People v. Sawyer

630 N.E.2d 1294, 258 Ill. App. 3d 174, 197 Ill. Dec. 170, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 337
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 18, 1994
Docket2-92-1313
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 630 N.E.2d 1294 (People v. Sawyer) 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. Sawyer, 630 N.E.2d 1294, 258 Ill. App. 3d 174, 197 Ill. Dec. 170, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 337 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

JUSTICE DOYLE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Gary Sawyer, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted robbery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, pars. 8 — 4(a), 18-l(a)(now 720 ILCS 5/8 — 4(a), 5/18 — 1(a) (West 1992))). After the trial court denied his motion to withdraw his guilty plea, he was sentenced to an extended term of 10 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea.

We affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

On July 1,1992, defendant was indicted on two counts of robbery. On July 10, 1992, Assistant Public Defender Carol Hodge was assigned to represent him. On July 13,1992, defendant was arraigned and entered a plea of not guilty. On July 23, with defendant present in open court, Hodge informed Judge Goshgarian that defendant had rejected the State’s offer of probation and county jail time in return for a guilty plea and that defendant would be proceeding to trial. On August 3, 1992, at another hearing before Judge Goshgarian, the assistant State’s Attorney reported that the parties had no negotiations to present to the court. Attorney Hodge stated that she assumed the case would be going to a jury trial.

On August 10, 1992, after a hearing that defendant did not attend, the court entered an order transferring the case to Judge Starck, continuing the case for trial, and assigning defendant new counsel because Hodge no longer worked for the public defender.

On that same day, the court held a hearing at which defendant was present. Counsel for the parties agreed that, in return for the State dropping the two original robbery charges, defendant would enter an open plea of guilty to a newly added charge of attempted robbery. Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 402 (134 Ill. 2d R. 402), the court admonished defendant of the consequences of his plea. Defendant, who had conferred earlier with his new counsel, stated that he understood that he was giving up certain rights by pleading guilty, that he understood the possible penalties he faced, that there were no threats or promises other than the plea agreement that affected his decision to plead guilty, and that it was his voluntary decision to plead guilty to attempted robbery. Defendant told the court that Hodge had told him she was going to present a negotiated plea to the court, but that she had failed to do so. The prosecutor replied that no such offer was outstanding, and that heretofore defendant had rejected all plea bargains in favor of a trial.

After hearing a factual basis for the plea, the court asked defendant if he persisted in pleading guilty. Defendant said he did. The court accepted the guilty plea and continued the matter for sentencing.

On September 9, 1992, before the sentencing hearing, defendant filed his motion to withdraw the guilty plea. The motion alleged, in essence, that defendant had been coerced into pleading guilty because he had gone to the August 10 hearing under the impression that Hodge had worked out a deal that the State had accepted, and that when he arrived in court, he learned that the court would not accept this earlier negotiation. Defendant’s motion was accompanied by his attorney’s certification that counsel had examined the trial court file and the report of proceedings of the guilty plea hearing, had consulted defendant about the issues raised by the motion, and had made any amendments necessary to the presentation of any defects in the guilty plea proceedings.

On September 24, 1992, the trial court held a hearing on the motion to withdraw the guilty plea. Relying in part on his recollection of the hearing on the guilty plea, the judge refused to allow defendant to withdraw his guilty plea. The judge explained that he saw no reason to reject his earlier finding that defendant knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily decided to plead guilty to attempted robbery.

On October 1, 1992, after a hearing at which defendant did not appear, the court entered its judgment sentencing defendant to 10 years’ imprisonment with credit for time served. On October 30, 1992, defendant filed a motion entitled "Motion to Reconsider Sentence and Motion to Reconsider Withdraw [sic] Plea.” Despite the title, the motion argued primarily that the sentence was excessive, and it stated only in passing, without any specific factual allegations, that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to allow defendant to withdraw his guilty plea. Defendant’s counsel did not file a new certificate of compliance with Rule 604(d)’s provisions for motions to withdraw guilty pleas.

At a hearing that same day at which defendant was not present, defendant’s counsel stated defendant was incorporating into the motion "our grounds for the motion to withdraw the plea which was originally argued and the Court denied.” Directly after the court denied the motion, defendant filed his notice of appeal.

Although neither party questions this court’s jurisdiction, we must ascertain whether we may hear this appeal. (People v. Ramage (1992), 229 Ill. App. 3d 1027, 1029; People v. Ishmon (1991), 213 Ill. App. 3d 653, 655.) In making this determination, we recognize that Rule 604(d) requires strict compliance, not merely substantial compliance. People v. Janes (1994), 158 Ill. 2d 27, 33-34; People v. Wilk (1988), 124 Ill. 2d 93; Ramage, 229 Ill. App. 3d at 1029-31.

A defendant may not seek appellate review of whether his guilty plea was voluntary unless he has filed with the trial court, within 30 days after the entry of the sentence, a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and to vacate the judgment. (145 Ill. 2d R. 604(d); Ramage, 229 Ill. App. 3d at 1030-31.) The motion must include the defendant’s counsel’s written certification that counsel has consulted with the defendant, has examined the trial court file and the report of proceedings of the plea of guilty, and has made any necessary amendments to the motion. (People v. Davis (1994), 255 Ill. App. 3d 647, 649.) The lack of an adequate certification is not a jurisdictional bar to an appeal. (Janes, 158 Ill. 2d at 33.) However, proper certification is a condition precedent to a hearing on the motion to withdraw the guilty plea and to vacate the judgment. (People v. Dickerson (1991), 212 Ill. App. 3d 168, 171.) Thus, where the defendant has filed a proper motion to withdraw the guilty plea and to vacate the judgment, but there is no certificate filed in compliance with Rule 604(d), a court of review must remand the cause to the trial court for compliance with the certification requirement and for a new motion and hearing. Janes, 158 Ill. 2d at 33.

Two recent decisions of this court are relevant to the jurisdictional issue presented here. In Ramage, we held that a presentencing motion to vacate the guilty plea was insufficient to confer jurisdiction upon this court where the defendant had not moved after the sentence to vacate his guilty plea. We explained that Rule 604(d) requires that the motion "MUST be filed within 30 days after the imposition of sentence.” Ramage, 229 Ill. App. 3d at 1031.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
630 N.E.2d 1294, 258 Ill. App. 3d 174, 197 Ill. Dec. 170, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 337, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-sawyer-illappct-1994.