People v. Swamynathan

• Decision Date: 22 January 2010
• Docket Number: No. 107441.,107441.
• Citation: 236 Ill.2d 103,337 Ill. Dec. 717,923 N.E.2d 276
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Ramesh K. SWAMYNATHAN, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

923 N.E.2d 276

236 Ill.2d 103

337 Ill. Dec. 717

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Ramesh K. SWAMYNATHAN, Appellant.

No. 107441.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

January 22, 2010.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Thomas A. Lilien, Deputy Defender, and Barbara R. Paschen, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Elgin, for appellant.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, and Michael J. Waller, State's Attorney, Waukegan (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Drew Meyer, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

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

Defendant, Ramesh K. Swamynathan, entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill to one count of first degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Nearly two years later, defendant filed a pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his sentence, asserting that he was unfit to enter the guilty plea, rendering his plea involuntary. The circuit court of Lake County recharacterized defendant's motion as a postconviction petition and summarily dismissed the petition as patently without merit. Defendant appealed, asserting that the trial court summarily dismissed his petition more than 90 days after the day it was docketed, in violation of the provisions of the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2006)). The appellate court affirmed. 385 Ill.App.3d 434, 324 Ill.Dec. 174, 895 N.E.2d 669. We granted defendant leave to appeal (210 Ill. 2d R. 315), and for the reasons that follow, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged with first degree murder after he confessed to stabbing the victim, Ramaro Chittiprolu, 85 times with a knife and vegetable peeler. After stabbing the victim, defendant called 911 and reported the crime. He confessed to police who arrived at the scene of the murder, and confessed again during a formal interrogation. At defendant's first court appearance to set bond, the State requested a fitness evaluation based on reports from the sheriff's department that defendant appeared to be mentally impaired and suicidal. The trial court ordered a fitness evaluation and defendant was subsequently found unfit to stand trial and placed in the custody of the Illinois Department of Mental Health (Department). Some 10 months later, the Department determined that defendant was fit with medication.

The trial court entered a finding of fitness, and also ordered that an interpreter be provided for defendant for all court proceedings pursuant to the Department's assessment of defendant's language skills. The record shows that defendant is a native of India and speaks Tamil, an Indian dialect. Despite this order, many of the proceedings, including the motion to suppress, proceeded without an interpreter, due to the scarcity of Tamil-speaking interpreters. Several discussions concerning defendant's language issues were had on the record, and defendant repeatedly indicated that he could follow the proceedings to some extent in English, but did not understand everything that was being said.

On April 29, 2004, with the aid of an interpreter, defendant entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill. The sentencing hearing commenced on May 27, 2004, and defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He did not file a direct appeal. Nearly two years later, on April 10, 2006, defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his sentence. The motion was placed on the call of a different judge from the judge who originally presided over defendant's case, and the matter was continued twice for ministerial reasons. On May 23, 2006, the trial court and the State discussed defendant's motion on the record, although defendant was not present. The State advised the trial court that defendant's motion was untimely in its current form, but could be recharacterized as a postconviction petition. The State added that if the petition were recharacterized, the State could not have input at the first stage of postconviction review. It was noted that the petition was filed on April 10, 2006, and the court commented that, if the petition were recharacterized, the court would have "90 days to try to resolve it then."

On June 26, 2006, after two continuances, the State advised the court that "last time the Court was considering, but had not declared whether it was going to interpret the defendant's motion as some recognizable form of post-trial relief or not." The trial court stated, "I haven't declared it yet, but I am aware of the fact that in this matter the 90-day period is up on July 13." The matter was then continued until July 10, 2006, at which time the court stated that it was inclined to recharacterize defendant's motion as a postconviction petition, but needed to first "look into a couple of cases that have come down from the Second District [of the appellate court]."

On July 13, 2006, the trial court noted that it had reviewed defendant's motion and the case law, and concluded that defendant's motion to withdraw his plea was untimely. The court stated that it intended to recharacterize defendant's motion as a postconviction petition, but explained,

"[A]dhering to * * * People v. Shelstrom [sic], 216 Ill.2d 45, , 833 N.E.2d 863, I believe that * * * before we can actually enter an order recharacterizing the petition which would start the other 90-day period we have to bring the defendant back and advise him pursuant to the Shelstrom [sic] case. * * * If the Court fails to do so, the pleading cannot be considered to become a post-conviction petition for purposes of applying to later pleadings * * *. So I think that's what we need to do is to have the defendant brought back, advise him as to what his options are and if he wants to amend it and then after we have done that enter such an order at which time the 90-day period would commence."

The matter was continued for defendant to appear.

On July 27, 2006, defendant was present in court but did not have the aid of an interpreter. The trial court asked defendant if he could understand English, and defendant responded, "A little bit. I do not know fluent English, but I understand." The trial court then explained that defendant's motion was untimely, but that the court was offering defendant an opportunity to agree to recharacterization. Defendant was asked if he agreed to recharacterization, and he stated, "Yes. That is a good thing, right?" The trial court advised defendant that the motion would be recharacterized as a postconviction petition, that it would be considered over a 90-day period, and that defendant would not be entitled to an attorney during that time. Defendant responded by asking "[s]o when can I get [an attorney]?" and then asked whether he was "eligible for a state's attorney." It was explained that defendant was not eligible for an appointed attorney at this stage, but that he could hire his own attorney. The matter was then continued for status, and defendant was advised that it was unnecessary for him to appear in court on the next scheduled date. The record does not specifically explain why defendant was not fully admonished at this time.

The matter was called for status on September 7 and October 5, and then continued to obtain the court file until October 11, 2006. There is no record of proceedings for October 11 in the record, but the record demonstrates that on October 17, 2006, the State advised the court that defendant needed to be admonished, and an order was entered arranging for defendant's presence in court.

On November 2, 2006, defendant was present in court and an interpreter was made available by telephone. With the aid of the interpreter, defendant was advised that his motion was going to be recharacterized as a postconviction petition and was admonished pursuant to People v. Shellstrom, 216 Ill.2d 45, 57, 295 Ill.Dec. 657, 833 N.E.2d 863 (2005). Defendant was then asked if he wanted to amend his pleading. Defendant indicated that he did not want to amend the pleading, but asserted that he wanted an evidentiary hearing. Defendant was advised that his petition would have to survive summary dismissal to become eligible for an evidentiary hearing. After the telephone conversation with the interpreter ended, the postconviction review process was explained to defendant again, but without the benefit of the interpreter. Defendant demonstrated his understanding of the process by repeating the explanation to the court, and was advised, "We're starting another 90 days and if you decide you want to file anything, do so as soon as possible." The matter was continued for 30 days and was then continued to January 5, 2007. There is no record of the January 5, 2007, proceeding. On January 26, 2007, the trial court entered a written order summarily dismissing defendant's postconviction petition as patently without merit.

Defendant filed a motion in the appellate court for summary remand, asserting that the trial court erred in failing to summarily dismiss his petition within 90 days of docketing as required under section 122-2.1(a)(2) of the Act (725 ILCS 5/122-2.1(a)(2) (West 2006)). Defendant also appealed the summary dismissal of his postconviction petition on the merits. The appellate court took the motion for summary remand with the case and rejected defendant's assertion. The appellate court concluded that under Shellstrom, defendant's pleading was not considered a postconviction petition, subject to the guidelines of the Act, until defendant was fully admonished of the consequences of recharacterization. Because defendant did not receive full admonishments until the November 2, 2006, hearing, the trial court's dismissal of defendant's petition on January 26, 2007, was within 90 days and was timely. The appellate court then considered defendant's postconviction claim on the merits and...