People v. Roby

558 N.E.2d 729, 200 Ill. App. 3d 1063, 146 Ill. Dec. 766, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1142
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 1, 1990
DocketNo. 5—89—0328
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 558 N.E.2d 729 (People v. Roby) 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. Roby, 558 N.E.2d 729, 200 Ill. App. 3d 1063, 146 Ill. Dec. 766, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1142 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

JUSTICE WELCH

delivered the opinion of the court:

On August 29, 1988, defendant, Dwayne Roby, was charged by information with the offense of aggravated battery for striking a correctional officer in the face with his fist while that correctional officer was in the execution of his duties. The incident occurred on June 26, 1988. At all times pertinent hereto, defendant was incarcerated at the Menard Correctional Center serving a 25- to 75-year sentence for murder.

On February 6, 1989, the aggravated battery charge was dismissed by the circuit court of Randolph County due to the State’s failure to provide defendant with a prompt preliminary hearing as required by article I, section 7, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §7), and section 109 — 3.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 109 — 3.1). On that same date, pursuant to section 114 — 1(e) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 114 — 1(e)), the People of the State of Illinois filed a new information charging defendant with the offense of aggravated battery based upon the same incident. Preliminary hearing on this new charge was held that day.

On April 21, 1989, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the new charge for failure to provide him with a prompt preliminary hearing because the second information was based on the same conduct as the first information, he had been in custody on the charge since the filing of the first information and had not received a preliminary hearing. This motion to dismiss was denied by order of court dated April 21,1989.

On that same date, the cause was tried in a stipulated bench trial. Defendant was found guilty and was sentenced to an agreed sentence of two years’ imprisonment, to be served consecutively to any sentences defendant was already serving.

Defendant argues on appeal that section 114 — 1(e) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 is unconstitutional to the extent it allows the State to file a new information charging the same offense as an original information which was dismissed for failure to provide a prompt preliminary hearing. Defendant argues that allowing such refiling defeats the purpose of requiring a prompt hearing, deprives defendant of a remedy for the violation of his constitutional right to a prompt preliminary hearing and renders that right meaningless. Therefore, he argues, section 114 — 1(e) is contrary to article I, section 7, of the Illinois Constitution, which provides for a prompt preliminary hearing, and to that extent it is unconstitutional and void, citing In re Tingle (1977), 52 Ill. App. 3d 251, 367 N.E.2d 287. Defendant also argues that section 114 — 1(e) is unconstitutional for the reason that it violates article I, section 12, of the Illinois Constitution, which provides that every person “shall find a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries and wrongs which he receives.” Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §12.

Defendant argues that the original information should have been dismissed with prejudice for failure to provide a prompt preliminary hearing, and therefore, his conviction should be reversed. In the alternative, defendant argues that, if we do not find section 114 — 1(e) to be unconstitutional, we should follow the decision in People v. Kirkley (1978), 60 Ill. App. 3d 746, 377 N.E.2d 540, which reversed the conviction of a defendant who had been held 176 days without a preliminary hearing as a sanction for the State’s deprivation of defendant’s substantial constitutional right to a prompt preliminary hearing.

Article I, section 7, of the Illinois Constitution provides:

“No person shall be held to answer for a crime punishable by death or by imprisonment in the penitentiary unless either the initial charge has been brought by indictment of a grand jury or the person has been given a prompt preliminary hearing to establish probable cause.” (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §7.)

Section 109 — 3.1(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 provides that

“[ejvery person in custody in this State for the alleged commission of a felony shall receive either a preliminary examination *** or an indictment by Grand Jury *** within 30 days from the date he or she was taken into custody. Every person on bail or recognizance for the alleged commission of a felony shall receive either a preliminary examination *** or an indictment by Grand Jury *** within 60 days from the date he or she was arrested.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 109—3.1(b).)

Thus, section 109 — 3.1(b) sets a time limit of 30 or 60 days on the constitutional right to a “prompt” preliminary hearing.

Prior to the enactment of section 114 — 1(e), no remedy was provided, either by the Constitution or by statute, for a violation of the constitutional or statutory rights to a prompt preliminary hearing. Our courts repeatedly recognized that the fashioning of a remedy for such a violation was a subject for legislative rather than judicial action. (People v. Howell (1975), 60 Ill. 2d 117, 122-23, 324 N.E.2d 403, 406; People v. Holman (1984), 103 Ill. 2d 133, 155, 469 N.E.2d 119, 130; People v. Riddle (1986), 141 Ill. App. 3d 97, 101, 489 N.E.2d 1176, 1178.) However, those same courts repeatedly recognized that the remedy of dismissal of the charge with prejudice was not available to a defendant as a sanction for such a violation. Howell, 60 Ill. 2d at 122-23, 324 N.E.2d at 404; Holman, 103 Ill. 2d at 155, 469 N.E.2d at 129; Riddle, 141 Ill. App. 3d at 100, 489 N.E.2d at 1178.

In 1984, the legislature saw fit to provide a remedy for violation of the statutory and constitutional rights to a prompt preliminary hearing. Section 114—1(a)(11) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 provides that, upon the written motion of the defendant made prior to trial, either before or after a plea has been entered, the court may dismiss the indictment, information or complaint for failure to provide a preliminary hearing in accordance with the requirements of section 109 — 3.1. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 114—1(a)(11).) However, section 114 — 1(e) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 provides that dismissal of a charge for failure to comply with section 109-3.1

“shall not prevent the return of a new indictment or the filing of a new charge and upon such dismissal the court may order that the defendant be held in custody or if he had been previously released on bail that his bail be continued for a specified time pending the return of a new indictment or the filing of a new charge.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 114 — 1(e).)

As stated in People v. Bartee (1988), 177 Ill. App. 3d 937, 941, 532 N.E.2d 997, 999, this section allowing filing of a new information “clearly signals the legislature’s intent that the dismissal should not be with prejudice.”

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

Related

People v. Weis
2023 IL App (5th) 230153-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2023)
People v. Owen
752 N.E.2d 1269 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2001)
People v. Clarke
596 N.E.2d 872 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
558 N.E.2d 729, 200 Ill. App. 3d 1063, 146 Ill. Dec. 766, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-roby-illappct-1990.