People v. Villareal

449 N.E.2d 198, 114 Ill. App. 3d 389, 70 Ill. Dec. 324, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 1748
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 5, 1983
Docket81-1019
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 449 N.E.2d 198 (People v. Villareal) 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. Villareal, 449 N.E.2d 198, 114 Ill. App. 3d 389, 70 Ill. Dec. 324, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 1748 (Ill. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

JUSTICE VAN DEUSEN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Frank Villareal, was charged by complaint with battery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 12 — 3(a)(1)) and two counts of resisting a peace officer (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 31 — 1); he was also charged in a traffic citation and complaint with operating a motor vehicle without a valid Illinois registration sticker (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 95V2, par. 3 — 701(1)). Subsequently, he was convicted of battery, both counts of resisting a peace officer, and having an invalid registration sticker. The defendant was sentenced on the battery charge to 30 days in the county jail and also to a one-year term of probation for the battery and each of the resisting offenses, the terms of probation to be served concurrently. Also, he was ordered to pay $35 in court costs for each of the preceding three offenses. Lastly, he was ordered to pay $20 in court costs as a result of his conviction of having an invalid registration sticker. The defendant appeals.

The defendant first contends on review that the trial court, by requiring the public defender to go to trial only four hours after he was appointed to represent the accused, effectively denied the defendant his right to counsel. The gravamen of his contention is that the four-hour hiatus gave the public defender time to conduct only the most cursory interview with the defendant.

Every criminal defendant is entitled to a reasonable time and a full opportunity to prepare his defense for trial. (People v. Hambleton (1948), 399 Ill. 388, 393.) However, it is equally clear that where counsel made no motion for a continuance or postponement of the trial, he cannot be heard to complain later that he was not allowed sufficient time to prepare a defense. If he needed time to prepare, he should have moved the trial court for a continuance or postponement for a reasonable period to enable him to make his preparation. (People v. Berglin (1923), 309 Ill. 488, 490; accord, People v. Reed (1977), 55 Ill. App. 3d 397, 402.) Thus, in light of the absence of a request for a continuance of the cause to give counsel additional time to confer with the defendant or to investigate and subpoena witnesses, the defendant’s contention that he was effectively denied his right to counsel by the trial court’s action must be rejected, for the trial court had no reason to believe that additional time was needed for preparation or that any prospect existed for fruitful investigation. People v. Coleman (1970), 45 Ill. 2d 466, 468, cert. denied (1970), 400 U.S. 845, 27 L. Ed. 2d 82, 91 S. Ct. 91; see People v. Sulton (1970), 130 Ill. App. 2d 1098, 1103.

The second contention which the defendant argues before this court is that he did not knowingly and understanding^ waive his right to have a jury trial on the four offenses with which he was charged. Section 103 — 6 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 103 — 6), which implements the constitutional guarantees of the right to trial by jury, provides that each person charged with an offense shall have the right to a jury trial unless the defendant understanding^ waives that right in open court. (People v. Coleman (1978), 59 Ill. App. 3d 1050, 1052; People v. Miller (1977), 55 Ill. App. 3d 1047, 1050.) The rule is applicable in cases involving a misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine only. People v. Murff (1979), 69 Ill. App. 3d 560, 562-63, citing 55 Ill. App. 3d 1047, 1050.

While the trial court may not perfunctorily discharge its duty to explain the right to a jury trial to an accused, an explanation of the ramifications of a waiver of that right is unnecessary unless there is an indication that the accused did not understand his right to a trial by jury. (People v. Stolfo (1977), 46 Ill. App. 3d 616, 618; People v. Ruiz (1976), 42 Ill. App. 3d 969, 972.) However, it is well established that the trial court must ensure that the defendant made a knowing and understanding waiver of his right to a jury trial. (People v. Brownstein (1982), 105 Ill. App. 3d 459, 462; People v. Walton (1979), 77 Ill. App. 3d 905, 906.) Lastly, it is axiomatic that the waiver of the right to a trial by jury cannot be presumed from a silent record. People v. Brownstein (1982), 105 Ill. App. 3d 459, 462; People v. Montgomery (1981), 96 Ill. App. 3d 994, 999; People v. Rettig (1980), 88 Ill. App. 3d 888, 889; People v. Gaston (1971), 132 Ill. App. 2d 900, 901; People v. Bradley (1970), 131 Ill. App. 2d 91, 93.

Here, after informing the accused that he had been charged with battery and two counts of resisting a peace officer, the trial court asked the defendant whether he wished to be tried by the court or a jury. The defendant responded that he wanted the court alone to conduct the trial. The court below also inquired whether the defendant understood the concept of a jury trial, and the accused replied that he did. Then the court told the defendant to sign a jury waiver form if that is what he wanted to do, and that, if he did so, he would be waiving and relinquishing his right to have a jury trial.

The récord, both common law and the report of proceedings, reflects that the defendant signed a written jury waiver form relative to the charges of battery and resisting a peace officer. Although the defendant was not represented by counsel at the time he executed the jury waiver, the record indicates that the defendant was 20 years old at the time and was sophisticated in the sense that he had extensive prior contact with the criminal justice system. In fact, between 1978 and the time of the instant offenses, he had been found guilty of crimes on at least seven occasions, including the offenses of obstructing a peace officer, battery, theft over $150, unlawful possession of cannabis, and having an invalid vehicle registration. The accused’s prior involvement with the criminal justice system may be utilized to determine his understanding of this matter. People v. Stolfo (1977), 46 Ill. App. 3d 616, 618-19; see People v. Richardson (1965), 32 Ill. 2d 497, 500.

In sum, the trial court did not expressly ask the defendant in this case whether he understood that he had the right to a jury trial and whether he desired to waive that right; similarly the court did not explicitly conclude that the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his right to a jury trial. (Compare People v. Gray (1981), 96 Ill. App. 3d 757, 758.) However, the court’s remarks reasonably apprised the defendant that he was entitled to a jury trial if he so chose, the defendant stated he understood the nature of a jury trial, and he signed a written jury waiver regarding the charges of battery and resisting a police officer (two counts). Given the totality of the facts and circumstances of this case, we conclude that, with respect to those charges, the defendant knowingly and understandingly waived his right to a jury trial. (See, e.g., People v. Herrera (1972), 6 Ill. App. 3d 898, 900-01; People v. Bradley (1970), 131 Ill. App. 2d 91, 93-94.) However, for the reasons explicated below, we reach a different conclusion with respect to the petty offense of operating a motor vehicle without a valid registration sticker (see Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 95V2, pars. 1 — 300, 3 — 701; Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 5—2(c)).

At the outset, it should be emphasized that there is no indication in the record that the defendant was ever arraigned on the invalid registration sticker charge.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
449 N.E.2d 198, 114 Ill. App. 3d 389, 70 Ill. Dec. 324, 1983 Ill. App. LEXIS 1748, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-villareal-illappct-1983.