People v. McGee

772 N.E.2d 752, 328 Ill. App. 3d 930, 265 Ill. Dec. 381
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 8, 2002
Docket2-01-0299
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 772 N.E.2d 752 (People v. McGee) 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. McGee, 772 N.E.2d 752, 328 Ill. App. 3d 930, 265 Ill. Dec. 381 (Ill. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

772 N.E.2d 752 (2002)
328 Ill. App.3d 930
265 Ill.Dec. 381

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Rickey McGEE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-01-0299.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

April 8, 2002.

*753 G. Joseph Weller, Deputy Defender, and Paul Alexander Rogers (Court-appointed), Office of the State Appellate Defender, Elgin, for Rickey Mc Gee.

Michael J. Waller, Lake County State's Attorney, Waukegan, Martin P. Moltz, Deputy Director, Diane L. Campbell, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, for the People.

Justice GROMETER delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Lake County, defendant, Rickey McGee, was found guilty of attempted murder, armed violence, and aggravated battery. The trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent, extended-term sentences of 40 years' imprisonment on the attempted murder and armed violence convictions. On appeal, this court vacated defendant's conviction for armed violence but affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence for attempted murder. People v. McGee, 121 Ill.App.3d 1086, 77 Ill.Dec. 539, 460 N.E.2d 843 (1984). On more than one occasion, defendant has sought relief pursuant to the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2000)). The present appeal follows the dismissal of defendant's most recent postconviction petition. Defendant claims that the trial court erred in dismissing his postconviction petition because it raised a valid claim that his *754 extended-term sentence is unconstitutional pursuant to Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On February 17, 1983, defendant was charged by information with attempted murder (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 38, pars.8-4(a), 9-l(a)(l)), armed violence (Ill.Rev. Stat.1981, ch. 38, par. 33A-2), and aggravated battery (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, eh. 38, par. 12(a)). Prior to trial, the court informed defendant of the sentencing range for each offense as well as the possibility of extended-term sentence's. Notably, the trial court advised defendant that a conviction of either attempted murder or armed violence could result in an enhanced sentence of up to 60 years' imprisonment if the court determined that the crimes were committed "with wanton cruelty[ ] or heinousness."

The cause proceeded to a jury trial. On April 12, 1983, the jury returned a verdict finding defendant guilty of all three offenses. The court entered judgment only on the attempted murder and armed violence convictions. On May 13, 1983, following the denial of defendant's posttrial motion, the trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent, extended-term sentences of 40 years' imprisonment on the attempted murder and armed violence convictions. The court imposed extended-term sentences on the basis that defendant's actions were "exceptionally brutal and heineous [sic], and indicative of wanton cruelty." See Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 38, par. 1005-5-3.2(b)(2) (now 730 ILCS 5/5-5-&2(b)(2) (West 2000)). On February 22, 1984, this court vacated defendant's armed violence conviction but affirmed the judgment of conviction of and sentence for attempted murder. McGee, 121 Ill.App.3d at 1091, 77 Ill.Dec. 539, 460 N.E.2d 843. On October 2, 1984, the supreme court denied defendant's petition for leave to appeal.

In February 1988, defendant filed a pro se motion that was captioned as a motion for reduction of sentence. In the motion, defendant argued that his sentence was "totally excessive." The trial court denied defendant's motion, noting that it "raise[d] no constitutional issues" and that "to the extent that [the motion was] to be construed as a motion for reduction of sentence, [it was] untimely."

In August 1991, defendant filed pro sea petition for postconviction relief. Defendant raised various allegations of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Defendant also challenged the propriety of his extended-term sentence. The trial court appointed counsel to represent defendant. Counsel consulted with defendant and opted not to make any changes or amendments to defendant's petition. The State then filed a motion to dismiss the petition. The State argued that defendant had not shown that counsel was ineffective and that the sentencing issue was argued and decided on direct appeal. The trial court granted the State's motion and dismissed defendant's postconviction petition. This court affirmed. People v. McGee, No. 2-92-0181, 251 Ill.App.3d 1111, 214 Ill.Dec. 757, 661 N.E.2d 1202 (1993) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

Subsequently, on June 26, 2000, the Supreme Court decided Apprendi. Apprendi held that under the due process clause and the jury trial guarantees of the United States Constitution, "[o]ther than the fact of a prior conviction, any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury, and proved beyond a reasonable doubt." Apprendi 530 U.S. at 490, 120 S.Ct; at 2362-63, 147 L.Ed.2d at 455.

*755 Following the release of Apprendi, defendant filed a second pro se postconviction petition. The petition, dated December 15, 2000, is file stamped December 26, 2000. In the petition, defendant claimed that his extended-term sentence was unconstitutional under the holding in Apprendi. On February 16, 2001, the trial court summarily dismissed defendant's petition. In its dismissal order, the court found that "[a]ll points in the petition were or could have been raised on appeal." The court also noted that the petition was successive and untimely. On the merits, the court ruled that Apprendi does not apply retroactively to postconviction proceedings. Consequently, the court concluded that defendant's petition was frivolous and patently without merit. This appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

In this appeal, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in dismissing his second postconviction petition because it raised a valid constitutional claim that had not been litigated and could not have been anticipated prior to the Supreme Court's Apprendi decision. According to defendant, the imposition of an extended-term sentence in this case violated Apprendi because the basis used to enhance the sentence was not submitted to the jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant urges us to hold that Apprendi applies retroactively to postconviction proceedings. The State responds that the trial court correctly dismissed defendant's petition as successive and untimely. On the merits, the State claims that Apprendi does not apply retroactively to collateral proceedings.

As a preliminary matter, we note that defendant presents some very persuasive reasons why we should address the merits of his postconviction petition despite the fact that the petition at issue was successive and untimely. The State does not respond to these arguments in its brief. Because we decide this case on an issue other than those discussed above, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

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

Related

People v. Muntaner
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003
People v. Beronich
778 N.E.2d 385 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
People v. Adams
775 N.E.2d 197 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
People v. Gholston
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002
LaPointe v. Chrans
770 N.E.2d 701 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
People v. Wright
769 N.E.2d 1055 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)
People v. Acosta
768 N.E.2d 746 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2002)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
772 N.E.2d 752, 328 Ill. App. 3d 930, 265 Ill. Dec. 381, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mcgee-illappct-2002.