People v. Stefan
| Decision Date | 23 January 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 71612,71612 |
| Citation | 146 Ill.2d 324,586 N.E.2d 1239,166 Ill.Dec. 910 |
| Parties | , 166 Ill.Dec. 910 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Lawrence STEFAN, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Mary Robinson, Robinson & Skelnik, Elgin, for appellant.
Roland W. Burris, Atty. Gen., Springfield , for the People.
On November 6, 1986, a Du Page County grand jury returned a 12-count indictment charging defendant, Lawrence Stefan (Stefan), and L & S Industries, Inc., with violations of the Environmental Protection Act (the Act) (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 111 1/2, par. 1001 et seq.) for criminal disposal of hazardous wastes, reckless disposal of hazardous wastes, and unauthorized use of hazardous wastes within the Village of Addison, Illinois. Stefan moved to dismiss counts I, IV, VII, and X of the indictment on the ground that prosecution on those counts was barred by the constitutional protection against double jeopardy because Stefan previously had been convicted of the same offenses under the municipal ordinance of the Village of Addison (Addison Village Code § 23.13). Counts VII and X of the indictment, which were directed against L & S Industries, Inc., the corporation of which Stefan was the president, were dismissed because the corporation was involuntarily dissolved prior to the return of the indictment. However, the trial court denied Stefan's motion to dismiss counts I and IV of the indictment. Stefan appealed the denial of the motion to dismiss on jeopardy grounds by filing an interlocutory appeal to the appellate court (134 Ill.2d R. 604(f)). The appellate court affirmed the trial court's ruling on the motion (208 Ill.App.3d 205, 153 Ill.Dec. 303, 567 N.E.2d 18). We granted Stefan's petition for leave to appeal (134 Ill.2d R. 315). We reverse.
Counts I and IV of the indictment charge Stefan with criminal disposal (count I) and reckless disposal (count IV) of hazardous wastes into the Village of Addison sanitary sewer system between January 1, 1984, and January 1, 1985, in violation of sections 44(c) and (f) of the Act. Specifically, counts I and IV allege:
Count I: "[B]etween January 1, 1984 and January 1, 1985, at and within DuPage County, Illinois, LAWRENCE STEFAN committed the offense of Criminal Disposal of Hazardous Waste in that said defendant, without lawful justification, knowingly disposed of hazardous waste, in that said defendant disposed of hazardous waste, by depositing said hazardous waste into the Village of Addison sanitary sewer system, in violation of [section 44(c) ]."
Count IV: "[B]etween January 1, 1984 and January 1, 1985, at and within DuPage County, Illinois, LAWRENCE STEFAN committed the offense of Reckless Disposal of Hazardous Waste in that said defendant disposed of hazardous waste and his acts which caused the hazardous waste to be disposed, were performed with a conscious disregard of a substantial and justifiable risk that such disposing of hazardous waste was a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation, in that said defendant deposited hazardous waste into the Village of Sections 44(c) and (f)(1) of the Act provide, in pertinent part:
(1) A person commits the offense of Criminal Disposal of Hazardous Waste when, without lawful justification, he knowingly disposes of hazardous waste.
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(f) Reckless Disposal of Hazardous Waste.
(1) A person commits Reckless Disposal of Hazardous Waste if he disposes of hazardous waste, and his acts which cause the hazardous waste to be disposed of, whether or not those acts are undertaken pursuant to or under color of any permit or license, are performed with a conscious disregard of a substantial and justifiable risk that such disposing of hazardous waste is a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation." Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 111 1/2, pars. 1044(c), (f)(1).
Stefan filed a request for a bill of particulars directed to the State (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 38, par. 111-6), requesting that the State specify the dates of the alleged violations for each count of the indictment and identify the hazardous wastes alleged in each count. The State responded by filing a bill of particulars, stating with regard to the dates of the offenses that "the offenses constitut[ed] a repeated and continuous course of conduct on the part of each defendant." As to the types of hazardous wastes alleged, the State's bill of particulars asserted that the hazardous wastes were of the types referred to in several sections of the Illinois Administrative Code cited by the State (35 Ill.Adm.Code § 721.122 et seq. (1985)).
The State then filed, pursuant to court order, an amended bill of particulars. With regard to counts I and IV, the amended bill of particulars reiterates that the dates of the offenses were between January 1, 1984, and January 1, 1985. Further, the amended bill states that the offenses "constitute[ ] a repeated and continuous course of conduct on the part of the defendant between the dates indicated." As to the type of hazardous waste alleged in count I, the amended bill of particulars states that the waste meets the definitions in one or more of the following sections of the Illinois Administrative Code: section 21.123(a)(5), characteristic of reactivity; section 721.124(a), characteristic of "EP toxicity" due to the presence of cadmium exceeding more than 1 milligram per liter, and/or chromium exceeding 5 milligrams per liter; and section 721.131, hazardous wastes from nonspecific sources. 35 Ill.Adm.Code §§ 721.123(a)(5), 721.124(a), 721.131 (1985).
As to count IV, the amended bill of particulars states that the hazardous waste alleged meets the definitions of one or more of the following sections of the Administrative Code: section 721.122(1), characteristics of corrosivity; section 721.123(a)(5), cyanide-bearing waste with characteristics of reactivity; section 721.124(a), cadmium and chromium waste listed by virtue of characteristics of "EP toxicity"; section 721.131, hazardous wastes from nonspecific sources. 35 Ill.Adm.Code §§ 721.122(1), 721.123(a)(5), 721.124(a), 721.131 (1985).
Stefan moved to strike the State's amended bill of particulars on the grounds that the amended bill was not specific enough with regard to the dates of the offenses and the types of hazardous wastes alleged, and that the amended bill did not sufficiently limit the dates and types of wastes alleged. The trial court denied Stefan's motion to strike. Stefan then filed the motion to dismiss certain counts of the indictment, the denial of which is the subject of this appeal.
The prior prosecutions under the municipal ordinance of the Village of Addison, which Stefan alleges bar the prosecution by the State, were brought in two sets. The first set of six complaints was brought on February 8, 1984. Each of the six complaints named L & S Industries, Larry Stefan, president, as defendants. The complaints alleged that defendants knowingly discharged into the public sewer system The second set of ordinance violation complaints was brought on July 11, 1984, against L & S Industries, Larry Stefan, president. This set of three complaints alleged that defendants knowingly discharged into the public sewer system on April 17, May 30, and May 31, 1984, wastes containing cadmium, chromium, cyanide, and zinc in amounts greater than allowed under the Village of Addison ordinance.
[166 Ill.Dec. 914] the following materials on the following dates: (1) on January 27 and 30, 1984, a waste containing cyanide in amounts greater than allowed under the Village of Addison ordinance; (2) on January 31 and February 1, 1984, wastes containing excessive amounts of cyanide, cadmium, zinc, and chromium; (3) on February 2, 1984, a waste containing excessive amounts of cyanide; and (4) on February 3, 1984, a waste containing excessive amounts of cadmium and zinc. On May 2, 1984, upon the defendants' plea of guilty to the violations charged, the trial court entered an order imposing a fine of $3,000 plus $804.94 in fees and costs upon the defendants.
On February 13, 1985, an agreed order was entered, setting forth a finding that L & S Industries, Inc., violated the village ordinance by discharging, into the public sewer system, wastes containing excessive levels of prohibited chemicals. The order directs that L & S Industries, Inc., and Stefan shall no longer, as of the date of the order, engage in the business of metal plating in the Village of Addison.
All nine of the ordinance violation complaints cite section 23.13 of the Village of Addison ordinance, which provides, in pertinent part:
"No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes to any public sewers:
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(b) Any waters or wastes containing toxic or poisonous solids, liquids or gases in sufficient quantity, either singly or by interaction with other wastes, to injure or interfere with any sewage treatment process, constitute a hazard to humans or animals, create any hazard in the receiving waters of the sewage treatment plant, or to cause the effluent from the treatment works to violate applicable effluent standards.
* * * * * *
No person shall discharge or cause to be discharged the following described substances, materials, waters or wastes to any public sewers if it appears likely in the opinion of the superintendent that such wastes can harm either the sewers, sewage treatment process, or equipment, have an adverse effect on the receiving stream or otherwise endanger life, limb, public property or constitute a nuisance. * * * The...
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