People v. Jones

• Decision Date: 18 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 95576.,95576.
• Citation: 211 Ill.2d 140,809 N.E.2d 1233,284 Ill.Dec. 287
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Lee JONES, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

809 N.E.2d 1233

211 Ill.2d 140

284 Ill.Dec. 287

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Lee JONES, Appellant.

No. 95576.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 18, 2004.

As Modified Upon Denial of Rehearing May 24, 2004.

James K. Leven, Chicago, for appellant.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, and Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (Linda D. Woloshin, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, and Renee Goldfarb, William D. Carroll and Manny Magence, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

Justice RARICK delivered the opinion of the court:

This case presents the question of whether waiver applies to issues raised for the first time on appeal from the dismissal, at the first stage of proceedings, of a petition filed under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 1998)). Following simultaneous but severed trials in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant, Lee Jones, and a codefendant not involved in this appeal, Leroy Anderson, were found guilty of first degree murder and armed robbery. The circuit court sentenced defendant to a 35-year term of imprisonment for first degree murder and a concurrent 30-year term for armed robbery. On direct appeal, the appellate court reversed defendant's convictions and remanded the cause, finding the trial court had erred in failing to give defendant a fitness hearing to determine if she was mentally fit to stand trial. People v. Anderson and Jones, Nos. 1-94-1151,1-94-1334 cons., 282 Ill.App.3d 1099, 236 Ill. Dec. 448, 707 N.E.2d 293 (1996) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23) (Jones I).

On remand, defendant was found fit to stand trial following a hearing. She then pleaded guilty and was sentenced to consecutive terms of 22 years' imprisonment for first degree murder and 8 years' imprisonment for armed robbery. After the trial court denied defendant's motion to withdraw her guilty plea, she again appealed and her convictions and sentences were affirmed. People v. Jones, No. 1-98-0729, 303 Ill.App.3d 1099, 254 Ill.Dec. 694, 747 N.E.2d 1106 (1999) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23) (Jones II).

In December 1999, defendant filed a pro se postconviction petition arguing that she was not admonished regarding the possibility of consecutive sentencing by either the trial court or trial counsel, resulting in a deprivation of due process and effective assistance of counsel. Defendant's petition was summarily dismissed as frivolous and patently without merit by the trial court pursuant to section 122-2.1(a)(2) of the Act (725 ILCS 5/122-2.1(a)(2) (West 1998)). Defendant appealed, contending for the first time that: (1) she had received ineffective assistance of prior appellate counsel in both Jones I and Jones II, because neither counsel had argued that a retrial was barred by principles of double jeopardy; and (2) her conviction and sentence for armed robbery should be vacated because of the one-act, one-crime rule and because armed robbery was a lesser-included offense of felony murder. The appellate court held that defendant's newly raised claims were deemed waived under section 122-3 of the Act (725. ILCS 5/122-3. (West 1998)), and affirmed the dismissal of defendant's postconviction petition. No. 1-00-0367 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23) (Jones II). We granted defendant leave to appeal (177 Ill.2d R. 315(a)), and now affirm the appellate court.

The Post-Conviction Hearing Act provides a method by which a defendant may challenge his conviction or sentence for violations of federal or state constitutional rights. People v. McNeal, 194 Ill.2d 135, 140, 252 Ill.Dec. 19, 742 N.E.2d 269 (2000); People v. Tenner, 175 Ill.2d 372, 377, 222 Ill.Dec. 325, 677 N.E.2d 859 (1997).

"An action for post-conviction relief is a collateral proceeding, not an appeal from the earlier judgment. People v. Williams, 186 Ill.2d 55, 62, 237 Ill.Dec. 112, 708 N.E.2d 1152 (1999). To be entitled to post-conviction relief, a defendant must demonstrate a substantial deprivation of federal or state constitutional rights in the proceedings that produced the conviction or sentence being challenged. People v. Morgan, 187 Ill.2d 500, 528, 241 Ill.Dec. 552, 719 N.E.2d 681 (1999). Considerations of res judicata and waiver limit the scope of post-conviction relief `to constitutional matters which have not been, and could not have been, previously adjudicated.' People v. Winsett, 153 Ill.2d 335, 346, 180 Ill.Dec. 109, 606 N.E.2d 1186 (1992). "McNeal, 194 Ill.2d at 140, 252 Ill.Dec. 19, 742 N.E.2d 269.

In cases where the death penalty is not involved, adjudication of a postconviction petition follows a three-stage process. People v. Gaultney, 174 Ill.2d 410, 418, 221 Ill.Dec. 195,' 675 N.E.2d 102 (1996). The instant case was before the circuit court at the first stage of this process, during which the court is required to review the petition within 90 days of its filing and determine whether it is frivolous or patently without merit. 725 ILCS 5/122-2.1(a)(2) (West 1998). The circuit court's review at this first stage is independent, as the Act does not permit any further pleadings from the defendant, or any motions, responsive pleadings, or other input from the State. Gaultney, 174 Ill.2d at 418, 221 Ill.Dec. 195, 1575 N.E.2d 102. To survive first-stage dismissal, a pro se petitioner need only present the "gist" of a constitutional claim, which is a "low threshold" requiring only a limited amount of detail in the petition. Gaultney, 174 Ill.2d at 418, 221 Ill.Dec. 195, 675 N.E.2d 102; People v. Edwards, 197 Ill.2d 239, 244, 245, 258 Ill.Dec. 753, 757 N.E.2d 442 (2001). However, under section 122-2 of the Act, the petition must "clearly set forth the respects in which petitioner's constitutional rights were violated." 725 ILCS 5/122-2 (West 1998).

In People v. De La Paz, 204 Ill.2d 426, 274 Ill.Dec. 397, 791 N.E.2d 489 (2003), this court recently examined whether a defendant had waived review of an issue which he had failed to present in his postconviction petition. In De La, Paz, the circuit court had dismissed the defendant's petition upon the State's motion at the second stage of proceedings, the appellate court affirmed the dismissal, and we granted the defendant leave to appeal. Initially, we noted that "[j]ust as the legislature has set forth what must be contained in a petition, it has specified the consequences of omitting a claim: `[a]ny claim of substantial denial of constitutional rights not raised in the original or an amended petition is waived.' 725 ILCS 5/122-3 (West 1994)." De La Paz, 204 Ill.2d at 432,274 Ill.Dec. 397,791 N.E.2d 489.

However, this court has long recognized that we may, in appropriate cases, reach issues notwithstanding their waiver, and we may assume that the legislature understood this fact when it enacted section 122-3. De La Paz, 204 Ill.2d at 432, 433, 274 Ill.Dec. 397, 791 N.E.2d 489; see also 725 ILCS 5/122-7 (West 1998) (any final judgment entered upon a postconviction petition shall be reviewed in a manner pursuant to the rules of the supreme court); 134 Ill.2d R. 615(a) ("Plain errors or defects affecting substantial rights may be noticed although they were not brought to the attention of the trial court"). Further, this court has the responsibility for a just result and for the maintenance of a sound and uniform body of precedent which may sometimes "`override the considerations of waiver that stem from the adversary character of our system.'" De La Paz, 204 Ill.2d at 432-33, 274 Ill.Dec. 397, 791 N.E.2d 489, quoting Hux v. Raben, 38 Ill.2d 223, 225, 230 N.E.2d 831 (1967).

In view of the principles noted above, this court, in De La Paz, addressed the defendant's waived postconviction issue on the merits because it concerned the retroactive application of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), an important question upon which our appellate court was divided and the waiver of which the State had chosen not to argue. De La Paz, 204 Ill.2d at 433, 435, 274 Ill.Dec. 397, 791 N.E.2d 489. However, unlike in De La Paz, the waived issues raised by defendant in the present case do not involve our authority and duty to resolve conflicts or our responsibility to maintain a uniform body of precedent. Therefore, while defendant urges this court to address these issues on the merits, where we find no authoritative duty or responsibility which would "override the considerations of waiver," we decline to do so. Further, unlike in People v. Thompson, 209 Ill.2d 19, 282 Ill.Dec. 183, 805 N.E.2d 1200 (2004), wherein we recently held that an attack on a void judgment may be made at any time or in any court, either directly or collaterally, and that courts have an independent duty to vacate void orders, here, the record on appeal clearly shows that no action is necessary because no void judgment was entered. Rather, defendant pleaded guilty to the separate offenses of armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2 (West 1998)) and intentional first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2) (West 1998)), making dual convictions appropriate (People v. Scott, 148 Ill.2d 479, 562-63, 171 Ill.Dec. 365, 594 N.E.2d 217 (1992)), and making the consecutive sentence for the Class X armed robbery conviction mandatory under section 5-8-4(a) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-8-4(a) (West 1998); People v. Arna, 168 Ill.2d 107, 112, 212 Ill.Dec. 963, 658 N.E.2d 445 (1995)).

We are alternatively asked by defendant to reverse the appellate court's finding of waiver of her newly raised issues, in light of the fact that defendant's petition was on appeal from its summary dismissal at the first stage of postconviction proceedings. Here, the appellate court, citing People v. McNeal, 194 Ill.2d 135, 147, 252 Ill.Dec. 19, 742 N.E.2d 269 (2000), noted that a defendant is generally precluded from adding an issue while the matter...