People v. Teller

565 N.E.2d 1046, 207 Ill. App. 3d 346, 152 Ill. Dec. 364, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 47
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 16, 1991
Docket2-89-1337
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 565 N.E.2d 1046 (People v. Teller) 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. Teller, 565 N.E.2d 1046, 207 Ill. App. 3d 346, 152 Ill. Dec. 364, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 47 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE INGLIS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Krystyna Teller, appeals from an order of the circuit court denying her petition to rescind the summary suspension of her driver’s license. Defendant raises four issues on appeal: (1) whether the process of the subpoena duces tecum is available to a defendant in a misdemeanor case; (2) whether defendant’s right to the process of the subpoena duces tecum is limited by her right to discovery pursuant to People v. Schmidt (1974), 56 Ill. 2d 572, 575; (3) whether a defendant may compel the production of documents at a summary suspension rescission hearing (rescission hearing) via the subpoena duces tecum procedure; and (4) whether the trial court erred in granting the State’s motion to quash defendant’s subpoena duces tecum. We will briefly summarize only those facts necessary to the resolution of the issues presented in this appeal.

Defendant was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .10 or more (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 951/2, pars. 11 — 501(a)(1), (a)(2)). Defendant submitted to a breathalyzer test which yielded a result of a blood-alcohol concentration of .22. Defendant subsequently received notice that her driving privileges had been suspended.

On October 9, 1989, defendant issued a subpoena duces tecum to the Addison police department requesting the following documents: (1) the arrest report; (2) the case report; (3) the alcohol influence report form; (4) a list of witnesses; (5) any written or recorded statement by defendant; (6) evidence that would be favorable to defendant; (7) all orders and directives of the police department regarding coordination and chemical tests in DUI cases; (8) the make and model number of the breathalyzer machine (machine) used to test defendant’s blood-alcohol level; (9) a copy of the operation manual of the machine; (10) all maintenance and repair logs for the machine; (11) the breath sample analysis log and certification log; (12) a copy of the certificate issued to the police officer who operated the machine; (13) a copy of the page in the log book containing the entry of the result of defendant’s test and the last certification of the machine; (14) all information regarding repairs made to the machine; (15) the name and star number of the female officer who drove defendant home following defendant’s release from custody; and (16) the name and star number of the officer who accompanied the arresting officer at the time of defendant’s arrest. The return date on the subpoena was October 18, 1989.

On October 18, 1989, the State filed in court a motion to quash the subpoena. A hearing on the State’s motion was held at that time. The court initially granted the motion to quash; however, defendant moved the court to reserve its ruling to afford defendant the opportunity to brief the issue for the court. Defendant’s request was granted, and the matter was set over to November 7, 1989.

On October 20, 1989, defendant filed a petition for a hearing to rescind the summary suspension. It is unclear whether this petition was intended to be retroactive because the petition states, “I understand that the State will be ready for the hearing on the arraignment date which is 10/19/89.”

On November 7, 1989, defendant filed a motion to vacate the order quashing the subpoena. On that date, the hearing on the motion was held. Defendant argued that the materials in the subpoena were necessary for her preparation for the rescission hearing because it was her contention that the police officer did not have probable cause to believe that defendant was under the influence of alcohol and her blood-alcohol content reading was .22. Defendant also argued that Schmidt discovery (see People v. Schmidt (1974), 56 Ill. 2d 572, 575) cannot be equated with the right of subpoena, nor is the subpoena process a discovery procedure. According to defendant, the power of subpoena applies in all criminal cases. Finally, defendant maintained that the subpoena was not “a general fishing expedition.” The State disagreed, arguing that the order to quash was proper because the subpoena was nothing more than a “fishing expedition,” and the State intended to comply with Schmidt discovery.

The court denied the motion to vacate the order quashing the subpoena. The court found that a rescission hearing is not equivalent to a preliminary hearing and thus the case law regarding preliminary hearings is inapplicable to a rescission hearing. The court explained that it found the subpoena to be a “general fishing expedition” and that requiring the police department to produce all of the documents requested would nullify the effect of Schmidt.

On November 21, 1989, the court denied defendant’s petition to rescind the summary suspension. Defendant’s timely appeal followed.

Defendant first contends that the process of subpoena duces tecum is available to defendants in misdemeanor cases. We need not address this issue, however, because a summary suspension rescission hearing is civil in nature (People v. Moore (1990), 138 Ill. 2d 162, 167) and is not part of the criminal process (Koss v. Slater (1987), 116 Ill. 2d 389, 395). The rescission hearing is an administrative device designed to remove impaired drivers from the road promptly; it is not a punishment imposed by the court. (Koss, 116 Ill. 2d at 395.) As such, the rules of criminal procedure do not apply. Moore, 138 Ill. 2d at 169.

Defendant next contends that a defendant’s right to the subpoena duces tecum process is not limited by her right to discovery as enunciated in People v. Schmidt (1974), 56 Ill. 2d 572, 575. In Schmidt, the supreme court was faced with determining the extent of discovery permissible in misdemeanor cases. The court held that in such cases discovery is limited to: (1) a list of witnesses, (2) any confessions of defendant, and (3) evidence negating defendant’s guilt. Schmidt, 56 Ill. 2d at 575.

Subsequently, the appellate court in People v. Finley (1974), 21 Ill. App. 3d 335, relied on the holding in Schmidt to determine the discovery permissible in an implied-consent hearing. Citing language in the statute which read, “[s]uch hearing shall proceed in the Court in the same manner as other civil proceedings” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 951/2, par. 11 — 501.1(d)), the court stated that the rules of civil procedure govern matters of evidence and burden of proof in an implied-consent hearing. (Finley, 21 Ill. App. 3d at 341.) Nonetheless, after analyzing Schmidt, the Finley court relied on Schmidt to hold that pretrial civil discovery should be available without making application to the court in matters concerning an implied-consent hearing to the extent that such matters involve: (1) a list of witnesses, (2) any confessions by defendant, and (3) evidence negating defendant’s guilt. (Finley, 21 Ill. App. 3d at 342.) However, the court went on to hold that the allowance of any further discovery is within the discretion of the trial court. Finley, 21 Ill. App. 3d at 342-43.

We find Finley to be persuasive in the case at bar. Like the statute governing an implied-consent hearing, section 2 — 118.1 of the

Illinois Vehicle Code specifically states that rescission hearings “shall proceed in the court in the same manner as in other civil proceedings.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 951/2, par.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
565 N.E.2d 1046, 207 Ill. App. 3d 346, 152 Ill. Dec. 364, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 47, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-teller-illappct-1991.