The People v. Marino

88 N.E.2d 8, 404 Ill. 37, 1949 Ill. LEXIS 361
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 22, 1949
DocketNo. 30804. Judgment affirmed.
StatusPublished

This text of 88 N.E.2d 8 (The People v. Marino) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The People v. Marino, 88 N.E.2d 8, 404 Ill. 37, 1949 Ill. LEXIS 361 (Ill. 1949).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Wilson

delivered the opinion of the court:

April 17, 1925, the defendant, Tony Marino, was indicted in the circuit court of Winnebago County for the murder, on February 20, 1925, of Charles E. Patterson. On April 25, 1925, he was sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life. Marino prosecutes this writ of error, seeking a review of the common-law record. No bill of exceptions has been filed.

In the meantime, defendant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the circuit court of Winnebago County, alleging that his conviction was the result of a denial of rights guaranteed him by the Federal constitution. Evidence was heard and the writ was ordered quashed. Thereafter, defendant filed a petition in the Supreme Court of the United States for a writ of certiorari. His petition was granted, and the judgment vacated and the cause remanded to the circuit court. (Marino v. Ragen, 332 U.S. 561.) Subsequently, the Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by the Attorney General of this State seeking a clarification of the court’s opinion. (Marino v. Ragen, 333 U.S. 852.) The hearing in the circuit court upon the remandment resulted in an order denying defendant’s petition. Following the entry of the second order of the circuit court of Winnebago County after the cause was remanded, Marino again sought a writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. His petition was denied on May 2, 1949, and his petition for a rehearing was denied on May 31, 1949.

During the progress of the proceedings described, at the November, 1948, term of this court we denied defendant’s petitions for a writ of mandamus (No. 30855) and his petition for a writ of certiorari (No. 30856). We granted him permission to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, ante, p. 35, and disposition of the petition is announced this day.

At the outset, we must observe that the record upon this writ of error is the common-law record and not the record which was before the United States Supreme Court in Marino v. Ragen, 332 U.S. 561. The decision rendered in Marino v. Ragen was not based upon a review of the common-law record, alone, but upon another and different record in the habeas corpus proceeding, consisting, in part, of defendant’s petition, the respondent warden’s answer, and the evidence heard in the circuit court of Winnebago County upon the issues made by the pleadings in the habeas corpus action. The significant difference between the records is that, from the evidence in the record before the United States Supreme Court, it affirmatively appeared that Marino was not represented by counsel, whereas the common-law record here is silent as to whether or not he was represented by counsel. The United States Supreme Court said:

“The facts conceded by respondent are as follows:

“The common-law record recites that petitioner was arraigned in open court and advised through interpreters of the meaning and effect of a plea of guilty and that petitioner signed a statement waiving jury trial and pleading guilty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. It does not appear, however, that an attorney was appointed to represent him. The waiver was not in fact signed by him, and no plea of guilty was entered at the trial. He was 18 years old at that time and had been in this country only two years. He did not understand the English language and it is doubtful that he understood American trial court procedure. The arresting officer served as an interpreter for petitioner at the original trial.

“The State of Illinois speaking through the Attorney General admits the foregoing facts, confesses error, 0and consents to a reversal of the judgment below. He states that the writ of habeas corpus is a proper remedy in Illinois in this case because the facts, which .he concedes to be a denial of due process of law under the decisions of this Court, were known to the court at the time of the original trial, though they were not a matter of record at the trial. Whether or not on this showing habeas corpus is an appropriate remedy in the court to correct a denial of due process is a question of state law as to which we accept the concession of the state’s Attorney General.

“In the light of the confession of error [Citations] and the undisputed facts, we conclude that petitioner was denied the due process of law which the Fourteenth Amendment requires.”

Defendant makes the contentions, among others, that the record does not show he pleaded to the indictment and that, in the absence of a plea, the circuit court was without jurisdiction to enter a judgment of conviction; that the statute was not complied with as to a plea of guilty; that the facts and the law have been adjudicated, and that he has been denied due process guaranteed by the fourteenth amendment to the Federal constitution. Although the record in Marino v. Ragen, 332 U.S. 561, is not the same record which is before us at this time, the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, based upon the confession of error of the State, speaking through the Attorney General, is a determination that defendant was denied “the due process of law which the Fourteenth Amendment requires.” We are of the opinion that this decision of the Supreme Court of the United States renders the principal issues made and argued in the present proceeding res judicata. To the extent that defendant seeks a construction of the remanding order of the Supreme Court of the United States, we respectfully decline the invitation to construe. The disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari in the habeas corpus proceeding not only remanded the cause to the circuit court but specifically held that habeas corpus was a proper remedy because the facts, conceded by the Attorney General to be a denial of due process of law under the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, were known to the trial judge at the time of the original trial, although they were not a matter of record at the trial. As observed in People ex rel. Marino v. Ragen, ante, p. 35, upon the remandment, the circuit court of Winnebago County heard further testimony and held full and complete hearings in order to determine whether defendant had been afforded a fair trial at the time of his conviction in 1925 and, further, whether he had been denied any of his constitutional rights. Based upon conclusive testimony, the circuit court rejected the contentions advanced by defendant and quashed the writ of habeas corpus. As recounted, the United States Supreme Court denied defendant’s petition for a writ of certiorari and, thereafter, his petition for a rehearing. Accordingly, the principal contentions made and argued in the present proceeding are not open for a further review.

But for the fact that one other contention urged by defendant was not presented in the habeas corpus proceeding, this writ of error would be dismissed for the adequate reason that defendant has had his day in court and, for all practical purposes, is seeking a second review of the record. (People v. Bernovich, 403 Ill.

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Related

Marino v. Ragen
332 U.S. 561 (Supreme Court, 1948)
The People v. Green
161 N.E. 83 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1928)
The People v. Gould
178 N.E. 133 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1931)
The People v. Bernovich
87 N.E.2d 609 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1949)
The People v. Lieber
192 N.E. 331 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1934)
Fletcher v. People
81 Ill. 116 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1876)
Bruen v. People
69 N.E. 24 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1903)
People v. McCauley
100 N.E. 182 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1912)
People v. Jordan
127 N.E. 117 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1920)
People v. Munday
127 N.E. 364 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1920)
Marino v. Ragen
333 U.S. 852 (Supreme Court, 1948)

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Bluebook (online)
88 N.E.2d 8, 404 Ill. 37, 1949 Ill. LEXIS 361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-people-v-marino-ill-1949.