People v. Squire

851 N.E.2d 87, 365 Ill. App. 3d 842, 303 Ill. Dec. 189, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 371
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 5, 2006·No. 1-04-2387·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE O’BRIEN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant, Parnell Squire, was convicted of delivery of a controlled substance, ordered to submit a blood specimen for DNA testing and storage, and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. The court also ordered defendant to pay $1,770, including a $1,000 drug assessment under section 411.2(a)(3) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (720 ILCS 570/411.2(a)(3) (West 2002)) and $100 for the Trauma Center Fund pursuant to section 5 — 9—1.1(b) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5 — 9—1.1(b) (West 2002)). The court then credited defendant with $1,000 for his 210 days of presentence detention, reducing the total amount owed to $770. On appeal, defendant contends that: (1) his conviction must be reversed and the cause remanded because nothing in the record indicates that he knowingly and intelligently waived his right of confrontation before his trial counsel stipulated to the identity of the controlled substance; (2) the compulsory extraction of his blood and perpetual storage of his DNA violate his fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures; and (3) defendant should be given an additional $50 credit for the fines imposed in this case. We affirm.

At trial, Officer Vasquez testified that at approximately 3:30 p.m. on December 30, 2003, he and his partner, Officer Vargas, were in the vicinity of 3316 West Division conducting a “controlled buy” operation. After observing the defendant standing by himself, Officer Vasquez, who was dressed in plain clothes, approached defendant and asked him for “two blows,” a street term for heroin. Officer Vasquez gave defendant a prerecorded $20 bill. Defendant accepted the bill and gave Officer Vasquez one bag of suspected heroin. Defendant told Officer Vasquez that he needed to retrieve a second bag and walked away.

Officer Vasquez testified that when he realized the defendant probably was not coming back, he radioed Officer Vargas and provided a description of defendant. Officer Vargas testified that he arrested defendant and performed a custodial search, which revealed that the prerecorded $20 bill was in defendant’s pants pocket.

Officer Vasquez testified that he inventoried the suspected heroin at the police station. The parties stipulated that the contents of the bag tested positive for .1 gram of heroin. After the stipulation, the State rested.

Defendant testified that he was walking down Spaulding Avenue in order to catch a bus when he was stopped by police and arrested for no reason. Defendant denied possessing or selling any illegal drugs on December 30, 2003.

The trial court convicted defendant of delivery of a controlled substance and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment. The court also ordered defendant to pay $1,770, including a $1,000 drug assessment under section 411.2(a)(3) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (720 ILCS 570/411.2(a)(3) (West 2002)) and $100 for the Trauma Center Fund pursuant to section 5 — 9—1.1(b) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5 — 9—1.1(b) (West 2002)). The court then credited defendant with $1,000 for his 210 days of presentence detention, thereby reducing the total amount owed to $770. Defendant filed this timely appeal.

First, defendant contends that his federal and state constitutional confrontation rights were violated because the record lacks any indication that his attorney informed him of the legal consequences of entering a stipulation as to the identity of the controlled substance.

In People v. Campbell, 208 Ill. 2d 203, 220-21 (2003), our supreme court held:

“[C]ounsel in a criminal case may waive his client’s sixth amendment right of confrontation by stipulating to the admission of evidence as long as the defendant does not object-to or dissent from his attorney’s decision, and where the decision to stipulate is a matter of legitimate trial tactics or prudent trial strategy. Where the stipulation includes a statement that the evidence is sufficient to convict the defendant or where the State’s entire case is to be presented by stipulation, we find that a defendant must be personally admonished about the stipulation and must personally agree to the stipulation.”

In People v. Phillips, 352 Ill. App. 3d 867, 871 (2004), a panel of the Third District interpreted this holding as requiring “some affirmative showing or indication by the defendant in the record that he or she did not object to or dissent from the attorney’s decision to stipulate.” In People v. Scott, 355 Ill. App. 3d 741 (2005), another panel of the Third District disagreed with Phillips and held that the record need not affirmatively show that the defendant was informed of and explicitly waived his confrontation rights. Several panels of this district have agreed with Scott. See People v. Orta, 361 Ill. App. 3d 342 (2005); People v. Foerster, 359 Ill. App. 3d 198 (2005); People v. Banks, 358 Ill. App. 3d 924 (2005).

In People v. Phillips, 217 Ill. 2d 270 (2005), our supreme court recently reversed the Phillips appellate court opinion and effectively validated the holdings of Scott, Orta, Foerster, and Banks. See also People v. Matthews, 362 Ill. App. 3d 953, 842 N.E.2d 150 (2005) (discussing the effect of the supreme court decision in Phillips.) The supreme court determined that the Phillips appellate court opinion had misinterpreted the holding of Campbell and held that, under Campbell:

“ ‘[D]efense counsel may waive a defendant’s right of confrontation as long as the defendant does not object and the decision to stipulate is a matter of trial tactics and strategy.’ [Citation.] However, *** a defendant must personally waive the right of confrontation ‘when the State’s entire case is to be presented by stipulation and the defendant does not present or preserve a defense ***, or where the stipulation includes a statement that the evidence is sufficient to convict the defendant.’ [Citation.] We attached no other restrictions to defense counsel’s authority to stipulate to the admission of evidence, and, except in those specified instances where the stipulation is tantamount to a guilty plea, we imposed no obligations on the trial court or counsel to admonish the defendant and ensure that the advisement is made a part of the record. Insofar as the appellate court held otherwise, the court erred.” (Emphasis in original.) Phillips, 217 Ill. 2d at 283.

The supreme court concluded:

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

People v. Squire, 851 N.E.2d 87, 365 Ill. App. 3d 842, 303 Ill. Dec. 189, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 371 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

851 N.E.2d 87 (People v. Squire) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Jones
861 N.E.2d 967 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2006)
People v. Jones
852 N.E.2d 364 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006)