People v. Strait

442 N.E.2d 641, 110 Ill. App. 3d 514, 66 Ill. Dec. 215, 1982 Ill. App. LEXIS 2476
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 22, 1982
DocketNo. 81—226
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 442 N.E.2d 641 (People v. Strait) 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. Strait, 442 N.E.2d 641, 110 Ill. App. 3d 514, 66 Ill. Dec. 215, 1982 Ill. App. LEXIS 2476 (Ill. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

JUSTICE HOPE

delivered the opinion of the'court:

Defendant appeals from an order of the circuit court of Winnebago County denying his petition for post-conviction relief. The petition requested that his guilty plea be vacated and the indictment on which the plea was based be dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.The sole issue on appeal is whether the petition was improperly denied.

Defendant was previously prosecuted for the crime of indecent liberties with a child, found guilty after a bench trial, and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 10 to 20 years. The conviction was reversed by this court on appeal because the information on which it was based failed to allege facts which would toll the statute of limitations. In that proceeding, defendant also challenged the sufficiency of the evidence against him, claiming he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The reasonable doubt issue was noted but not reached by this court. (People v. Strait (1977), 52 Ill. App. 3d 599, 367 N.E.2d 768.) The State appealed the appellate court’s reversal to the Illinois Supreme Court, and defendant again challenged the sufficiency of the evidence in that court. However, on motion of the State, this argument was stricken from defendant’s brief on the ground that it was not considered in the appellate court. The supreme court subsequently affirmed the reversal of defendant’s conviction. People v. Strait (1978), 72 Ill. 2d 503, 381 N.E.2d 692.

Following reversal, another indictment was returned charging defendant with the same offense based on the same conduct as that in the first prosecution. This indictment alleged certain limitation-tolling facts.

Defendant moved to dismiss the charge on due process and double jeopardy grounds, claiming that reprosecution was barred because he never received appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence in the first trial. (See People v. Taylor (1979), 76 Ill. 2d 289, 391 N.E.2d 366.) He did not, however, reassert his claim that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the original prosecution of the cause. In denying the motion, the trial court noted the reversal was obtained because of a defective information. Thus, the court determined that the case should be treated the same as a retrial following a reversal for trial errors not based on the sufficiency of the evidence. (See United States v. Ball (1896), 163 U.S. 662, 41 L. Ed. 300, 16 S. Ct. 1192.) The court accordingly held that reprosecution did not violate double jeopardy principles.

Defendant subsequently entered a negotiated plea of guilty to the renewed charge. After the factual basis of the charge was recited, and defendant was admonished, the trial court accepted the guilty plea and sentenced defendant to 8V2 years of imprisonment pursuant to the plea agreement. No motion to withdraw the plea was filed, nor was a direct appeal taken pursuant to Supreme Court Rules 604(d) and 605(b) (87 Ill. 2d R. 604(d) and 605(b)).

Defendant filed pro se a petition for post-conviction relief approximately 10 months later. The petition again alleged that reprosecution was barred on double jeopardy grounds because he was denied appellate review of his reasonable doubt claim in the original proceedings. He did not allege that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the first trial. The petition was denied by the trial court, and the instant appeal followed.

The sole issue raised by the defendant is whether reprosecution is barred on double jeopardy grounds when defendant has not received appellate review of a reasonable doubt claim raised in the original prosecution of the cause. The State advances several arguments to support their position that reprosecution in the instant case is not barred. We will not address these arguments since, in our opinion, defendant has not raised a claim which is cognizable in a p'ost-conviction petition.

Under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act, we are limited to considering only matters raised in the post-conviction petition which are of constitutional dimension. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 122 — 1 et seq.) (People v. Robinson (1978), 66 Ill. App. 3d 601, 384 N.E.2d 420; People v. Vail (1970), 46 Ill. 2d 589, 264 N.E.2d 201.) A violation of a statute or rule of procedure which does not constitute a deprivation of constitutional rights may not be considered. (Robinson; People v. Masterson (1970), 45 Ill. 2d 499, 259 N.E.2d 794, cert. denied (1971), 401 U.S. 915, 27 L. Ed. 2d 815, 91 S. Ct. 892; People v. Hangsleben (1969), 43 Ill. 2d 236, 252 N.E.2d 545, cert. denied (1970), 397 U.S. 1048, 25 L. Ed. 2d 661, 90 S. Ct. 1379; People v. Orndoff (1968), 39 Ill. 2d 96, 233 N.E.2d 378.) For the reasons that follow, we believe defendant has alleged in his petition the violation of a rule of procedure not amounting to a deprivation of his constitutional rights. Defendant relies upon Burks v. United States (1978), 437 U.S. 1, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1, 98 S. Ct. 2141, and People v. Taylor (1979), 76 Ill. 2d 289, 391 N.E.2d 366, as authority for his position that a failure to review the evidence adduced at the first trial bars reprosecution of the defendant for the same offense. We do not believe these cases support the argument advanced by defendant here.

In Burks v. United States (1978), 437 U.S. 1, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1, 98 S. Ct. 2141, the United States Supreme Court held that the double jeopardy clause of the fifth amendment precludes a second trial when conviction in the first trial is reversed for lack of sufficient evidence. Equating such reversal with an acquittal, the court also held that under these circumstances a defendant’s double jeopardy rights are not waived by virtue of the fact that a new trial is sought as one of defendant’s remedies, or even as the sole remedy. The court stated:

“The Double Jeopardy Clause forbids a second trial for the purpose of affording the prosecution another opportunity to supply evidence which it failed to muster in the first proceeding. This is central to the objective of the prohibition against successive trials.” (437 U.S. 1, 11, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1, 9, 98 S. Ct. 2141, 2147.)

The Burks case, while expressing concern over double jeopardy problems upon retrial, did not require a reviewing court to pass upon the sufficiency of the evidence whenever that claim is raised on appeal. Further, the reversal of defendant Strait’s original conviction was not based upon a finding of insufficient evidence and, thus, Burks is inapposite to the case at bar.

In People v. Taylor (1979), 76 Ill.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
442 N.E.2d 641, 110 Ill. App. 3d 514, 66 Ill. Dec. 215, 1982 Ill. App. LEXIS 2476, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-strait-illappct-1982.