People v. Enis

• Decision Date: 22 November 2000
• Docket Number: No. 86636.,86636.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Anthony ENIS, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

743 N.E.2d 1

194 Ill.2d 361

252 Ill.Dec. 427

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Anthony ENIS, Appellant.

No. 86636.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

November 22, 2000.

Rehearing Denied January 29, 2001.

Robert J. Hauser, Waukegan, and Marshall Hartman, Office of the Illinois State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellant.

James E. Ryan, Attorney General, Springfield, and Jeff Pavletic, State's Attorney, Waukegan (Joel D. Bertocchi, Solicitor General, and William L. Browers and David H. Iskowich, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, of counsel), for the People.

Justice BILANDIC delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Anthony Enis, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Lake County dismissing his post-conviction petition without an evidentiary hearing. Because defendant was sentenced to death for the underlying murder conviction, his appeal lies directly to this court. See 134 Ill.2d R. 651(a). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the dismissal of defendant's post-conviction petition.

BACKGROUND

A. Criminal Trials

Defendant was indicted for the murder of Merlinda Entrata. A jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder. Defendant was sentenced to death. On direct appeal to this court, we reversed defendant's conviction and sentence, based on the prosecutor's improper cross-examination of defendant, and remanded the matter for a new trial. People v. Enis, 139 Ill.2d 264, 151 Ill.Dec. 493, 564 N.E.2d 1155 (1990).

On retrial, defendant was convicted of Entrata's murder and sentenced to death. On direct review, we affirmed defendant's conviction and sentence. People v. Enis, 163 Ill.2d 367, 206 Ill.Dec. 604, 645 N.E.2d 856 (1994). Defendant's petition for a writ of certiorari was denied. Enis v. Illinois, 516 U.S. 827, 116 S.Ct. 94, 133 L.Ed.2d 50 (1995).

The evidence presented against defendant on retrial is discussed in this court's opinion on direct appeal. See Enis, 163 Ill.2d at 375-84, 206 Ill.Dec. 604, 645 N.E.2d 856. We provide a brief summary here.

The victim, Merlinda Entrata, was the complainant in a criminal sexual assault case against defendant that was set to begin trial on August 17, 1987. Defendant had pled not guilty to the sexual assault charge and had been released on a personal recognizance bond. On August 10, 1987, shortly before 7 a.m., police found Entrata's body in the hallway of her Waukegan apartment building. She had sustained multiple close-range gunshot wounds to the head.

Prosecution witnesses identified defendant as the man they saw in the parking lot outside the victim's building on the morning of the shooting. Clara Burk testified that she saw defendant, who was wearing sunglasses, pursue Entrata from the parking lot into the apartment building. Defendant was carrying a box that resembled a lunch box. Dan Thacker testified that he saw a man running after Entrata in the parking lot. The man, whose description fit defendant, was wearing white gloves, white sunglasses and dark clothing, and was carrying a metal lunch box. Richard Hanson identified defendant as the man he saw running in the parking lot. The man was wearing white gloves and white sunglasses. As he ran, the metal box he was carrying fell open and a gun fell out of the box. Sylvia Barrett also saw defendant in the parking lot on the morning of the shooting. Defendant was wearing a dark-blue jumpsuit. In addition, John Twardy saw a man run through the parking lot, drop something, and retrieve it. Twardy lost sight of the man, and then saw a red or maroon car drive away. Twardy testified that the vehicle owned by defendant's girlfriend, Diane Gonzales, was similar to the car he saw leaving the parking lot. Within two hours of the shooting, police found Gonzales' car parked outside defendant's apartment. The hood of the car was warm. Unlike the other cars in the area, there was no dew on Gonzales' car.

A jury found defendant guilty of Entrata's murder. Defendant waived a jury at sentencing. The trial court determined that defendant was eligible for the death penalty in that he murdered the victim because she would have been a witness against him in a criminal prosecution (see Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 9-1(b)(8)), and that there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude imposition of the death penalty. The trial court sentenced defendant to death. On direct appeal, we affirmed defendant's conviction and death sentence. Enis, 163 Ill.2d 367, 206 Ill.Dec. 604, 645 N.E.2d 856.

B. Post-Conviction Proceedings

On June 14, 1995, defendant filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief. The circuit court appointed counsel to represent defendant in the post-conviction proceedings. The trial court subsequently granted attorney Robert Hauser leave to file an appearance as additional counsel in the post-conviction proceedings. In August 1996, Hauser directed a subpoena to the Waukegan police department, calling for the production of the "entire police file pertaining to Anthony Enis and/or Melissa Entratta [sic]." The circuit court granted the State's motion to quash the subpoena.

On November 27, 1996, defendant, through counsel, filed an amended petition for post-conviction relief alleging that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel at trial and sentencing. Defendant attached numerous affidavits and other documents to the amended petition. On April 17, 1997, the State filed a motion to dismiss the amended petition for post-conviction relief, arguing that defendant's claims are barred by the doctrines of res judicata and waiver, and are otherwise unsupported by the record or affidavit.

On April 25, 1997, defendant filed a motion for substitution of judge, alleging that certain rulings and comments by Judge Christopher Starck demonstrated prejudice against defendant. Defendant subsequently filed an amended motion for substitution of judge, with supporting affidavit, containing essentially the same allegations. Defendant's amended motion was transferred for disposition to Judge Stephen Walter, who denied the motion.

On October 17, 1997, the circuit court granted defendant leave to file a supplement to the amended petition for post-conviction relief. In this supplement, defendant argued that appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise, on direct appeal, the issue of trial counsel's ineffectiveness. The State responded with a motion to dismiss the supplement.

On November 4, 1998, the circuit court dismissed defendant's petition for post-conviction relief without an evidentiary hearing. The circuit court ruled that the claimed instances of ineffective assistance of trial counsel involved matters of trial strategy, were not supported by affidavit, could have been raised on direct review, or were already considered on direct review. The circuit court also ruled that there were no meritorious claims of ineffective assistance of appellate counsel.

On appeal, defendant challenges the orders of the circuit court dismissing his post-conviction petition without an evidentiary hearing, granting the State's motion to quash the subpoena directed to the Waukegan police department, and denying his motion for substitution of judge.

ANALYSIS

A. Post-Conviction Hearing Act

The Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 1998)) provides a remedy for criminal defendants who claim that a substantial violation of their constitutional rights occurred at the proceedings which resulted in their convictions, when such a claim was not, and could not have been, previously adjudicated. People v. Johnson, 191 Ill.2d 257, 268, 246 Ill.Dec. 642, 730 N.E.2d 1107 (2000). Issues that were decided on direct appeal are barred by the doctrine of res judicata, and issues that could have been raised on direct appeal, but were not, are deemed waived. People v. Cloutier, 191 Ill.2d 392, 397, 247 Ill.Dec. 464, 732 N.E.2d 519 (2000); Johnson, 191 Ill.2d at 268,246 Ill.Dec. 642,730 N.E.2d 1107. Waiver is not implicated, however, where a defendant's post-conviction claim relies on evidence dehors the record. People v. Holman, 164 Ill.2d 356, 362, 376, 207 Ill.Dec. 467, 647 N.E.2d 960 (1995). The petitioner is entitled to a hearing on his post-conviction claims only where the allegations of the petition, supported by the trial court record and accompanying affidavits, make a substantial showing of a violation of a constitutional right. Cloutier, 191 Ill.2d at 397,247 Ill.Dec. 464,732 N.E.2d 519; People v. Hobley, 182 Ill.2d 404, 427-28, 231 Ill.Dec. 321, 696 N.E.2d 313 (1998). All well-pleaded facts in the petition and in any accompanying affidavits are taken as true. People v. Towns, 182 Ill.2d 491, 503, 231 Ill.Dec. 557, 696 N.E.2d 1128 (1998). The sufficiency of the allegations contained in a post-conviction petition are reviewed de novo. People v. Coleman, 183 Ill.2d 366, 388-89, 233 Ill.Dec. 789, 701 N.E.2d 1063 (1998)

.

With these principles in mind, we consider whether the circuit court erred in dismissing defendant's post-conviction petition without an evidentiary hearing. Although defendant's petition raises numerous claims of ineffective assistance of counsel at trial, sentencing, and on direct appeal, we consider only those claims that defendant has raised in this appeal. See 177 Ill.2d R. 341(e)(7).

B. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

In order to succeed on a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, a defendant must satisfy the two-pronged Strickland test: a defendant must allege facts which demonstrate that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the result of the trial would have been different. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 2068, 80 L.Ed.2d 674, 693, 698 (1984); People v. Wilson, 191 Ill.2d 363, 370, 247 Ill.Dec. 443, 732 N.E.2d 498 (2000). A reasonable probability is a probability...