People v. Patrick

• Decision Date: 30 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 111666.,111666.
• Citation: 960 N.E.2d 1114,355 Ill.Dec. 943,2011 IL 111666
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Tyron L. PATRICK, Appellee.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

2011 IL 111666

355 Ill.Dec. 943

960 N.E.2d 1114

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant,

v.Tyron L. PATRICK, Appellee.

No. 111666.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Dec. 30, 2011.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Michael J. Waller, State's Attorney, of Waukegan (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Stephen M. Soltanzadeh, Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, and Patrick Delfino, Lawrence M. Bauer and Victoria E. Jozef, of the Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, of Elgin, of counsel), for the People.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Thomas A. Lilien, Deputy Defender, and Jaime L. Montgomery, Assistant Appellate Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Elgin, for appellee.

OPINION

Chief Justice KILBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

[355 Ill.Dec. 945] ¶ 1 The issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in refusing to consider the defendant's pro se posttrial motions alleging ineffective assistance of counsel because those motions were not timely filed under section 116–1(b) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/116–1(b) (West 2006)). We hold that the trial court was required to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the factual basis of the defendant's ineffective assistance allegations. Accordingly, we affirm the appellate court's judgment remanding this matter to the trial court for a preliminary examination of the defendant's allegations.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 Defendant Tyron L. Patrick was charged by indictment in the circuit court of Lake County with reckless homicide (720 ILCS 5/9–3(a) (West 2006)) and four counts of failing to report an accident involving death or injury (625 ILCS 5/11–401(b) (West 2006)). The charges arose from a collision between two vehicles resulting in the death of one person and injuries to three others.

¶ 4 The evidence at trial established that Holly Graham was driving her vehicle with Tiara Langston in the front passenger seat. Gary Nixon and Jauqtel Foster were in the backseat of the car. Graham's car was struck by another vehicle while traveling through an intersection. Graham died as a result of the collision and her three passengers suffered severe injuries.

¶ 5 Lieutenant Richard Theis of the North Chicago police department testified that he was on patrol shortly after midnight when he saw a black car traveling at a high rate of speed. The vehicle failed to stop at an intersection. Theis turned around and accelerated to follow the vehicle, but he could not catch up to the black car. Theis estimated that the car was traveling approximately 80 miles per hour in a 30–miles–per–hour zone. Theis lost sight of the vehicle and called for backup. One to two minutes after he lost sight of the vehicle, the officers approached a collision between two vehicles at an intersection. Theis observed the black car stopped in the southbound lanes of the street and a white car against a tree. There were no occupants in the black car.

¶ 6 Officer Donald Florance testified that he responded to Lieutenant Theis's call for backup. When they arrived at the scene, he observed a black Monte Carlo with no occupants and a white Mercury with three people inside. Another passenger had been thrown from the Mercury. Florance further testified that approximately two weeks prior to this incident, he observed defendant standing by a gray Cadillac. When defendant got into the Cadillac and drove away, Officer Florance followed and activated his emergency lights to make a traffic stop. Defendant began traveling 50 to 60 miles per hour in a 25–miles–per–hour zone. Florance eventually ended his pursuit when defendant accelerated to about 90 miles per hour.

¶ 7 Officer Morris Wade testified that two days after the crash, defendant called and asked what charges would be filed if he surrendered. Wade told defendant that the investigation had not been completed and he was unsure of potential charges. When Wade asked defendant if he had received medical treatment for any injuries, defendant responded that he was not injured. Defendant stated he would turn himself in, but did not identify himself as the driver of the black vehicle.

¶ 8 Sergeant Salvatore Cecala testified that he recovered blood samples from the driver-side air bag and the driver-side floor of the black Monte Carlo. Cecala opined that the blood on the air bag could have come only from the driver. Cecala found a purse on the front passenger-side floor of the vehicle containing the identification of Tarielle Walls. He also found three cell phones in the car, one on each floorboard in the front and one plugged into the back console. One of the cell phones was marked with the name “Monique.” Based on his investigation, Cecala estimated that the vehicle was traveling approximately 95 miles per hour.

¶ 9 Cecala further testified that while taking a DNA sample from defendant, he noticed injuries above defendant's eyebrow, above his nose, on his shoulder, and on his back. The State presented testimony that the DNA profiles from the air bag and floorboard of the car matched defendant's DNA profile.

[355 Ill.Dec. 947] ¶ 10 After the State rested, defendant called Tarielle Walls. Walls testified that she was at a club with her sisters, Marielle and Monique, and her cousin when she met defendant and a man named “D.” She had known defendant for approximately two years, but met “D” for the first time that night. Walls testified that “D” was driving the black Monte Carlo that night, she was in the front passenger seat, and defendant was in the backseat. A white car pulled out from a stop sign and the cars collided. “D” and defendant both left the vehicle. A woman helped Walls get out of the car and she sat on the curb until police officers arrived. Walls testified that the car was traveling at the speed limit, not 90 miles per hour.

¶ 11 On February 27, 2008, the jury found defendant guilty of reckless homicide, failing to report an accident involving a death, and three counts of failing to report an accident involving an injury. Defendant filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, alternatively, for a new trial. On May 16, 2008, the trial court denied that motion and sentenced defendant to consecutive nine-year terms for reckless homicide and failing to report an accident involving a death. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment for each count of failing to report an accident involving an injury, to be served concurrently.

¶ 12 On June 10, 2008, defendant filed a motion to reconsider his sentence. While that motion was pending, defendant filed a pro se “Motion for Appointment of Counsel Outside the Office of the Lake County Public Defender.” In that motion filed on June 24, 2008, defendant alleged his trial counsel: (1) was not licensed to practice law and failed to inform him of that fact; (2) colluded with an assistant State's Attorney to secure his conviction by warning defendant that additional charges could be filed if he did not cooperate; (3) forgot to bring several exhibits crucial to his defense on the second day of trial; (4) failed or refused to challenge the imposition of consecutive sentences; (5) did not file posttrial motions challenging the police department's investigation and its failure to fingerprint the black Monte Carlo; (6) deprived him of his right to a speedy trial; (7) did not challenge in a posttrial motion the trial court's decision to allow a juror to remain on the jury after he fell asleep during trial; (8) failed to argue that defendant had no duty to report the accident because police officers were already present; and (9) failed to present an expert witness at trial.

¶ 13 Defendant's motion for appointment of counsel was accompanied by a pro se motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, alternatively, for a new trial, repeating the allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. Defendant sought an evidentiary hearing with appointed counsel outside the public defender's office.

¶ 14 The hearing on defendant's motion to reconsider his sentence was set for the following day. At that hearing, the trial court stated the pro se motions were filed “outside of the time period. I admonished the Defendant, so that will not be considered by the Court. It is untimely.” The trial court did not conduct any inquiry into the ineffective assistance allegations. The hearing on defendant's motion to reconsider his sentence was continued. Subsequently, on August 1, 2008, the trial court denied defendant's motion to reconsider his sentence.

¶ 15 On appeal, the appellate court vacated defendant's three convictions for failing to report an accident involving an injury based on the one-act, one-crime rule. The appellate court also held that the evidence was insufficient to sustain defendant's conviction of failing to report an accident involving a death and reduced that conviction to the lesser-included offense of leaving the scene of an accident (625 ILCS 5/11–401(a) (West 2006)). The appellate court further held that the trial court erred in ordering defendant to serve 85% of his reckless homicide sentence and that the trial court's violation of Supreme Court Rule 431(b) was not reversible error under the plain-error rule.

¶ 16 As for the trial court's refusal to consider defendant's pro se motions alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, the appellate court held that the trial court was required to examine the factual basis of those allegations. The appellate court observed that the trial court still had jurisdiction over the matter when the pro se motions were filed, and held that the trial court erred in failing to inquire into the allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. Accordingly, the cause was remanded to the trial court for a preliminary examination of the defendant's pro se allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel and for...