Title: People v. Allen
Citation: 375 N.E.2d 1283, 71 Ill. 2d 378
Docket Number: 49737
State: Illinois
Issuer: Illinois Supreme Court
Date: March 23, 1978

71 Ill. 2d 378 (1978)
375 N.E.2d 1283
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellee,
v.
JAMES E. ALLEN, Appellant.
No. 49737.

Supreme Court of Illinois.
Opinion filed March 23, 1978.
Rehearing denied May 26, 1978.
*379 Denis McGrady, Jr., of McGrady &amp; McGrady, of Gillespie, for appellant.
William J. Scott, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Kelly D. Long, State's Attorney, of Hillsboro (Donald B. Mackay and Melbourne A. Noel, Jr., Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, and Bruce D. Irish, of the Illinois State's Attorneys Association Prosecutors' Appellate Service, of Elgin, of counsel), for the People.
Reversed and remanded.
MR. JUSTICE GOLDENHERSH delivered the opinion of the court:
In a jury trial in the circuit court of Montgomery County, defendant, James E. Allen, was convicted of the offense of theft (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 38, par. 16-3(a)). He was sentenced to conditional discharge, fined, and ordered to make restitution. Holding that at the time defendant's notice of appeal was filed, the circuit court had not as yet entered a final appealable order, the appellate court dismissed the appeal. (49 Ill. App.3d 108.) We allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal.
*380 The jury's verdict was returned on May 5, 1976. The docket sheet shows the following entry:
The transcript of the proceedings on that date shows that the circuit court requested the State's Attorney to prepare "a written order along those lines." The written order, file-marked July 20, 1976, provides: "Enter: July 6, 1976." Defendant's notice of appeal, filed July 16, 1976, states that the judgment appealed from was entered on July 6, 1976.
Defendant contends that under Supreme Court Rule 606(b) his notice of appeal was timely filed. The People contend:
Supreme Court Rule 272 pertaining to the entry of judgment in civil cases provides:
Supreme Court Rule 606(b), applicable in criminal appeals, states:
The Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 contains the following definitions:
The final judgment in a criminal case is the sentence. People v. Warship (1974), 59 Ill. 2d 125, 130.
In a criminal case the pronouncement of the sentence is the judicial act which comprises the judgment of the court. The entry of the judgment order is a ministerial act and is merely evidence of the sentence. People v. Moran (1930), 342 Ill. 478; Accord, Sasser v. United States (6th Cir.1965), 352 F.2d 796.
This record does not present the question nor need we consider what rule would apply in the event of a *382 discrepancy between the judgment as pronounced and the order as entered. Here there is no question that the judgment order purportedly entered as of July 6, 1976, correctly embodied the judgment of the court. Under these circumstances we hold that the judgment was entered at the time of its pronouncement on July 6, 1976, and that the notice of appeal was therefore timely filed. For the reasons stated the order of the appellate court dismissing the appeal is reversed and the cause is remanded to the Appellate Court for the Fifth District with directions to reinstate the appeal.
Reversed and remanded, with directions.