McKeag v. People
| Decision Date | 19 January 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 33730,33730 |
| Citation | 131 N.E.2d 517,7 Ill.2d 586 |
| Parties | John Arthur McKEAG, Defendant in Error, v. The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff in Error. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Latham Castle, Atty. Gen., John Gutknecht, State's Atty., Chicago (Irwin D. Bloch, John T. Gallagher, Rudolph L. Janega, William L. Carlin, Sherman Warso, R. James Platt, Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
Gerald W. Getty, Public Defender, Chicago (John M. Branion, Chicago, of counsel), for defendant in error.
This is a writ of error to review a judgment of the criminal court of Cook County which granted a new trial to the petitioner, John Arthur McKeag, after a hearing under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1955, chap. 38, pars. 826-832.) On June 8, 1953, McKeag pleaded guilty to four counts of armed robbery and was sentenced to a term of twenty years to life in the penitentiary. His petition charged that his plea of guilty was induced by promises of a lenient sentence if he co-operated with the prosecution.
At the post-conviction hearing McKeag testified that on February 18, 1953, after his arrest, he had talked with Lieutenant Pape of the robbery detail of the Chicago Police Department at the police station, and that Page had told him that if he would co-operate with the police and plead guilty, Pape would see to it that he received a light sentence, possibly only four to eight years. He further testified that on the morning of the trial, June 8, 1953, he had a conference with his attorney and Lieutenant Pape in the courtroom; that Pape said that the prosecutor wanted a sentence of from eight to fifteen years, but would agree to five to ten if there was a guilty plea. McKeag stated that he pleaded guilty in the expectation that a recommendation of five to ten years would be made and acted upon.
Gerald Getty, then an assistant to the Public Defender of Cook County, represented McKeag when he was convicted. He testified that on June 8, 1953, he talked with Lieutenant Pape and with Samuel Papanek, the assistant State's Attorney in charge of the case, and that both of them told him that the State would recommend a sentence of five to ten years if McKeag pleaded guilty; that he told his client that such a recommendation would be made, but that no such recommendation was made, and the judge sentenced McKeag without asking for a recommendation.
Papanek testified that on June 8, 1953, he had a conversation in the courtroom with Getty, in which he had told Getty that he would recommend a sentence of five to ten years if the court asked for a recommendation, but that the court did not do so. 'Had I had an opportunity to make a...
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Brooks v. Gladden
...in similar cases decided under the Illinois Post-Conviction Hearing Act, Smith-Hurd Ann.St., ch. 38, §§ 826-832. McKeag v. People, 1956, 7 Ill.2d 586, 131 N.E.2d 517 (plea of guilty induced by promise of prosecutor to recommend light sentence); People v. Morris, 1954, 3 Ill.2d 437, 121 N.E.......
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People v. Washington
... ... 'A guilty plea, if induced by promises or threats which deprive it of the character of a voluntary act, is void. A conviction based upon such a plea is open to collateral attack.' Machibroda v. United States, (1962) 368 U.S. 487, 493, 82 S.Ct. 510, 513, 7 L.Ed.2d 473, 478; see also, McKeag v. People, (1956) 7 Ill.2d 586, 588--589, 131 N.E.2d 517; People v. Ross, (1951) 409 Ill. 599, 604, 100 N.E.2d 923; People v. Jameson, (1944); 387 Ill. 367, 377, 56 N.E.2d 790; People v. Moore, (1931) 342 Ill. 316, 320, 174 N.E. 386; People v. Carzoli, (1930) 340 Ill. 587, 594, 173 N.E. 141. See ... ...
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... ... A plea of guilty made in reliance on an unfulfilled promise is not voluntarily made by the defendant. People v. Williams (1970), 47 Ill.2d 1, 264 N.E.2d 697; People v. Washington (1967), 38 Ill.2d 446, 232 N.E.2d 738; McKeag v. People, 7 Ill.2d 586, 131, N.E.2d 517; see also Brady v. United States (1970), 397 U.S. 742, 90 S.Ct. 1463, 25 L.Ed.2d 747; Santobello v. New York (1971), 404 U.S. 257, 92 S.Ct. 495, 30 L.Ed.2d 427 ... Prior to January 1, 1964 (the effective date of the Code of Criminal ... ...
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People v. White
...to be imposed, invalidates a plea of guilty. People v. Washington, 38 Ill.2d 446, 232 N.E.2d 738 (1967); see McKeag v. The People, 7 Ill.2d 586, 131 N.E.2d 517 (1956); see also People v. Walston, 38 Ill.2d 39, 230 N.E.2d 233 (1967). A guilty plea, if induced by promises which deprive it of ......