People v. Walton

608 N.E.2d 59, 240 Ill. App. 3d 49, 180 Ill. Dec. 937, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1957
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 4, 1992
Docket1-89-3181
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 608 N.E.2d 59 (People v. Walton) 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. Walton, 608 N.E.2d 59, 240 Ill. App. 3d 49, 180 Ill. Dec. 937, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1957 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE RAKOWSKI

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Johnnie Walton was tried before the bench and found guilty of possession with the intent to deliver and delivery of a controlled substance pursuant to section 401(a)(10) of the Illinois Controlled Substance Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 56½, par. 1401(a)(10)). He was then sentenced to life imprisonment under the Habitual Criminal Act (Act) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 33B— 1). Defendant now appeals, raising the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in not making any inquiry into defendant’s complaints regarding evidence defense counsel failed to present at the trial; (2) whether the State’s failure to file a verified petition prior to the sentencing of defendant as an habitual criminal rendered the proceedings null and void; (3) whether the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant was an habitual criminal where it offered no evidence at the sentencing hearing to establish that defendant’s second conviction was for an offense occurring after conviction for the first offense; (4) whether this case should be remanded to determine whether defendant waived any constitutional rights in contemplation of accepting a plea agreement and whether he was “punished” for exercising his right to stand trial; and (5) whether the Act is unconstitutional because it violates provisions of the Illinois and United States Constitutions. We affirm.

At defendant’s trial, Alfred Pappalito, a Chicago police officer, testified that in May 1987, he had been operating undercover when an informant or “cooperative individual” named Mark identified a man sitting in a car as the defendant. Pappalito stated that he approached the vehicle and purchased some marijuana cigarettes laced with phenocyclidine (PCP) from defendant. At that time defendant gave Pappalito a “beeper number” to call in the event that Pappalito wanted to contact him regarding additional purchases. Pappalito subsequently made four more purchases of PCP. However, it was the events of June 18, 1987, which were the basis for defendant’s current conviction.

Pursuant to a prior arrangement, Officer Pappalito met defendant in a parking lot at 3536 West Division Street in Chicago at around 1:10 p.m. on June 18, 1987. Defendant asked Pappalito if he had the money, and when Pappalito replied in the affirmative, defendant went to the southern part of the parking lot, retrieved something, and returned to Pappalito’s vehicle. Defendant dropped a glass bottle through the window of the vehicle which, upon inspection by Pappalito, contained a yellow-colored liquid with the odor of PCP. Immediately after this delivery, Pappalito got out of his vehicle, which was a prearranged signal to the surveillance team. Defendant was then apprehended and arrested. One of the officers also recovered a second glass bottle with a yellow-colored liquid in the same area of the parking lot where defendant had gone before he delivered the first bottle to Pappalito.

The two bottles were delivered to the crime lab for analysis of their contents. The first bottle was found to contain 195 grams of PCP and the second bottle contained 189 grams of PCP.

In support of the affirmative defense of entrapment, defendant testified that he met Mark, the informant, in March 1987, and on that occasion he helped Mark obtain some PCP-laced marijuana or “happy sticks” which they smoked together. Sometime around April or May Mark introduced defendant to Pappalito and told him that Pappalito had lots of money to buy PCP. Although defendant testified that he did not know where to obtain PCP, he admitted that after Pappalito contacted him several times, he agreed to be the courier for certain PCP transactions between Pappalito and a “supplier” he referred to as Lee Pass’ son.

In rebuttal, the State entered into the record certified copies of defendant’s 1977 convictions for armed robbery and unlawful use of a weapon. Following closing argument, the court found defendant guilty as charged.

Prior to sentencing, the State filed a petition to have defendant sentenced as an habitual criminal. In support of its petition, the State presented two witnesses who testified that defendant was the person who had been convicted of attempted murder in 1970 and armed robbery in 1977. The trial court found that defendant was eligible to be sentenced as an habitual criminal.

On appeal, defendant first contends that it was error for the trial court not to inquire into defendant’s complaints regarding evidence defense counsel failed to present at trial. In making a determination as to whether a defendant has received effective assistance of counsel, the Illinois Supreme Court has adopted the two-part test set out in Strickland v. Washington (1984), 466 U.S. 668, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 104 S. Ct. 2052. Under Strickland, a defendant must show that counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness such that the trial results were unreliable and that but for the attorney’s unprofessional errors, the results of the trial would have been different. (People v. Albanese (1988), 125 Ill. 2d 100, 106, 531 N.E.2d 17.) Furthermore, without deciding whether the error was serious enough to constitute less than reasonable representation, a court can move to the second part of the two-prong test to determine if defendant has shown that he was prejudiced by the claimed errors and that, but for these errors, there is a probability that the results of the proceeding would have been different. People v. Caballero (1989), 126 Ill. 2d 248, 260, 533 N.E.2d 1089.

Although he did not claim that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel, he did complain that pertinent evidence had not been presented to the court. Specifically, defendant stated that his mental health history should have been made an issue and that certain photographs of the crime scene should have been entered into evidence. Defendant claims that these photographs showed the presence of other people such as Lee Pass’ son at the scene of the delivery and also depicted defendant wearihg a beeper which was contrary to Pappalito’s testimony. Finally, defendant complains that Mark should have been called as a witness to bolster defendant’s entrapment defense.

Assuming, arguendo, that counsel’s performance was deficient, defendant was required to show that the evidence not presented was probative of his guilt or innocence. Thus if the defense counsel’s alleged omissions would not have affected the outcome of this case, defendant could not have been prejudiced. Caballero, 126 Ill. 2d at 260.

In this case, defendant first claims that the issue of his mental health should have been considered by the court. The record indicates that defendant was examined by three psychiatrists prior to trial and found fit to stand trial by two of them. In addition, the pretrial and presentence investigation reports included information regarding defendant’s prior mental health history. Therefore, the court was apprised of defendant’s condition.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
608 N.E.2d 59, 240 Ill. App. 3d 49, 180 Ill. Dec. 937, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1957, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-walton-illappct-1992.