Title: People ex rel. Birkett v. Bakalis

State: illinois

Issuer: Illinois Supreme Court

Document:

Docket No. 90114-Agenda 14-March 2001.
THE PEOPLE ex rel. JOSEPH E. BIRKETT, State's Attorney of 
Du Page County, Petitioner, v. HON. GEORGE J. BAKALIS,
Judge of the 18th Judicial Circuit, et al., Respondents.
Opinion filed June 21, 2001.

	CHIEF JUSTICE HARRISON delivered the opinion of the
court:
	Marilyn Lemak is awaiting trial in the circuit court of Du Page
County for the murder of her three children. The State has given
notice that it will seek the death penalty. Lemak has given notice
that she will assert an insanity defense.
	In preparing their client's defense, Lemak's attorneys have
sought leave to take the depositions of certain witnesses, including
Lemak's husband, David. Following a hearing, the circuit court
granted the motion as to David. The State's Attorney of Du Page
County then petitioned this court for a writ of mandamus or,
alternatively, for a supervisory order (155 Ill. 2d Rs. 381, 383) to
compel the circuit court to vacate its order.
	The circuit court stayed its order pending our review. We
subsequently denied the State's petition for a writ of mandamus,
but ordered briefing on the State's motion for a supervisory order
and set the matter for oral argument. Briefing has now been
concluded and oral argument has been presented. For the reasons
that follow, the motion for a supervisory order is denied.
	Supervisory orders are granted by our court only in limited
circumstances. Their predominate use is to address issues which
are brought to our attention in the context of petitions for leave to
appeal, but which do not warrant full briefing, oral argument and
issuance of an opinion. The most typical example of this is when
a new opinion is released by this court or by the Supreme Court of
the United States which appears to be dispositive of other cases
pending before us on petitions for leave to appeal. Because
issuance of additional opinions addressing the same legal
questions in each of the pending cases would contribute little to
this state's body of legal precedent, our normal practice is to
exercise our supervisory authority to vacate the lower court's
judgment and remand for reconsideration in light of the new
decision. See, e.g., People v. Harden, 191 Ill. 2d 545 (2000)
(petition for leave to appeal denied but court exercised supervisory
authority to vacate judgment of the appellate court and remand
cause to the appellate court with directions to reconsider its
judgment in light of People v. Diaz, 192 Ill. 2d 211 (2000)).
	Beyond our leave to appeal docket, supervisory orders are
disfavored. As a general rule, we will not issue a supervisory order
unless the normal appellate process will not afford adequate relief
and the dispute involves a matter important to the administration
of justice (see People ex rel. Foreman v. Nash, 118 Ill. 2d 90, 97-99 (1987)) or intervention is necessary to keep an inferior tribunal
from acting beyond the scope of its authority (People ex rel. Daley
v. Suria, 112 Ill. 2d 26, 38 (1986)).
	When it initially sought our review, the State argued that the
circuit court had no authority to order the deposition of Lemak's
husband. That argument, however, was premised on the law as it
existed prior to recent rule changes promulgated by our court. On
March 1, 2001, we enacted a comprehensive set of new rules
governing capital cases, including a rule which expressly
authorizes circuit judges to allow parties to take discovery
depositions of any person disclosed as a witness. Official Reports
Advance Sheet No. 6 (March 21, 2001), R. 416(e) (eff. March 1,
2001). There is no dispute that Lemak's husband is such a person.
	Our court has expressly held that the rule permitting discovery
depositions "shall be effective immediately" unless their
application "in a particular case pending at the time the rule
becomes effective would not be feasible or would work an
injustice, in which case former procedures would apply." Official
Reports Advance Sheet No. 6 (March 21, 2001), R. 416 (eff.
March 1, 2001). There is no possible basis for invoking that
exception here. The proceedings remain at the pretrial stage, and
no legally cognizable injustice will result if the deposition of
Lemak's husband proceeds as ordered by the court and as
permitted by the new rule.
	Because the discovery deposition of Lemak's husband is
permissible under the new rule, the question of whether it could
also have been authorized under the law as it existed prior to our
recent amendments is now moot. That being so, there is no reason
for us to proceed. Just as supervisory orders may not be used as a
mechanism for rendering advisory opinions (People ex rel. Partee
v. Murphy, 133 Ill. 2d 402, 412 (1990)), our court will not exercise
our supervisory power to resolve legal questions which have
become moot.
	Despite the mootness of its claim that the deposition of
Lemak's husband was not authorized under the old law, the State
contends that intervention by our court is still appropriate because
the trial court's decision to allow the deposition is improper even
under the new rule. Under the new rule, discovery depositions are
not permitted as a matter of right. A party seeking to take a
deposition must obtain "leave of court upon a showing of good
cause." The State's argument is that the circuit court should not
have granted leave in this case because Lemak's lawyers did not
make a sufficiently compelling showing of good cause to justify
the intrusion on the deponent, who was the victims' father.
	The new rule on discovery depositions lists factors to be
considered by the court in considering whether to allow a
deposition. They are:
		"the consequences to the party if the deposition is not
allowed, the complexities of the issues involved, the
complexity of the testimony of the witness, and the other
opportunities available to the party to discover the
information sought by deposition." 
The transcript of the hearing on Lemak's motion to depose her
husband indicates that the circuit court considered these factors in
making its decision. The transcript also reflects sensitivity by the
trial court to the personal difficulty Lemak's husband might
experience in submitting to interrogation by defense counsel. 
	While the State may not agree with the decision the circuit
court ultimately reached, this is not the type of situation where the
exercise of our supervisory authority would be appropriate. Just as
mandamus will not lie under ordinary circumstances to regulate
discovery or even to correct abuses of discretion by trial courts in
matters of discovery, supervisory relief is not available in such
circumstances either. We will invoke our supervisory authority
only under exceptional circumstances. Statland v. Freeman, 112 Ill. 2d 494, 497 (1986). No such circumstances are presented by
the discretionary discovery order entered by the circuit court in this
case.
	For the foregoing reasons, the motion of the State for a
supervisory order is denied, and this cause is remanded to the
circuit court for further proceedings.
Motion denied;
cause remanded.
	JUSTICE THOMAS, dissenting:
	I agree with the State that the trial court's decision to allow
the deposition of David Lemak was improper even under the new
rules governing capital cases. In the committee comments to new
Rule 416(e) (Official Reports Advance Sheet No. 6 (March 21,
2001), R. 416(e), Committee Comments, eff. March 1, 2001), we
note that the decision to permit a deposition is committed to a trial
court's sound discretion, and further note that the need to depose
a potential witness will depend upon the facts of each case. Based
upon the facts of this case, I believe that the trial court abused its
discretion in ordering the deposition of David Lemak.
 	As the State argued in support of its motion for a supervisory
order, David Lemak, as the father of the three murdered children,
was a victim within the meaning of the Rights of Crime Victims
and Witnesses Act (725 ILCS 120/3(a)(3) (West 2000)), and the
Illinois Constitution Victim's Rights amendment (Ill. Const. 1970,
art. I, §8.1). Consequently, the right of David Lemak as a crime
victim to be treated with fairness and respect for his dignity and
privacy (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, §8.1(a)(1); 725 ILCS 120/2 (West
2000)) should have been weighed against Marilyn Lemak's right
to take a deposition pursuant to Rule 416(e).
	Among the factors to be considered in determining whether
to allow a deposition under new Rule 416(e) are "the
consequences to the party if the deposition is not allowed, the
complexities of the issues involved, the complexity of the
testimony of the witness, and the other opportunities available to
the party to discover the information sought by deposition."
Official Reports Advance Sheet No. 6 (March 21, 2001), R.
416(e)(i), eff. March 1, 2001. Those factors do not outweigh
David Lemak's rights as a crime victim. The State points out that
the information sought by Marilyn Lemak through David Lemak's
deposition is available to her through the written discovery
tendered in this case, including psychiatric reports and police
reports of interviews with David Lemak. Because that information
is available to Marilyn, there are no consequences to her if David's
deposition is not allowed. Further, Marilyn has not shown that the
complexity of the issues involved or the complexity of the
testimony of David support the taking of his deposition.
	In addition, it is clear from the committee comments to new
Rule 416(e) that David Lemak is not the type of witness
contemplated by the rule. While illustrative only, the comments
note that depositions would be more likely for certain types of
witnesses, including jailhouse informants, witnesses who have
criminal charges pending, witnesses who have not completed their
sentence in a criminal case, witnesses who testify for the State by
agreement, eyewitnesses, and expert witnesses. Although that list
in not intended to be exclusive, that list does not lend support for
the trial court's order in this case.
	A reviewing court will find that a trial court abused its
discretion only where the trial court's ruling is arbitrary,
unreasonable, fanciful, or where no reasonable person would take
the view adopted by the trial court. People v. Hall, 195 Ill. 2d 1, 20
(2000). I believe this is a case where no reasonable person would
take the view adopted by the trial court. Moreover, although
supervisory relief generally is not available to correct an abuse of
discretion by the trial court in discovery matters, the instant case
presents an exceptional circumstance which would support this
court's exercise of supervisory authority. I also note that although
the majority observes that supervisory orders may not be used as
a mechanism for rendering advisory opinions (slip op. at 3), and
denies the motion for supervisory order, it nonetheless issues what
amounts to an advisory opinion, finding that new Rule 416(e)
applies in this case and that the trial court did not abuse its
discretion. Given that this case presents the first interpretation and
application of new Rule 416(e), and given the potential impact of
the trial court's order on the rights of crime victims, I would find
that this court's exercise of supervisory authority is appropriate,
and would exercise that supervisory authority to vacate the circuit
court's order granting Marilyn Lemak's motion to take the
deposition of David Lemak.