People v. Godinez
| Citation | 434 N.E.2d 1121,61 Ill.Dec. 524,91 Ill.2d 47 |
| Decision Date | 16 April 1982 |
| Docket Number | No. 54604,54604 |
| Parties | , 61 Ill.Dec. 524 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Ricardo GODINEZ, Appellee. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Tyrone C. Fahner, Atty. Gen., Chicago, and John A. Barra, State's Atty., Peoria , for the People.
Robert J. Agostinelli, Deputy State Appellate Defender and Thomas Lilien, Asst. State Appellate Defender, Ottawa, for appellee.
The defendant, Ricardo Godinez, pleaded guilty in the circuit court of Peoria County to armed robbery and aggravated kidnaping. He was given a sentence of 24 years' imprisonment for the robbery, and a concurrent sentence of 10 years' imprisonment for the kidnaping. The appellate court held that the sentence of 24 years for robbery was improperly disparate from the 15-year sentence received by a codefendant, Michael Godinez, his brother, who also pleaded guilty to the armed-robbery charge. The court considered that the trial court abused discretion in imposing the disparate sentences and reduced the defendant's sentence to 15 years. (92 Ill.App.3d 523, 47 Ill.Dec. 311, 415 N.E.2d 36.) We granted the People's petition for leave to appeal pursuant to Rules 315 and 612 (73 Ill.2d Rules 315, 612).
An indictment was returned on February 22, 1978, charging the defendant with aggravated kidnaping and armed robbery. Named as codefendants were Michael Godinez (the defendant's brother), Ralph Trevino (the defendant's cousin), Debra Huddleston (to whom the defendant was later married) and Kathy Newman (Debra's sister). On April 10, 1978, the defendant pleaded guilty to both charges.
Before the defendant's pleas were accepted, the People represented the following as a factual basis for the pleas (73 Ill.2d R. 402(c)). Ethiel Randle would testify that on February 3, 1978, she went to the Wisconsin Plaza Shopping Center in Peoria around 8:30 p. m. As she left her car, two masked men approached her. One of them had a gun. She was pushed into the front seat of her car, and her car keys were taken. The two men got into her car and drove her to another location in Peoria, where the driver left the car. He returned and she was then blindfolded. She was driven to another location, and the two men led her to an apartment. Her hands and feet were bound, and she remained there for several hours, until the police arrived and freed her. She later identified the defendant as one of the men who had abducted her at the plaza.
Leota Reay would testify that on February 3 she was with the defendant, Michael Godinez and Ralph Trevino in a car in Wisconsin Plaza around 8:30 p. m. The defendant and Trevino left the car, and thereafter she saw a car matching the description of Ms. Randle's auto being driven from the plaza by the defendant.
Kathy Johnson would testify that she was employed at the Convenient Food Mart in Peoria on February 3. At 10 p. m., three masked and armed men entered the store. One had a handgun; the others had knives. They took money from the cash register and a bottle of liquor from a shelf.
Andrew Koehl would testify that he was a customer in the store at the time of the robbery. He saw the car in which the robbers left, and his description of it matched that of Ethiel Randle's car.
Gary Cullen, a Peoria police officer, would testify that he stopped the above-described auto shortly after the robbery. He approached it, and as he reached in to turn off the engine, the vehicle drove off, brushing him aside.
Officer Richard Jordan of Peoria would testify that he then chased the car and brought it to a halt when his squad car collided with it. The auto was that of Ethiel Randle.
Leota Reay would testify that she accompanied the defendant, Michael Godinez and Trevino to the Convenient Food Mart, and that she remained in the car while they entered the store.
After the People made the above representation, the defendant agreed it was what the prosecution's evidence would show, and the court accepted the plea.
On April 10, 1978, Michael Godinez also pleaded guilty to the armed robbery. The count charging him with kidnaping was dismissed by the State following a plea-bargaining discussion, but there was no agreement or negotiation as to his sentence. Trevino went to trial and was convicted of both armed robbery and aggravated kidnaping.
A joint hearing on sentencing was held for the defendant and Michael on June 2, 1978. At the hearing, presentence reports were filed for consideration by the court. The reports included the prior criminal records of the two men. The defendant, who was 19 years old, had been convicted of burglary and theft in 1976, and he was given a one- to three-year prison sentence. The experience apparently was not an educational one, for after being given an early parole, he was convicted of another burglary in 1977. For this offense he was given a sentence of 3 to 10 years, and was released on an appeal bond in January 1978. The defendant was sent to a youth farm by juvenile authorities in January 1974, but was relocated because he had been involved in fights with other inmates. In the fall of 1974, the defendant was committed to the Department of Corrections after leaving without authority the youth facility to which he had been sent after being declared a delinquent for possession of a stolen auto.
The defendant obtained a General Educational Development (GED) certificate through the Department. The defendant used alcohol and drugs heavily following his release on the appeal bond in 1978, but he told the presentence investigator that he had reformed himself in this regard, and had turned down a recent offer of drugs.
The presentence report prepared on Michael Godinez noted that he was 21 years old and described his criminal history. He was convicted of unlawful possession of cannabis in 1974 (one-year probation), theft in 1975 (one-year probation and $50 fine), two burglaries in 1976 (five years' probation concurrently), and aggravated assault in 1977. He was given a four-month jail sentence for the assault, and his probation for the burglaries was revoked and he was given one- to three-year concurrent sentences. He, too, received an early parole, having been released in December 1977.
Michael also said that he was a heavy user of alcohol and drugs. It appears that, in February 1977, he had twice attempted suicide. As the defendant had done, he had obtained a GED certificate. Unlike the defendant, however, he had worked at a few jobs outside of the corrections system. He was enrolled in college courses in welding and blueprinting at the time of his last offenses.
Both presentence reports contained excerpts from police reports. One police report set out a statement given to police by Trevino. In it Trevino said that he was recruited by his cousins (the defendant and Michael) on the day of the offense to accompany them on the robbery. He stated that when he, the defendant and Michael entered the Convenient Food Mart, the defendant went in first and Michael entered last. In the store, the defendant did all the talking, while Michael served as the lookout. Trevino and the defendant emptied the cash registers. Trevino thought that the defendant had a handgun during the robbery. Trevino also stated that, after they left the store, the defendant drove the car.
At the sentencing hearing, the People presented three witnesses to show aggravating circumstances. Leota Reay testified that on February 3 she was with the defendant, Trevino and Michael on Wisconsin Avenue in Peoria. The defendant and Trevino left to steal a car, and returned in an auto with the defendant at the wheel. She said that Michael and she were unaware of the kidnaping of Ethiel Randle until the defendant informed them of it on the way to the apartment where Ms. Randle was to be held. Reay also testified that she saw the defendant, Trevino and Michael enter the Convenient Food Mart, with Michael carrying the gun.
Kathy Newman testified that she was with the defendant, Trevino and Michael on February 3. She stated also that Michael had a gun, and the others had knives.
Officer Gary Cullen testified that he was able to curb the car after the robbery. He stated that he reached into the car to turn off the ignition but it pulled away, throwing him aside. As the car backed away from the officer, it hit another auto, which an elderly man was entering. Officer Cullen's backup squad car gave chase and collided with the defendant's car.
The defendant, to show mitigating circumstances, presented his and Michael's parents. They told the court that their children had talents and career interests, but drugs and alcohol had altered their behavior. The defendant also testified that he had voluntarily used alcohol and drugs on February 3, the day of the crime. Debra Huddleston testified that she observed the defendant consume the drugs and alcohol on that day, and that he "wasn't acting himself."
The trial court sentenced Michael to 15 years' imprisonment on the armed-robbery conviction. The defendant was sentenced to 24 years on the armed robbery and was given a concurrent sentence of 10 years on the aggravated-kidnaping conviction. In both cases, the court stated that it saw no mitigating factors. Rather, the court recognized the presence of aggravating factors in the danger posed to the victims, the defendant's and Michael's serious criminal records, and the need to protect society while deterring others from committing similar offenses. The court said nothing regarding the differences in the sentences imposed on the defendant and his brother for the armed robbery.
Trevino, who had no prior convictions, was sentenced later. He was sentenced to four years for aggravated kidnaping and six years for armed robbery. The sentences were to be served concurrently.
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