People v. Kliner

• Decision Date: 06 January 2015
• Docket Number: No. 1–12–2285.,1–12–2285.
• Citation: 24 N.E.3d 1256
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Ronald KLINER, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

24 N.E.3d 1256

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee
v.
Ronald KLINER, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 1–12–2285.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fourth Division.

Jan. 6, 2015.

24 N.E.3d 1256

Michael J. Pelletier, Alan D. Goldberg, and Sean Collins-Stapleton, all of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

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Anita M. Alvarez, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg and Michele Grimaldi Stein, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

Presiding Justice FITZGERALD SMITH delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Defendant Ronald Kliner appeals the circuit court's dismissal of his 2011 petition for relief from judgment filed pursuant to section 2–1401(f) of the Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/2–1401(f) (West 2010)). On appeal, defendant asserts, as he did in the petition, that his 1996 convictions for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder are void because the trial record does not affirmatively show the grand jury that entered his indictments was lawfully impaneled. We affirm.

¶ 2 Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of the 1988 murder of Dana Rinaldi and for conspiring to commit that crime. Defendant was found eligible for the death penalty because he committed the murder pursuant to a contract or agreement by which he was to receive money or valuables in exchange for committing that crime. See Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, ¶ 9–1(b)(5). The trial court found no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude the imposition of the death penalty, and defendant was sentenced to death. On direct appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court, defendant's conviction and sentence were affirmed. People v. Kliner, 185 Ill.2d 81, 178, 235 Ill.Dec. 667, 705 N.E.2d 850 (1998). Defendant filed a petition for writ of certiorari before the United States Supreme Court, which was denied. Kliner v. Illinois, 528 U.S. 830, 120 S.Ct. 86, 145 L.Ed.2d 73 (1999). In 2003, defendant's death sentence was commuted to a term of natural life imprisonment.

¶ 3 After his direct appeal, defendant initiated several collateral proceedings. Defendant's first petition for postconviction relief, filed in 2001, was dismissed after an evidentiary hearing. On appeal, this court affirmed. People v. Kliner, No. 1–04–0050, 368 Ill.App.3d 1219, 341 Ill.Dec. 758, 931 N.E.2d 366 (2006) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23 ). Defendant also filed motions requesting deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing, which the circuit court denied. On appeal, this court affirmed. People v. Kliner, Nos. 105–3150, 1–07–0374 cons., 385 Ill.App.3d 1130, 361 Ill.Dec. 129, 970 N.E.2d 129 (2008) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23 ); People v. Kliner, 2013 IL App (1st) 110785–U, 2013 WL 3357839.

¶ 4 On October 3, 2011, defendant filed a pro se petition for relief from judgment under section 2–1401(f) (735 ILCS 5/2–1401(f) (West 2010)), alleging his convictions are void because the grand jury that indicted him in 1993 lacked jurisdiction to act. He asserted the record of his trial proceedings did not establish that the grand jury was sworn pursuant to section 112–2(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/112–2(b) (West 1992)), which states that the “Grand Jury shall be impaneled, sworn and instructed as to its duties by the court.”

¶ 5 Defendant further alleged the trial record did not include a certificate as to the impanelment of the grand jury as required by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 608(a)(2) (eff. Aug. 1, 1986). Attached to defendant's petition was a letter from Best E. Anaele, the acting chief deputy clerk of the circuit court of Cook County. The letter to defendant, dated March 30, 2011, stated it was responding to defendant's

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request for information about case number 93 CR 15476 and “after a careful review of the court record, it does not appear that a Certification of Indictment Grand Jury Empanelment regarding the above-mentioned case exists.”

¶ 6 On April 27, 2012, the State filed a motion to dismiss the petition, contending that defendant had placed the burden on the State to produce a certificate of grand jury impanelment, which it describes as a nonexistent document fabricated by defendant. The State further argued that defendant was required to seek relief pursuant to section 2–1401 within two years of his sentencing and that his petition was therefore untimely. On June 1, 2012, defendant filed a response citing People v. Gray, 261 Ill. 140, 141, 103 N.E. 552 (1913), which held that the record of a...