People v. McCleary

819 N.E.2d 330, 353 Ill. App. 3d 916, 289 Ill. Dec. 173, 2004 Ill. App. LEXIS 1389
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 16, 2004·No. 4-03-0759·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinions

JUSTICE STEIGMANN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In January 2002, the State charged defendant, Brian McCleary, with manufacturing a controlled substance (900 grams or more of any substance containing methamphetamine or any salt of an optical isomer of methamphetamine, or an analog thereof) (720 ILCS 570/ 401(a)(6.5)(D) (West 2000)), and possession of a controlled substance (900 grams or more of any substance containing methamphetamine or any salt of an optical isomer of methamphetamine) (720 ILCS 570/ 402(a)(6.5)(D) (West 2000)). Following a January 2003 bench trial, the trial court found defendant guilty of both offenses. In September 2003, the court sentenced defendant to 17 years in prison on the manufacture-of-a-controlled-substance conviction but did not sentence him as to the unlawful-possession conviction.

Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) he did not effectively waive his right to a jury trial, (2) he was denied his sixth-amendment right to effective assistance of trial counsel (U.S. Const., amend VI), (3) his sentence violated the proportionality clause of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 11), and (4) sections 401(a)(6.5)(D) and 402(a)(6.5)(D) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (Controlled Substances Act) (720 ILCS 570/401(a)(6.5)(D), 402(a)(6.5)(D) (West 2000)) violate the due-process clauses of the United States and Illinois Constitutions (U.S. Const., amend. V; Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 2). We disagree and affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In January 2002, defendant was on probation for a misdemeanor domestic-battery conviction, and Pam Pharis was his supervising probation officer. As a condition of his probation, defendant was required to consent to home visits or searches of his residence suggested by Pharis. Evidence at defendant’s January 2003 bench trial showed that around 8:30 p.m. on January 16, 2002, Pharis, along with probation officers Steve Kelly and Jana Pamprin, went to defendant’s residence to conduct a home visit. Kelly went to defendant’s door, and Pharis and Pamprin remained in a car.

After defendant opened his door, Kelly saw cash and several bags of green leafy material on the living room table. Because Kelly suspected the green leafy material was cannabis, he arrested defendant. Kelly then asked Pharis and Pamprin to come into defendant’s residence to assist him.

The officers found several items of drug paraphernalia and a methamphetamine laboratory on defendant’s back porch. Pharis called the Mattoon police department for assistance, which then contacted the East Central Illinois Task Force. Task force members seized two liquid substances that weighed 440 grams and 746 grams, respectively, from defendant’s methamphetamine laboratory. They also seized 77 grams of a powder substance from defendant’s trash can. Both the liquids and powder tested positive for the presence of methamphetamine.

Following the bench trial, the trial court found defendant guilty of both charges. Specifically, the court found that (1) the evidence established beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant knowingly possessed and manufactured more than 900 grams of a substance containing methamphetamine, (2) the substances needed further chemical processing before the methamphetamine could be used, and (3) sections 401(a)(6.5)(D) and 402(a)(6.5)(D) of the Controlled Substances Act do not require that the substance containing methamphetamine be usable. The court later sentenced defendant as stated.

This appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Right to a Jury Trial

Defendant first argues that his jury-trial waiver was ineffective because the trial court incorrectly advised him of the penalties he faced. We disagree.

Initially, we note that defendant raises this issue for the first time on appeal. A defendant forfeits an issue for review if he fails to object at trial and include the issue in his written posttrial motion. People v. Enoch, 122 Ill. 2d 176, 185-86, 522 N.E.2d 1124, 1129 (1988). A forfeited issue may be reviewed under the plain-error doctrine if the evidence is closely balanced or the alleged error was so serious it deprived the defendant of a fair trial. Enoch, 122 Ill. 2d at 199, 522 N.E.2d at 1136. Because this case concerns the knowing waiver of the fundamental right to a jury trial, we consider this issue under the plain-error doctrine. In re R.A.B., 197 Ill. 2d 358, 363, 757 N.E.2d 887, 891 (2001).

Defendant claims that this issue is controlled by the supreme court’s decision in People v. Weakley, 45 Ill. 2d 549, 259 N.E.2d 802 (1970). However, defendant’s reliance on Weakley is misplaced. The defendant in Weakley challenged the validity of his guilty plea, not the validity of his jury waiver. Before a defendant can plead guilty, Supreme Court Rule 402(a) (177 Ill. 2d R. 402(a)) requires that the trial court admonish the defendant of the consequences of the plea, the nature of the charges against him, and the maximum sentence he faces. These admonitions are required before a defendant can knowingly and intelligently plead guilty. On the other hand, a trial court is not required to give any particular admonishments to a defendant before he waives his right to a jury trial. The only requirement is that under the particular facts and circumstances of the case, a defendant’s waiver be knowingly and intelligently made. R.A.B., 197 Ill. 2d at 364, 757 N.E.2d at 891.

At the beginning of the December 2002 pretrial hearing, the special assistant State’s Attorney informed the trial court that defendant wanted to waive his right to a jury trial. Defense counsel agreed and informed the court that defendant was prepared to sign a written jury waiver. The court then admonished defendant about his right to a jury trial. The court also assured that (1) defendant understood what a jury trial was and (2) defendant’s waiver was voluntary and knowing. The court also mistakenly informed defendant that he faced only 6 to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $25,000 if convicted of manufacturing a controlled substance. (Defendant was eligible to be sentenced to between 15 to 60 years in prison.)

Reviewing the particular facts and circumstances of this case, we conclude that defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his right to a jury trial and the trial court’s erroneous sentencing admonition did not influence or prejudice defendant’s decision. In that regard, we note that defense counsel informed the court that defendant wished to sign a written jury waiver before the court misstated the applicable sentencing range. After the misstatement, the court explained both the functions and the workings of a jury trial to defendant. Defendant indicated that (1) he understood what a jury trial was and (2) it was his choice whether to waive that right. Defendant then signed a written jury waiver in the court’s presence.

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People v. McCleary, 819 N.E.2d 330, 353 Ill. App. 3d 916, 289 Ill. Dec. 173, 2004 Ill. App. LEXIS 1389 (Ill. Ct. App. 2004).

819 N.E.2d 330 (People v. McCleary) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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