People v. Harris
| Decision Date | 28 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | 4-20-0095 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JAMES C. HARRIS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
This Order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Sangamon County No. 98CF724 Honorable John W. Belz, Judge Presiding.
HARRIS JUSTICE.
¶ 1 Held: The trial court did not err in dismissing defendant's successive postconviction petition because the petition failed to state a claim of actual innocence and failed to state a claim that the truth-in-sentencing statute is unconstitutional as applied to defendant.
¶ 2 In January 1999, defendant, James C. Harris (born December 12, 1980), pleaded guilty to first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1998)), following the shooting death of Cory Miller, which occurred on August 6, 1998. Defendant was sentenced to 27 years' imprisonment. Later, defendant filed a postconviction petition, which the trial court dismissed. The court subsequently granted defendant leave to file a successive postconviction petition but ultimately dismissed the petition on the State's motion. Defendant appeals, arguing the court erred in dismissing his successive postconviction petition because he sufficiently stated a claim of actual innocence and a claim that the Illinois truth-in-sentencing statute, section 3-6-3 (a)(2)(i) of the Unified Code of Corrections (Code) (730 ILCS 5/3-6-3(a)(2)(i) (West 1998)), requiring him to serve the entirety of his sentence without the possibility of parole, is unconstitutional as applied to him because he committed the offense for which he is incarcerated while he was a juvenile. We affirm.
¶ 4 On August 20, 1998, the State charged defendant with three counts of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1998)). Later, the State charged defendant with three more counts of first degree murder (id. § 9-1 (a)(1)-(3)), one count of aggravated battery (id. § 12-4(a)), and one count of solicitation (id. § 8-1 (a)). All of the charges against defendant arose out of the shooting death of Cory Miller, which occurred on August 6, 1998.
¶ 5 On January 22, 1999, defendant pleaded guilty to one count of first degree murder. In exchange for his plea, the State agreed to recommend a sentencing cap of 30 years in prison and dismiss the remaining charges against defendant.
¶ 6 The State provided the following factual basis in support of defendant's plea. At around 5:15 a.m. on August 6 1998, a woman noticed a body lying in the roadway on Perkins Court in Springfield. The woman flagged down a nearby police officer, who identified the body as Cory Miller. Detectives Tim Cunningham and Pat Ross interviewed several witnesses in relation to Miller's death, including defendant and Robert Davis. Defendant and Davis both reported that, prior to Miller's death, the three of them were "riding around" and eventually "noticed two men with masks that they thought were from Chicago that were armed with guns walking towards the vehicle in which they were riding." Defendant and Davis told police that Miller was asleep at this time, so defendant and Davis tried to wake him, but they were unsuccessful. As the masked men continued to approach defendant and Davis fled, leaving Miller behind. Later, Davis "changed his story." The new version of events Davis reported was consistent with information police had learned from Jerrod Hammonds and Ronald McClain, both of whom reported they were also riding around with defendant, Davis and Miller before Miller's death. Davis, Hammonds, and McClain all told police that, in the early evening hours of August 5, defendant was "looking for [Miller] and actually went to a household armed with a gun looking for [him]." Defendant eventually found Miller, who "went willingly with them into the vehicle." Davis, Hammonds, and McClain told police they all "drove around for a while," and eventually defendant, who was seated in the front passenger seat of the vehicle, turned around and shot Miller, who was seated in the backseat, multiple times. Defendant and McClain then dragged Miller's body out of the car and left it on Perkins Court. After the body was removed from the vehicle, defendant instructed Davis and McClain to burn the vehicle, which they did. Defendant disposed of the gun "in a sewer." Following an autopsy, it was determined Miller died of gunshot wounds.
¶ 7 After the State provided the factual basis, defendant confirmed he was "pleading guilty *** as a free and voluntary act," and the court accepted defendant's plea.
¶ 8 On March 12, 1999, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing. During the hearing, both parties presented evidence, and defendant made a statement in allocution. In their arguments, the parties noted that, pursuant to section 3-6-3 (a)(2)(i) of the Code, the Illinois truth-in-sentencing law (730 ILCS 5/3-6-3(a)(2)(i) (West 1998)), defendant would have to serve the entirety of his sentence. The court ultimately sentenced defendant to 27 years in prison. In rendering its judgment, the court stated it had considered, among other things, defendant's youth, that he pleaded guilty, and that he did not have any "serious prior convictions."
¶ 9 Defendant did not file a direct appeal, but in April 2002, he filed a pro se petition for postconviction relief pursuant to the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2000)). In his petition, defendant alleged the trial court erred in accepting his guilty plea without an "inquiry to [his] mental ability" and without explaining the "conduct and elements to which he may be accountable for." Defendant also claimed ineffective assistance of trial counsel. The court dismissed defendant's petition as "frivolous and patently without merit." Defendant did not appeal the dismissal of his postconviction petition.
¶ 10 In May 2006, defendant pro se filed a second postconviction petition. Several months later, the court appointed counsel to represent defendant on his petition, and the State filed a motion to dismiss. In its motion, the State contended defendant's petition should be dismissed because defendant failed to obtain leave of court before filing the petition, as required under section 122-1(f) of the Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1 (f) (West 2004)). The court granted the State's motion. Defendant did not appeal the dismissal order.
¶ 11 In May 2008, defendant filed a motion for leave to file a successive postconviction petition. In his motion, defendant claimed, inter alia, that he should be allowed to file a successive petition because he had obtained newly discovered evidence that" demonstrate[ed] [his] actual innocence." Defendant also repeated the version of events he had previously told police, alleging that, before Miller's death, masked men approached the vehicle he, Davis, and Miller were in while the three of them were stopped on Brown Street. Defendant attached multiple documents to his motion, including an affidavit from McClain in which McClain recanted his prior statement to police implicating defendant in Miller's murder. In the affidavit, McClain averred that, at some point prior to Miller's death, he, Hammonds, defendant, and Robert Davis were "riding around." (We note that, in McClain's affidavit attached to defendant's motion, McClain averred that Robert "McClain," not Robert "Davis," was in the car, but when defendant attached an updated affidavit from McClain in his later filings, the affidavit referred instead to Robert Davis and not to Ronald McClain.) According to McClain, at some point before Miller's death, he and Hammonds were dropped off at the intersection of 18th Street and Stuart Street in Springfield and defendant and Davis drove away. In his affidavit, McClain further averred as follows:
¶ 12 A year later, defendant filed a supplemental motion for leave to file a successive postconviction petition. In this motion, defendant presented more "newly discovered evidence," including an affidavit from Hammonds. Like McClain, Hammonds stated in his affidavit that he had been riding around in a car with Davis, McClain, and defendant on August 6, 1998. He stated that, after a time, he and McClain were dropped off on 18th Street and Stuart Street in Springfield and that Davis and defendant then drove away. In his affidavit, Hammonds acknowledged he had spoken with police but claimed he "never told Detective Pat Ross or any detective that [he] witnessed [defendant] murder anyone." Instead, he averred he "only detailed [his] whereabouts when [he] was dropped off by [Davis and defendant] and [his] earlier encounter with them." Defendant also attached to his motion a ballistics report from the Illinois State Police Division of Forensic Services. The ballistics report indicated that four bullets, two bullet fragments, and a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol were recovered by police after Miller's death. The report further indicated the fragments were unsuitable for forensic testing and testing of the bullets and gun was inconclusive. The report...
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