People v. Hemphill
| Decision Date | 30 March 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1-20-1112 |
| Citation | 2022 IL App (1st) 201112,193 N.E.3d 995,456 Ill.Dec. 755 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Carl HEMPHILL, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, and Katie Anderson, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Enrique Abraham, Douglas P. Harvath, Daniel Piwowarczyk, and Justin Erb, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 Defendant Carl Hemphill appeals the trial court's denial of his motion for leave to file his pro se successive postconviction petition. He argues on appeal that, as a 21-year-old, his 40-year sentence is an unconstitutional de facto life sentence under both the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution ( U.S. Const., amend. VIII ) and the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution ( Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 11 ). Based on emerging authority regarding youthful offenders and his unconstitutional sentence, defendant asserts that he satisfied the requisite cause and prejudice for filing a successive postconviction petition and that the trial court erred in denying his motion.
¶ 2 Following a bench trial, defendant was convicted of first degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery, and attempted armed robbery and was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of 40 years for the murder and 10 years each for the other convictions. Since defendant is not challenging his conviction, we detail the trial evidence only as necessary for the resolution of the issues raised on appeal.
¶ 3 The offenses arose out of an April 1999 incident in which defendant and his two codefendants Troy Ballard and Toussaint Daniels devised a plan to rob the victim Terry Sales, a known drug dealer. Upon meeting with Sales, defendant held him at gunpoint while Ballard searched Sales's pockets. Defendant and Ballard were wearing face masks.
¶ 4 Finding no drugs or valuables, defendant and Ballard forced Sales into the trunk of Sales's vehicle. After driving Sales's car for some time, defendant and his codefendant pulled over, and Ballard demanded that Sales turn over his cell phone for fear he might call the police. Later, the men stopped again, ordered Sales out of the trunk, and returned his car keys. When Sales cursed at defendant and demanded the return of his phone, defendant shot and killed him. Defendant then fled the scene in Sales's vehicle. Defendant then went to see the film "The Matrix" at the Ford City shopping center. While there, he lost the keys to Sales's car. The following day, defendant and Ballard returned to Ford City and burned Sales's vehicle in the parking lot because it had their fingerprints on it.
¶ 5 After his arrest, defendant provided a court-reported statement to an assistant state's attorney in which he admitted to the robbery, kidnapping, and murder of Sales. In his statement, defendant admitted that he previously gave Sales $500 to purchase drugs. Sales left to get the drugs, never returned, and stole defendant's money. Defendant stated that, when Sales was cursing at him, his temper "built up" and he thought about the money Sales had stolen from him. Defendant was "very angry," and he shot Sales multiple times.
¶ 6 At sentencing, the trial court heard evidence in aggravation and mitigation. Defendant's presentence investigation (PSI) disclosed that he was 21 years old at the time of the offenses and was a member of the Vice Lords street gang until 2002. He had one prior conviction for criminal trespass to a vehicle in 1997, for which he received 24 months’ probation, which he subsequently violated. Defendant was "kicked out" of high school after three years and hoped to earn his general equivalency diploma (GED).
¶ 7 Defendant's mother and grandmother testified in mitigation about defendant's childhood, including his prescribed use of Ritalin and placement in special education classes. His grandmother testified that defendant fell from the third floor when he was a baby and the fall "sort of [took] something away from him." His mother testified that she has multiple sclerosis and defendant was "always there" for her. She also discussed how defendant fell at age two and had a concussion. He was prescribed Ritalin from first grade through high school. Defendant left school his junior year. She stated that defendant did not have a discipline problem at home and showed respect toward her and other family members.
¶ 8 In his allocution, defendant admitted his plan was to rob Sales and he told Sales he could go. He had no intention of killing him. He stated, "I was young, I was stupid, I was out there, I know what I [was] supposed to have been doing but I wasn't doing it." He further stated that he grew up during the four years he was in jail and was "very sorry" for what happened and asked the court for mercy for him and for the Sales family.
¶ 9 Following arguments, the court detailed its findings.
¶ 10 The court then sentenced defendant to a term of 40 years for first degree murder and separate 10-year terms for aggravated kidnapping, robbery, and attempted armed robbery, to be served concurrently. The court declined to impose consecutive sentences because it found that defendant's "criminal objective was constantly changing from the time of the armed robbery which resulted in attempt armed robbery, up until the murder and then the arson."
¶ 11 This court affirmed defendant's convictions and sentences on direct appeal. See People v. Hemphill , No. 1-03-0895, 319 Ill.Dec. 307, 885 N.E.2d 578 (2005) (unpublished order under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23 ).
¶ 12 Defendant subsequently filed multiple collateral attacks against his convictions. See People v. Hemphill , No. 1-06-3481, 370 Ill.Dec. 465, 988 N.E.2d 241 (2010) (unpublished order under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23 ) (affirming the summary dismissal of defendant's 2006 pro se postconviction petition); People v. Hemphill , 2013 IL App (1st) 110654-U, 2013 WL 1092975 (); People v. Hemphill , 2017 IL App (1st) 162017-U, 2017 WL 3995616 (); People v. Hemphill , No. 162840 (2018) () (granting appointed appellate counsel's motion for leave to withdraw under Pennsylvania v. Finley , 481 U.S. 551, 107 S.Ct. 1990, 95 L.Ed.2d 539 (1987), and affirming the circuit court's denial of defendant's 2016 motion for leave to file his second successive postconviction petition).
¶ 13 In September 2017, defendant filed his pro se successive postconviction petition arguing that his 40-year sentence was a de facto life sentence in violation of both the eighth amendment to the United States Constitution ( U.S. Const., amend. VIII ) and the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution ( Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 11 ) because he was 21 years old at the time of the offenses. Defendant argued that he established the requisite cause and prejudice necessary to file his successive petition because the emerging authority involving youthful offenders did not exist at the time of his prior postconviction petitions and he received an unconstitutional de facto life sentence. In support of his petition, defendant attached documents discussing research on...
To continue reading
Request your trial