People v. Whitfield
| Decision Date | 21 June 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 40431,40431 |
| Citation | 239 N.E.2d 850,40 Ill.2d 308 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. James H. WHITFIELD, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Gerald W. Getty, Public Defender of Cook County, Chicago (Shelvin Singer, Frederick F. Cohn and James J. Doherty, Asst. Public Defenders, of counsel), for appellant.
William G. Clark, Atty. Gen., Springfield, and John J. Stamos, State's Atty., Chicago (Fred G. Leach, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Elmer C. Kissane and David B. Selig, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for appellee.
The question here presented is whether a defendant has the constitutional right to be advised by his counsel of the State's offer to accept a plea of guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter and to recommend probation.
This appeal is from an order of the circuit court of Cook County dismissing defendant's petition under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act. The hearing judge found that the prosecutor had told defendant's attorney that the State would accept a plea of guilty to manslaughter and recommend probation, but he found that the offer was not communicated to the defendant. He held as a matter of law, however, that the failure to communicate the offer was not a violation of defendant's constitutional rights.
The record amply supports the findings of the trial judge. The affidavit by the assistant State's Attorney who prosecuted the case was attached to the petition and related the following: An offer to reduce the charge from murder to manslaughter was made to defendant's court-appointed counsel since the only witnesses were friends of the defendant, and the assistant State's Attorney stated that he would not object to an application for probation. Later that day the attorney said his client would not plead guilty and about the day of trial made a similar statement when asked about the possibility of a plea of guilty. When questioned by defendant's mother as to what would happen to him, the prosecutor related the offer made to the attorney and said further 'that her son would perhaps get probation if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.'
Defense counsel testified that he had talked to defendant's mother about the offer, but not with the defendant, and that he thought he could win the case. Both the defendant and his mother testified that she did not tell defendant of the offer until after he was convicted in a bench trial and was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of 14 to 18 years. There is nothing to indicate that the trial judge knew of the offer or its refusal.
As we said in People v. Darrah, 33 Ill.2d 175, 180, 210 N.E.2d 478, 481: 'These cases (prior citations) illustrate some of the problems that may result from a 'negotiated' plea--a plea of guilty to a lesser offense entered by agreement with the prosecution, for example, or one entered after an understanding has been reached as to the sentence that the prosecution will recommend.' The possibility of elimination of any differentiation between a sentence imposed after a plea of guilty and one imposed after trial was then discussed in Darrah followed by the following comment: ...
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Boyd v. Waymart
...(stating that the decisions regarding the plea process "ultimately must be made by the defendant [himself]"); People v. Whitfield, 40 Ill.2d 308, 239 N.E.2d 850, 852 (1968) (concluding that the right to accept state's plea offer belonged to defendant, not to counsel or defendant's mother). ......
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Davie v. State
...(1983); Cottle v. State, 733 So.2d 963, 964-65 (Fla.1999); Lloyd v. State, 258 Ga. 645, 373 S.E.2d 1, 3 (1988); People v. Whitfield, 40 Ill.2d 308, 239 N.E.2d 850, 852 (1968); Lyles v. State, 178 Ind.App. 398, 382 N.E.2d 991, 993-94 Williams v. State, 326 Md. 367, 605 A.2d 103, 108 (1992); ......
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Turner v. State of Tenn.
...722 (1985); Young v. State, 470 N.E.2d 70 (Ind.1984); Rasmussen v. Arkansas, 280 Ark. 472, 658 S.W.2d 867 (1983); People v. Whitfield, 40 Ill.2d 308, 239 N.E.2d 850 (1968) ("It follows logically that if a defendant has the right to make a decision to plead not guilty, he also has the right ......
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... ... [Alvernaz] adamantly maintained that he was innocent of the charges and refused to accept the plea bargain offer as set forth by the People. [p] It is my normal procedure to inform a defendant of the potential sentence in the event of conviction, however, it should be noted that I do not ... State (Tex.1984) 682 S.W.2d 385, 387; State v. Ludwig (1985) 124 Wis.2d 600, 369 N.W.2d 722, 728; State v. Whitfield (1968) 40 Ill.2d 308, 239 N.E.2d 850, 852; State v. Simmons, supra, 309 S.E.2d 493), in some cases recognizing that the remedy of a "new trial" ... ...
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