People v. Phillips

539 N.E.2d 804, 183 Ill. App. 3d 417, 132 Ill. Dec. 241, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 770
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 25, 1989·No. 2-87-0752·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE LINDBERG

delivered the opinion of the court:

Petitioner, George Phillips, appeals from an order of the circuit court dismissing his petition for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 122 — 1 et seq.). Petitioner raises one issue on appeal: whether the trial court abused its discretion when it dismissed petitioner’s petition without an evidentiary hearing.

On January 4, 1984, petitioner was charged with the armed robbery of an Aldi’s grocery store. On March 15, 1984, a negotiated plea agreement was presented to the court. Under the agreement, petitioner was to be sentenced to a 20-year term of imprisonment in exchange for a plea of guilty to the armed robbery charge. During the hearing, petitioner and the trial court engaged in the following colloquy:

“THE COURT: Mr. Phillips, you understand the plea agreement?
DEFENDANT PHILLIPS: Yes, I do.
THE COURT: Are you satisfied with it?
DEFENDANT PHILLIPS: I believe so.
* * *
THE COURT: Outside or apart from this plea agreement has anyone done anything to influence you to plead guilty to this charge?
DEFENDANT PHILLIPS: No, they haven’t.
THE COURT: Have you talked about the advisability of accepting the agreement with your attorney, Mr. Thompson?
DEFENDANT PHILLIPS: Yes.
THE COURT: Are you satisfied with the investigation he has done into this case?
DEFENDANT PHILLIPS: Yes.
THE COURT: Is there anything you don’t understand about the agreement or any question of me that you have at this point in time?
DEFENDANT PHILLIPS: No, I don’t have any questions.”

After admonishing petitioner, the court imposed the sentence according to the agreement.

On February 28, 1985, petitioner filed a pro se petition for a post-conviction hearing alleging that he was denied effective assistance of counsel at the hearing on the entry of his guilty plea. Petitioner asserted that his attorney, the public defender, was inadequate because he was appointed for that hearing and consulted with petitioner for only five minutes prior to the hearing.

On April 13, 1987, petitioner filed a pro se amended petition for post-conviction relief. In the petition, petitioner alleged that his appointed attorney consulted with him for only five minutes before the hearing, did not consult with petitioner’s family and failed to offer any evidence in mitigation. Petitioner submitted an affidavit in which he reasserted the allegations in the petition and added the allegation that he pleaded guilty because the State’s Attorney threatened him with a harsher sentence if the case proceeded to trial.

The record establishes that petitioner filed his petition for post-conviction hearing pro se on February 28, 1985. The circuit court of Du Page County thus had 30 days, or until March 30, 1985, to “examine such petition and enter an order thereon pursuant to” section 122 — 2.1(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 122 — 2.1(a)). Section 122 — 2.1(a) authorizes the trial court to dismiss the petition by an order entered within SO days of it being filed if the court finds it frivolous or without merit. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 122 — 2.1(a).) However, if the petition is not dismissed by order entered within 30 days of its being filed and docketed by the circuit clerk pursuant to section 122 — 2.1(a), then, pursuant to the next subsection, subsection 122 — 2.1(b), the trial court is to order the petition docketed for further consideration in accordance with the next sections, sections 122 — 4 through 122 — 6. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, pars. 122 — 2.1(b), 122 — 4 through 122 — 6.

Obviously, for reasons not explained in the record or briefs, the trial court did not enter either order required by section 122 — 2.1. (See People v. Jones (1989), 180 Ill. App. 3d 37, 535 N.E.2d 1103.) The failure of the trial court to comply with section 122 — 2.1 with regard to the February 28, 1985, petition, however, is not raised as an issue on appeal.

The next relevant occurrence was the filing of an amended petition, pro se, by petitioner on April 13, 1987. In compliance with section 122 — 2.1(b), the trial court entered an order docketing the case for May 13, 1987 (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 122 — 2.1(b)), and appointing counsel for petitioner (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 122 — 4). On May 13, court-appointed counsel was given leave to file his appearance, and the cause was continued to June 17, 1987, for a status report. Petitioner was given leave to file an amended post-conviction petition within 14 days. In compliance with section 122 — 5 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 122 — 5), the State was ordered to respond to the second amended petition within 14 days of its being filed, and the matter was set for hearing on all motions and petitions for July 23, 1987. On July 10, 1987, petitioner filed the second amended petition. In the petition and accompanying affidavit, petitioner alleged that his guilty plea was not made knowingly and voluntarily because the public defender did not consult with petitioner except for five minutes before the hearing on the plea agreement, did not conduct any discovery or investigation into the case and did not explore any defenses or mitigating factors.

On July 23, 1987, the State moved to dismiss the petition on the ground that it was conclusional and not supported by the evidence. The court noted that at the hearing on the plea, petitioner was asked whether he was satisfied with his attorney, to which petitioner responded affirmatively. The court found that the petition was frivolous and granted the State’s motion to dismiss. This appeal followed.

Petitioner contends that this court should remand the cause to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether his trial counsel was incompetent and, if so, - whether petitioner’s guilty plea was voluntary. First, petitioner argues that the court could not dismiss his petition as frivolous because he had already had counsel appointed to represent him on his petition, relying upon People v. Porter (1988), 122 Ill. 2d 64, 521 N.E.2d 1158 (where the court held that the trial court could not summarily dismiss a petition under section 122 — 2.1(a) after 30 days but would have to proceed as directed by section 122 — 2.1(b)). Petitioner bases this argument on section 122 — 2.1(a) of the Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 122 — 2.1 et seq.), which provides that the court, on its own motion, may dismiss the petition within 30 days of filing if it is frivolous. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 122-2.1(a).

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People v. Phillips, 539 N.E.2d 804, 183 Ill. App. 3d 417, 132 Ill. Dec. 241, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 770 (Ill. Ct. App. 1989).

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