People v. Miller

334 N.E.2d 421, 31 Ill. App. 3d 436, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2806
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided July 21, 1975·No. 59941·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE SIMON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Murder is always tragic, and the circumstances which give rise to this appeal are especially so. They involve an unfortunate victim, Johnny H. Travis, shot down in front of his wife on South State Street near 47th Street in Chicago by a stranger to the couple. The shooting occurred while Mr. and Mrs. Travis were walking to her sister’s wedding .reception, and Mr. Travis died 4 days later. The tragedy is heightened by the age of the assailant — 13 years. He was convicted by a jury of the murder and attempt armed robbery, and sentenced to confinement for a term of 20 to 40 years.

A hearing was held in the juvenile division of the circuit court on October 25, 1972, pursuant to section 2 — 7(3) of the Juvenile Court Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 37, §702 — 7(3)), on a motion of the State’s Attorney to transfer the defendant to adult criminal jurisdiction. The court entered an order of “no objection to transfer.” The defendant was indicted on November 29, 1972, by the extended October 1972 grand jury. His trial took place in 1973 after he had reached the age of 14.

The statute under which the transfer hearing was held was amended effective January 1, 1973, to provide for a mandatory hearing at which the juvenile division of the court is required to find that it is not in the best interests of a minor or the public to proceed under the Juvenile Court Act 1 before prosecution of the minor may take place under the criminal laws. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 37, § 702 — 7(3).) The Act as amended sets forth the matters the court shall consider in reaching its determination. 2 At the time of defendant’s hearing in 1972, the statute then in effect provided for a hearing in instances where the State’s Attorney determined that a minor should be prosecuted in criminal proceedings and the juvenile court judge objected, but did not specify the matters to be considered. Although the record shows no objection by the juvenile court judge, the hearing referred to above was nevertheless held. The defendant was represented by court-appointed counsel. A motion by the defendant to dismiss the transfer petition was denied. A police officer called by the State testified about information furnished to him by the victim’s wife who witnessed the homicide and the defendant’s juvenile record was introduced. The defendant offered no evidence, but his attorney argued against the transfer.

The defendant relying on Kent v. United States (1966), 383 U. S. 541, contends that he did not receive the type of hearing in the juvenile division contemplated by that decision, and accordingly was denied due process of law. Similar contentions have been considered by the Illinois Supreme Court which distinguished the District of Columbia statute involved in Kent from the Illinois statute in effect in 1972 and concluded that neither due process requirements, nor the Illinois statute mandated such a hearing in this jurisdiction: People v. Sprinkle (1974), 56 Ill.2d 257, 307 N.E.2d 161; People v. Reese (1973), 54 Ill.2d 51, 294 N.E.2d 288; People v. Hawkins (1972), 53 Ill.2d 181, 290 N.E.2d 231; People v. Handley (1972), 51 Ill.2d 229, 282 N.E.2d 131; People v. Bombacino (1972), 51 Ill.2d 17, 280 N.E.2d 697. The rationale of these decisions is that the Illinois statute vests the prosecutor rather .than the court with the authority to determine whether to proceed against a juvenile as an adult while the District of Columbia statute places responsibility for that determination in the juvenile court. They also hold that it was constitutionally valid for the Illinois legislature to give the State’s Attorney rather than the judiciary the authority to make that determination.

People v. Rahn (1974), 59 Ill.2d 302, 319 N.E.2d 787, in concluding that a minor could not be indicted by the State’s Attorney without the concurrence of the juvenile court judge, held that the legislative intent in enacting the statute in effect in 1972, was that the ultimate determination with respect to transfer of a minor for criminal prosecution was to be a judicial one. To that extent it may be inconsistent with the above cases, but it is not applicable to the procedure followed with respect to this defendant because judicial consent to the transfer was given after the hearing described above rather than in isolation as in Kent. That hearing followed the outline for a proper hearing set forth in Kent except that the record does not contain a statement by the court of the reasons for the transfer. The differences between the Illinois statute in effect in 1972 and that involved in Kent and the,four Illinois Supreme Court decisions distinguishing Kent lead to the conclusion that this omission does not require remand to the juvenile division for an additional hearing.

The defendant also contends that because the amendment to section 2 — 7 of the Juvenile Court Act referred to above became effective prior to his trial, although after his transfer and indictment, he should have been transferred back to the juvenile division for a new hearing under the amended statute. The answer to defendant’s argument is found in section 4. of the statutory construction act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 131, §4), which limits the applicability of any new law to its effective date and provides that a new law shall not be construed to repeal or affect any right accrued under the fonner law or before the new law takes effect. The additional provision of that statute that proceedings after the new law takes effect “shall conform, so fax- as practicable, to the laws in force at the time of such proceeding” did not require an additional hearing since the proceeding in the juvenile division took place prior to the effective date of the new law. Nor does People v. Hollins (1972), 51 Ill.2d 68, 280 N.E.2d 710, on which the defendant relies, indicate that a second hearing in the juvenile division shoxxld have taken place in 1973; it deals with an amended sentencing code and is predicated upon the portion of section 4 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 131 §4) which excepts sentencing provisions from other types of statutes, thus permitting a defendant to elect not to be sentenced under the law in effect at the time of the offense if the new law provides a lesser penalty. There is no justification for retroactive application df the January 1, 1973, amendment to the statute-governing transfer of juveniles to criminal court jurisdiction. •

The defendant next argues that Iris indictment in November by the October 1972 grand jury, which had been extended to continue to function in November 1972, was improper. His position is that a grand jury when extended into a succeeding month has authority to consider only matters presented to it during the month in which it was impaneled and; that defendant’s indictment was not one of such matters. People ex rel. Carey v.

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

People v. Miller, 334 N.E.2d 421, 31 Ill. App. 3d 436, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2806 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

334 N.E.2d 421 (People v. Miller) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Orsa v. The Police Board of the City of Chicago
2016 IL App (1st) 141904 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
People v. Hunter
2016 IL App (1st) 141904 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
People v. Jones
2015 IL App (1st) 121016 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
People v. Luis R.
924 N.E.2d 990 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)
In re Luis R.
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009
People v. Thorns
379 N.E.2d 641 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1978)
People v. McClellan
378 N.E.2d 1221 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1978)
People v. Alarshi
373 N.E.2d 516 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1978)
People v. Gibson
372 N.E.2d 132 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1978)
People v. Ganter
371 N.E.2d 1072 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1977)