People v. Shestiuk

376 N.E.2d 56, 59 Ill. App. 3d 296, 17 Ill. Dec. 163, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2480
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 12, 1978
Docket76-446
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 376 N.E.2d 56 (People v. Shestiuk) 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. Shestiuk, 376 N.E.2d 56, 59 Ill. App. 3d 296, 17 Ill. Dec. 163, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2480 (Ill. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Miss JUSTICE McGILLICUDDY

delivered the opinion of the court:

Walter Shestiuk was indicted, along with co-defendant Robert Gnewich, for conspiracy and unlawful use of weapons stemming from their alleged participation in the manufacture and possession of two pipe bombs. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 38, pars. 8 — 2(a) and 24 — 1(a)(7).) Shestiuk was tried separately from Gnewich in a bench trial; he was acquitted on the conspiracy charge but was convicted on the unlawful use of weapons charge. For this conviction, Shestiuk received a sentence of one to three years imprisonment in the penitentiary. Shestiuk now appeals, raising two issues for review: (1) that he was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel and (2) that his sentence is improper. The defendant was represented at trial by privately retained counsel.

The State’s evidence introduced at trial shows that on the evening of May 29,1975, two agents of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group, Frank Seil and William Kusch, along with a third individual, David Pease, met with Robert Gnewich who was to put them in contact with someone who would sell narcotics to the agents. While the four individuals were driving in Chicago, attempting to locate a narcotics dealer, Seil initiated a discussion with Gnewich as to where Seil might obtain some explosives. Gnewich thereupon directed the agents to drive to a building located at 1759 West Superior Street in Chicago. After arriving at that building, the four individuals went up to one of the apartments and Gnewich knocked on the door. Walter Shestiuk, the defendant, answered the knock and asked what Gnewich wanted. Gnewich responded that the individuals who were with him wanted to purchase a bomb. A discussion then ensued as to what type of bomb the agents desired. Shestiuk explained that he could make either a flash bomb or a smoke bomb and explained the difference between these two devices. He also informed the agents that the bombs would cost $23 apiece. The agents then agreed to purchase one of each type and all five individuals proceeded to the basement of the building where Shestiuk went to make the bombs.

Shestiuk had only one piece of pipe suitable for manufacturing bombs of the size the agents desired, so he sent Gnewich out to a hardware store to obtain a second piece of pipe as well as to purchase four caps to plug the ends of the two pieces of pipe. Agent Kusch supplied Gnewich with money for the purchases. When Gnewich was unable to obtain the materials at one store, he and Kusch drove to a second store. Gnewich made the purchases while Kusch waited in the car.

Following the return of Kusch and Gnewich to the building at 1759 West Superior Street, Shestiuk completed one bomb and was almost finished with the second when Kusch paid Shestiuk the money for the devices. Then, following the pre-arranged signal from Kusch, police burst into the basement and effected the arrest.

The remainder of the State’s evidence was directed at establishing the chain of custody of the materials seized from Shestiuk’s residence and at establishing that the chemicals placed in the pipes by him were explosive in nature. The defendant offered no witnesses. Shestiuk moved for a directed verdict at the close of the State’s evidence on the grounds of entrapment, but this motion was denied. In the closing argument Shestiuk’s principal contention was that the State failed to prove that the device Shestiuk built was actually a bomb. The trial court found Shestiuk not guilty of conspiracy but found him guilty of unlawful use of weapons.

The first issue raised by Shestiuk is whether he was deprived of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel, thereby requiring a reversal of his conviction. In support of his position, Shestiuk first argues that the standard for effective representation is the same for both privately retained counsel as well as for court-appointed attorneys. Next he ruges this court to recognize either the “minimum standard of professional representation” test or the “reasonably likely to render and rendering reasonably effective assistance” text as the proper standard to be applied in both situations. Finally, Shestiuk argues that regardless of what standard of effective representation is applied, he is entitled to a reversal because his trial counsel misunderstood the defense of entrapment and further failed to engage in proper pretrial discovery.

In recent decisions, this court has rejected the argument that the standard for effective representation by appointed counsel differs from the standard for effective representation by retained counsel. (People v. Virgil (1977), 54 Ill. App. 3d 682, 370 N.E.2d 74; People v. Hawkins (1974), 23 Ill. App. 3d 758, 320 N.E.2d 90; People v. Ortiz (1974), 22 Ill. App. 3d 788, 317 N.E.2d 763; People v. Long (1973), 12 Ill. App. 3d 974, 298 N.E.2d 784.) In each of these cases the sham or farce test was considered to be applicable in both situations. This court has also considered, on a prior occasion, the question of whether the sham or farce standard adequately protects the defendant’s constitutional right to effective representation by counsel. In People v. Ortiz, we concluded that this standard does provide sufficient constitutional protection. Based upon these precedents, we believe that for Shestiuk to sustain his claim that he has been denied his right to effective assistance by his trial counsel, he must show incompetent behavior on the part of his counsel which had the effect of reducing his trial to a farce or a sham.

The first error offered by Shestiuk as grounds for finding that he was deprived of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel is that his counsel was ignorant of the law governing the defense of entrapment. His principal contention is that his trial counsel, in arguing the entrapment defense, failed to argue that Shestiuk was not predisposed to illegally manufacture a bomb when the police officers presented him with an opportunity to do so.

We agree with Shestiuk that the lack of a predisposition to engage in the illegal activity is an essential element of the defense of entrapment (United States v. Russell (1973), 411 U.S. 423,36 L. Ed. 2d 366, 93 S. Ct. 1637), but we cannot agree that the record shows that Shestiuk’s trial counsel was unaware of this element. His counsel argued entrapment both on the motion for a directed verdict and on the motion for a new trial. On both occasions, his counsel clearly argued that Shestiuk was not predisposed to manufacture the bombs and that the crime was conceived solely in the minds of the government agents. While we recognize that the bulk of his counsel’s argument focused upon the conduct of the police officers in implementing the crime, we feel that the decision to emphasize those factors was a matter of strategy and mistakes of strategy will not serve to render a counsel’s representation in violation of constitutional requirements. (People v. Torres (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 384, 297 N.E.2d 142; People v. McNeal (1977), 56 Ill. App.

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Bluebook (online)
376 N.E.2d 56, 59 Ill. App. 3d 296, 17 Ill. Dec. 163, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2480, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-shestiuk-illappct-1978.