People v. Robinson

2015 IL App (4th) 130815
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 3, 2016
Docket4-13-0815
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 2015 IL App (4th) 130815 (People v. Robinson) 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. Robinson, 2015 IL App (4th) 130815 (Ill. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Illinois Official Reports Digitally signed by Reporter of Decisions Reason: I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document Appellate Court Date: 2016.02.01 14:06:28 -06'00'

People v. Robinson, 2015 IL App (4th) 130815

Appellate Court THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Caption REGINALD J. ROBINSON, Defendant-Appellant.

District & No. Fourth District Docket No. 4-13-0815

Filed October 2, 2015

Decision Under Appeal from the Circuit Court of Douglas County, No. 07-CF-64; the Review Hon. Michael G. Carroll, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Affirmed.

Counsel on Michael J. Pelletier, Jacqueline L. Bullard, and Susan M. Wilham, all Appeal of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Springfield, for appellant.

Kevin P. Nolan, State’s Attorney, of Tuscola (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and Perry L. Miller, all of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.

Panel JUSTICE APPLETON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Knecht and Holder White concurred in the judgment and opinion. OPINION

¶1 Defendant, Reginald J. Robinson, through his appointed counsel, filed an amended petition for postconviction relief. The State moved to dismiss the amended petition on the ground of untimeliness (see 725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008)) and the trial court granted the motion. Defendant appeals. In his view, the court should have excused the lateness of his petition because he “allege[d] facts showing that the delay was not due to his *** culpable negligence.” Id. ¶2 Specifically, the fact defendant alleged was that his counsel on direct appeal had failed to notify him of the issuance of our decision on direct appeal. In our de novo review (see People v. Coleman, 183 Ill. 2d 366, 378 (1998)), we are unconvinced that this fact shows a lack of culpable negligence on defendant’s part. We are unconvinced because defendant provides us no analysis of the statute of limitation, section 122-1(c) of the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008)), and unless we know, from such an analysis, what triggered the running of the period of limitation (whatever that period was), we are in no position to decide whether defendant’s unawareness of our decision on direct appeal serves as a valid excuse for the admitted lateness of his postconviction petition. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s judgment.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND ¶4 On December 11, 2007, on the basis of stipulated evidence in a bench trial, the trial court found defendant guilty of unlawful trafficking in cannabis (720 ILCS 550/5.1 (West 2006)). ¶5 On February 14, 2008, the trial court sentenced defendant to 20 years’ imprisonment and fines totaling $28,000. ¶6 On February 11, 2009, on direct appeal, we affirmed the trial court’s judgment. People v. Robinson, No. 4-08-0353, slip order at 2 (Feb. 11, 2009) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). ¶7 Defendant did not petition the Supreme Court of Illinois for leave to appeal. ¶8 On July 26, 2010, defendant filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief. The trial court appointed counsel, who filed an amended petition. According to the amended petition, the “delay” in the filing of the petition was due to appellate counsel’s failure to notify defendant of the issuance of our decision on direct appeal. ¶9 On January 17, 2012, the trial court granted the State’s motion to dismiss the amended postconviction petition on the ground of untimeliness. See 725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008). ¶ 10 Defendant appealed and, on June 19, 2013, we remanded the case for the limited purpose of demonstrating compliance with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 651(c) (eff. Dec. 1, 1984). People v. Robinson, 2013 IL App (4th) 120254-U, ¶ 34. ¶ 11 On remand, postconviction counsel filed an amended certificate demonstrating compliance with Rule 651(c). The dismissal on the ground of untimeliness stood. ¶ 12 This appeal followed.

-2- ¶ 13 II. ANALYSIS ¶ 14 The parties agree that defendant was late in filing his petition for postconviction relief, but they disagree whether the lateness was due to “culpable negligence” on his part. 725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008). Section 122-1(c) excuses the lateness of a postconviction petition if “the petitioner alleges facts showing that the delay was not due to his or her culpable negligence.” Id. ¶ 15 Because the degree of lateness (how late the petition was) is relevant to the question of “culpable negligence” (see People v. Hampton, 349 Ill. App. 3d 824, 828 (2004)), we need to know the deadline for filing the postconviction petition. ¶ 16 The State tells us the deadline was September 18, 2009, but the State does not explain how it determined that deadline. The parties agree the relevant sentence in section 122-1(c) is as follows: “If a petition for certiorari is not filed, no proceedings under this Article shall be commenced more than 6 months from the date for filing a certiorari petition, unless the petitioner alleges facts showing that the delay was not due to his or her culpable negligence.” 725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008). But the parties treat this sentence from section 122-1(c) as if its application and effect were self-explanatory. They provide no explication of section 122-1(c). ¶ 17 The current version of section 122-1(c) is rather new, and we have found only one published decision, People v. Wallace, 406 Ill. App. 3d 172 (2010), that interprets the sentence in question: “If a petition for certiorari is not filed, no proceedings under this Article shall be commenced more than 6 months from the date for filing a certiorari petition ***.” 725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008). Wallace interprets this sentence as having the same meaning as the pre-amended statute, despite the presumption that a material amendment of an unambiguous statute changes the law (see People v. Woodard, 175 Ill. 2d 435, 449 (1997)). Specifically, Wallace interprets the terms “certiorari petition” and “petition for certiorari” in the current version of the statute (725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West 2008)) as being synonymous with the term “Petition for Leave to Appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court” in the previous version of the statute (725 ILCS 5/122-1(c) (West Supp. 2003)). Wallace, 406 Ill. App. 3d at 176. ¶ 18 Before section 122-1(c) was amended by Public Act 93-972, § 10 (eff. Aug. 20, 2004), it provided as follows: “(c) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (a-5) [(725 ILCS 5/122-1(a-5) (West Supp. 2003))], if the petitioner is under sentence of death, no proceedings under this Article shall be commenced more than 6 months after the denial of a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on direct appeal, or more than 6 months from the date for filing such a petition if none is filed, unless the petitioner alleges facts showing that the delay was not due to his or her culpable negligence. When a defendant has a sentence other than death, no proceedings under this Article shall be commenced more than 6 months after the denial of the Petition for Leave to Appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, or more than 6 months from the date for filing such a petition if none is filed, unless the petitioner alleges facts showing that the delay was not due to his or her culpable negligence.

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2015 IL App (4th) 130815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-robinson-illappct-2016.