People v. Williams

2013 IL App (4th) 120313, 991 N.E.2d 914
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided June 24, 2013·No. 4-12-0313·Published·Cited by 42 cases

Opinion

ILLINOIS OFFICIAL REPORTS Appellate Court

People v. Williams, 2013 IL App (4th) 120313

Appellate Court THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Caption PARIS M. WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.

District & No. Fourth District Docket No. 4-12-0313

Filed June 24, 2013

Held The defendant’s conviction for unlawful possession of a weapon by a (Note: This syllabus felon was vacated pursuant to the one-act, one-crime rule, since his constitutes no part of conviction for the greater offense of aggravated unlawful possession of the opinion of the court a weapon was based on the same act, and the fines imposed by the trial but has been prepared court were affirmed, but nine mandatory fines imposed by the circuit by the Reporter of clerk were vacated and imposed or reimposed by the appellate court and Decisions for the the cause was remanded for an amended sentencing judgment. convenience of the reader.)

Decision Under Appeal from the Circuit Court of Macon County, No. 10-CF-952; the Review Hon. Lisa Holder White, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Affirmed in part as modified and vacated in part; cause remanded with directions.

Counsel on Michael J. Pelletier, Karen Munoz, and Susan M. Wilham, all of State Appeal Appellate Defender’s Office, of Springfield, for appellant.

Jay Scott, State’s Attorney, of Decatur (Patrick Delfino, Robert J. Biderman, and Anastacia R. Brooks, all of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.

Panel JUSTICE TURNER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Presiding Justice Steigmann and Justice Knecht concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 After a September 2011 bench trial, the Macon County circuit court found defendant, Paris M. Williams, guilty of armed violence, unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. In March 2012, the court sentenced defendant to concurrent prison terms of 15 years for armed violence, 7 years for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and 7 years for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (the other two counts merged with the armed-violence count). It also ordered defendant to pay a $1,000 mandatory drug assessment, a $100 crime laboratory fee, and a $70 street-value fine.

¶2 Defendant appeals, asserting (1) his conviction for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon must be vacated under the one-act, one-crime rule, and (2) the clerk of the circuit court improperly assessed additional fines against him. We affirm in part as modified, vacate in part, and remand the cause with directions.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 In June 2010, the State charged defendant by information with one count of armed violence (720 ILCS 5/33A-2(a) (West 2010) (text of section effective until July 1, 2011)), two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2), (d) (West 2010)), one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 2010)), one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.1(a) (West 2010)), one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1)(3)(A) (West 2008)), one count of unlawful possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver (720 ILCS 550/5(c) (West 2010)), and one count of unlawful possession of cannabis (720 ILCS 550/4(c) (West 2010)). The unlawful-

possession-of-a-weapon-by-a-felon count alleged that, on June 21, 2010, defendant, a person who had been convicted of a felony under Illinois law, knowingly possessed a handgun on or about his person. The aggravated-unlawful-use-of-a-weapon count asserted that, on June 21, 2010, defendant, who had been previously convicted of a felony, knowingly carried a handgun on or about his person at such time when he was not on his own land, in his own abode, or fixed place of business and the handgun was uncased, loaded, and immediately accessible at the time of the offense. At the State’s request, the trial court later dismissed one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with the intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 2010)), the unlawful-possession-of-cannabis-with-the-intent-to-deliver count, and the unlawful-possession-of-cannabis count.

¶5 In February 2011, defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence, seeking to exclude the evidence that resulted from a warrantless search of a mailbox near where defendant was taken into custody. The trial court held a hearing on the motion and denied it in July 2011.

¶6 On September 1, 2011, the trial court held a bench trial on the five remaining charges. After hearing the evidence and the parties’ arguments, the court found defendant guilty of all five charges. On September 29, 2011, defendant filed a motion to vacate his guilty finding or, in the alternative, a motion for a new trial, asserting the court erred by denying his motion to suppress and the State failed to sustain its burden of proof on the armed-violence charge. In November 2011, defendant, represented by a different assistant public defender, filed an amended posttrial motion, raising ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims. After a December 20, 2011, hearing, the court denied the amended posttrial motion.

¶7 On March 28, 2012, the trial court held a joint hearing on defendant’s original posttrial motion and sentencing. The court denied the original posttrial motion and sentenced defendant to concurrent prison terms of 15 years for armed violence, 7 years for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, and 7 years for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The court did not sentence defendant on the two counts related to possession of a controlled substance because it found those counts merged with the armed-violence count. The court also ordered defendant to pay a $1,000 mandatory drug assessment, $100 crime laboratory fee, and a $70 street-value fine. Defendant had been in custody from June 22, 2010, to March 27, 2012, and the court awarded defendant a credit of $1,170 against the aforementioned assessments under section 110-14(a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Procedure Code) (725 ILCS 5/110-14(a) (West 2010)).

¶8 On April 3, 2012, defendant filed a timely notice of appeal in sufficient compliance with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 606 (eff. Mar. 20, 2009), and thus this court has jurisdiction under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 603 (eff. Oct. 1, 2010).

¶9 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 10 A. One-Act, One-Crime Rule

¶ 11 Defendant first asserts his unlawful-possession-of-a-weapon-by-a-felon conviction must be vacated under the one-act, one-crime rule. The State concedes the conviction must be vacated under our supreme court’s decision in People v. Johnson, 237 Ill. 2d 81, 96-99, 927 N.E.2d 1179, 1189-90 (2010). After reviewing the matter, we agree with the parties.

¶ 12 Our supreme court has explained review of this issue as follows:

“The application of the one-act, one-crime rule is a question of law, which we review de novo. [Citation.] Under the rule, a defendant may not be convicted of multiple offenses that are based upon precisely the same single physical act. [Citations.] Thus, if a defendant is convicted of two offenses based upon the same single physical act, the conviction for the less serious offense must be vacated.” Johnson, 237 Ill. 2d at 97, 927 N.E.2d at 1189.

¶ 13 As in Johnson, 237 Ill. 2d at 97-98, 927 N.E.2d at 1189-90, the unlawful-possession-ofa -weapon-by-a-felon and aggravated-unlawful-possession-of-a-weapon charges in this case are both based on the same physical act of defendant possessing the handgun on or about his person. Our supreme court has held unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon is the less serious offense. Johnson, 237 Ill. 2d at 99, 927 N.E.2d at 1190. Thus, under the one-act, one- crime rule, we vacate defendant’s unlawful-possession-of-a-weapon-by-a-felon conviction.

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People v. Williams, 2013 IL App (4th) 120313, 991 N.E.2d 914 (Ill. Ct. App. 2013).

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