?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I did.
THE COURT: Did you understand it?
THE DEFENDANT: Um-huh.
í;í #
THE COURT: Do you also understand that there will be requirements imposed by the [impact-incarceration] program *** and that you won’t have to serve six years, [but] if you are discharged from that program, which is within the sole discretion of [DOC], for any reason, that you will then be subject to the six-year term ***?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.”

Thereafter, the trial court accepted defendant’s guilty plea and sentenced him to two concurrent six-year prison terms and recommended that defendant be considered for impact incarceration under section 5 — 8—1.1 of the Unified Code (730 ILCS 5/5 — 8—1.1 (West 2006)).

In January 2007, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, asserting that his sentence should be vacated and his plea withdrawn because (1) the trial court failed to admonish him concerning his citizenship status, pursuant to section 113 — 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and (2) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to advise him that he was not eligible for impact incarceration because he was not a United States citizen. At an October 2008 hearing, the trial court denied defendant’s motion, finding, in pertinent part, as follows:

“The reason why [the court] wanted the record to be clear that [the court] did not admonish the defendant with respect to the statutory admonishment that was referred to as [section 113 — 8] [(725 ILCS 5/113 — 8 [(West 2006))] is because [the court] never ha[s] given that admonishment nor will [the court] until such time as the [s]upreme [c]ourt enacts a rule *** that tells judges it is required. From [the court’s] perspective, this is yet another legislative intrusion into the function of the court. *** So, [this court] do[es not] believe that [section] 113 — 8 is required ***.
Second, regardless of whether *** the defendant was admonished with respect to [section] 113 — 8, there are other issues that need to be addressed with respect to the motion. Meaning[,] that is not dispositive with respect to the relief that is being requested. For example, the [s]upreme [c]ourt *** set forth the premise upon which courts considering motion to withdraw pleas of guilty must operate under and that is[,] in considering a motion to withdraw a guilty plea, to correct manifest injustice, the court shall evaluate whether the guilty plea was entered through a misrepresentation of the facts or of the law or if there is a doubt of the guilt of the accused and the ends of justice would better be served by submitting the case to trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
916 N.E.2d 134, 334 Ill. Dec. 101, 394 Ill. App. 3d 762, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 923, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-manoharan-illappct-2009.