People v. Quigley
| Decision Date | 18 June 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 82750,82750 |
| Citation | 183 Ill.2d 1,697 N.E.2d 735,231 Ill.Dec. 950 |
| Parties | , 231 Ill.Dec. 950 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Michael QUIGLEY, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, Jim Ryan, Attorney General, Criminal Appeals Div., Chicago, State's Attorney Winnebago County, Rockford, Robert K. Villa, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, for the People.
Defendant was charged with two driving under the influence (DUI) offenses, one a misdemeanor and the other a felony, in separate prosecutions based on the same incident. The misdemeanor charge was dismissed on speedy-trial grounds. In this appeal, we determine what effect, if any, this dismissal has on the subsequent prosecution of the remaining, felony DUI charge. The circuit court of Winnebago County ruled that the State could proceed on the felony charge, and the appellate court affirmed (No. 2-95-1643 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23)). We allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal (166 Ill.2d R. 315).
The underlying factual allegations are relatively simple. On August 27, 1994, defendant was involved in a multiple-vehicle collision while driving his car on Route 251 in or near the Village of Machesney Park. An individual in one of the other vehicles was injured as a result of the collision, suffering a broken ankle. A deputy sheriff of Winnebago County responded to the scene and asked defendant to perform field sobriety tests and a breathalyzer test. Defendant failed the field sobriety tests. The breathalyzer test revealed that defendant's blood-alcohol content (BAC) was 0.14.
Although the underlying allegations are straightforward, the circuit court proceedings are somewhat convoluted. Defendant was initially charged with two ordinance violations of DUI. Defendant filed a speedy-trial demand in connection with both of these ordinance violations.
Nearly three months later, on November 23, 1994, a grand jury indicted defendant for aggravated DUI under section 11-501(d)(3) of the Illinois Vehicle Code. This statute provides:
"(d) Every person convicted of committing a violation of this Section shall be guilty of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or a combination of both which shall be a Class 4 felony if:
* * *
(3) such person in committing a violation of paragraph (a) was involved in a motor vehicle accident which resulted in great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to another, when such violation was the proximate cause of such injuries." (Emphasis added.) 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(3) (West 1992).
Section 11-501(d)(3) requires, as a predicate for aggravated DUI, a violation of paragraph (a). Section 11-501(a) provides, in pertinent part:
"(a) A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while:
1. the alcohol concentration in such person's blood or breath is 0.10 or more based on the definition of blood and breath units in Section 11-501.2;
2. under the influence of alcohol * * *." 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a) (West 1992).
The indictment alleged aggravated DUI based on the violation of section 11-501(a)(2). The felony charge was docketed as case 94-CF-2699.
On December 15, 1994, the ordinance charges against defendant were dismissed. On that date, the State filed an information against defendant charging him with a misdemeanor violation of section 11-501(a)(1), driving while having a BAC of 0.10 or more. 1 The misdemeanor charge was docketed as case 94-TR-39335.
The record states that the misdemeanor "file [was] to be set with [the] felony charge." The misdemeanor and felony DUI charges were consolidated or intended to be consolidated. On January 6, 1995, however, the circuit court dismissed the felony charge of aggravated DUI. The reason for this dismissal is unclear from the record. Thus, only the misdemeanor DUI charge remained pending against defendant.
On January 18, 1995, defendant filed a speedy-trial demand in the felony DUI case, which had been dismissed. On February 1, 1995, defendant was reindicted on the same charge of aggravated DUI. The reindicted felony charge was docketed as case 95-CF-250. Thus, defendant was again facing the misdemeanor and felony DUI charges in two separate cases.
On June 6, 1995, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the misdemeanor DUI case on the grounds that the State had violated his right to a speedy trial. Defendant argued that the speedy-trial period had expired on April 10, 1995. On September 15, 1995, the circuit court granted the motion to dismiss the misdemeanor DUI case with prejudice on speedy-trial grounds. The State did not appeal the dismissal.
On September 25, 1995, defendant filed a motion to dismiss the aggravated DUI charge based generally on: (1) compulsory joinder grounds, and (2) double jeopardy grounds. The circuit court denied the motion to dismiss. The circuit court found that the charges were not subject to compulsory joinder because the two DUI charges were not based on the same act. Thus, the State was not required to bring the two DUI charges in a single prosecution. The circuit court further determined that double jeopardy did not bar the subsequent prosecution of the felony DUI charge. Based on this reasoning, the circuit court allowed the State to proceed with its prosecution of the felony DUI charge. Defendant immediately appealed the denial of the motion to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds. See 145 Ill.2d R. 604(f).
Defendant raised the same arguments in the appellate court. Defendant's arguments were again rejected. 2 The appellate court agreed with the circuit court that there was no compulsory joinder violation. The appellate court held that the State was not required to bring the misdemeanor and felony DUI charges in one proceeding because the offenses were not based on the same act. The appellate court also agreed that there was no double jeopardy violation. The appellate court held that the speedy-trial dismissal of the misdemeanor DUI charge did not constitute an "acquittal" for double jeopardy purposes. Thus, the subsequent prosecution was not barred.
The issue here involves the interrelationship of compulsory joinder, double jeopardy, and speedy-trial principles. The parties raise arguments addressing each of these areas. We consider each in turn.
Section 3-3 of the Criminal Code of 1961 requires the compulsory joinder of certain offenses in a single prosecution. Section 3-3 provides:
"(a) When the same conduct of a defendant may establish the commission of more than one offense, the defendant may be prosecuted for each such offense.
(b) If the several offenses are known to the proper prosecuting officer at the time of commencing the prosecution and are within the jurisdiction of a single court, they must be prosecuted in a single prosecution, except as provided in Subsection (c), if they are based on the same act.
(c) When 2 or more offenses are charged as required by Subsection (b), the court in the interest of justice may order that one or more of such charges shall be tried separately." (Emphasis added.) 720 ILCS 5/3-3 (West 1992).
This statute was enacted to prevent the prosecution of multiple offenses in a piecemeal fashion and to forestall, in effect, abuse of the prosecutorial process. See People v. Mullenhoff, 33 Ill.2d 445, 447, 211 N.E.2d 744 (1965); People v. Golson, 32 Ill.2d 398, 410-12, 207 N.E.2d 68 (1965). A prosecutor might otherwise harass a defendant through successive prosecutions of multiple offenses and put a defendant through the expense of several trials until the prosecutor obtains a result that satisfies him. See Golson, 32 Ill.2d at 410-12, 207 N.E.2d 68; People v. Kennedy, 161 Ill.App.3d 197, 199, 112 Ill.Dec. 785, 514 N.E.2d 251 (1987); People v. Lewis, 112 Ill.App.3d 626, 629-30, 68 Ill.Dec. 272, 445 N.E.2d 916 (1983).
We now address the compulsory joinder issue. Section 3-3 requires joinder where multiple charges are known to the prosecutor when the prosecution begins, the charges are within the jurisdiction of a single court, and the charges are based on the same act. In the instant case, the parties do not dispute that the misdemeanor and aggravated DUI charges were known to the proper prosecuting officer at the time the prosecution began or that the charges were within the jurisdiction of a single court. Neither party suggests that the circuit court ordered separate trials in the "interest of justice." 720 ILCS 5/3-3(c) (West 1992). The parties only dispute whether the two DUI charges were "based on the same act."
The appellate court found that the charges were not based on the same act. The appellate court stated that, although the two offenses required that defendant be intoxicated, each offense was premised on a different act. Specifically, the appellate court found that defendant committed the offense of misdemeanor DUI when he started driving his vehicle. He could have been arrested and charged with misdemeanor DUI any time before the accident. Defendant then committed the offense of aggravated DUI when he performed some other act that led to the accident. The appellate court stated that the offenses were completely separate acts that occurred at separate times. Thus, the misdemeanor and aggravated DUI charges were not required to be joined in a single prosecution.
The appellate court relied, in part, on People v. Mueller, 109 Ill.2d 378, 94 Ill.Dec. 524, 488 N.E.2d 523 (1985). In Mueller, the defendant was charged with murdering two individuals and concealing their bodies. Defendant was initially charged with the murders. Defendant claimed self-defense and was acquitted by a jury. After the trial, defendant was subsequently charged with homicidal concealment. He was...
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