Court Opinion

ID: 9738360
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:51:11.84106+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:42:52.378646
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE NICKELS, dissenting: In my view, defendant was not afforded a timely hearing on his rescission petition, and pursuant to People v. Schaefer, 154 Ill. 2d 250 (1993), the summary suspension of his driving privileges must be rescinded. Therefore, I respectfully dissent. The summary suspension statute provides that the suspension of driving privileges becomes effective on the forty-sixth day following the date on which the motorist was served with notice of the statutory summary suspen- . sion. 625 ILCS 5/11 — 501.1(g) (West 1992). In turn, the motorist is entitled upon request to a judicial hearing within a specified time frame in order to challenge the summary suspension. In Schaefer, this court explained the purpose of this scheme: "The principal concern in enacting [the statutory summary suspension] legislation was to protect travelers while at the same time protecting the constitutional rights of the motorists who may be charged with driving under the influence of an intoxicating substance. Once a driver’s license is issued, it is considered a property interest under protection of the due process clause of the United States and Illinois Constitutions. [Citations.] It is for this reason that the statutory summary suspension becomes effective 46 days after notice of suspension is given [citation], and the elaborate procedure is codified in order to guarantee notice and an opportunity to be heard. This satisfied the concern for the protection of the substantive and procedural due process rights of motorists as guaranteed by the United Státes and Illinois Constitutions.” Schaefer, 154 Ill. 2d at 261. Mindful of this purpose, in Schaefer this court held that the 30-day period for conducting a rescission hearing commences when the motorist’s petition is properly filed and served on the State. Schaefer, 154 Ill. 2d at 261. This court further held that " ’in order to comply with due process requirements, the hearing *** must be held within the 30 days unless delay is occasioned by the defendant, and failure to do so will require rescission of the suspension.’ ” (Emphasis in original.) Schaefer, 154 Ill. 2d at 262, quoting In re Summary Suspension of Driver’s License of Trainor (1987), 156 Ill. App. 3d 918, 923. In the case at bar, the majority concludes that the rescission hearing held 42 days after defendant filed his petition falls within the exception for ’’delay occasioned by the defendant” simply because defendant invoked his absolute right (see 735 ILCS 5/2 — 1001(a)(2)(ii) (West 1992)) to have his petition heard by a judge other than Judge Ford, to whom such matters were normally assigned. I cannot join this conclusion. While a motorist is responsible for delay associated with the motions he or she files, I believe the overriding due process concerns at the heart of the 30-day time limit demand that trial courts act on such motions with reasonable dispatch commensurate with the nature and complexity of the motion. If the trial court fulfills this obligation, I would wholeheartedly endorse the proposition that the motorist may be charged with delay representing the full interval during which his or her motion was pending. But when the trial court unnecessarily prolongs the pendency of the motion — through inaction or otherwise — such delay is not occasioned by the motorist in any meaningful sense. In this regard, I recognize that absent an applicable statute or court rule the trial court possesses broad discretion in matters relating to the management of its calendar, including setting the timetable for hearing and deciding motions. The conclusion that the trial court has abused its discretion should not be reached lightly. However, the record warrants that conclusion in this case. Defendant filed his motion for substitution of judge as of right on April 12, 1994 — the same day he filed his rescission petition. Also on April 12, defendant’s attorney sent a letter to the clerk of the circuit court of Champaign County, drawing her attention to the rescission petition and the substitution motion, and requesting a hearing on the rescission petition within the 30-day statutory time period. Defendant’s attorney apparently expected the substitution motion to be disposed of without a formal hearing, as the letter requested notification of the reassignment of the case. Copies of the letter were sent to Judge Ford, Judge John R. DeLaMar, Judge Harold L. Jensen (the presiding judge of the circuit court of Champaign County) and to the assistant State’s Attorney assigned to the case. The record reflects that it was the practice of the circuit court to reassign statutory summary suspension cases to Judge DeLaMar when a party sought a substitution from Judge Ford. Within days of filing the petition for rescission and motion for substitution of judge, defendant’s attorney personally consulted with Judge Ford and asked that the case be reassigned to Judge DeLaMar. Judge Ford indicated that on April 19 he would advise defendant’s attorney when the substitution motion could be scheduled for a hearing. On April 18, defendant’s attorney was again in contact with Judge Ford. Defendant’s attorney advised Judge Ford that defendant sought a substitution of judge as a matter of right pursuant to statute (735 ILCS 5/2 — 1001(a)(2) (West 1992)) and that a substantial delay in hearing the substitution motion would infringe on defendant’s right to a rescission hearing within the statutory time frame. Defendant’s attorney suggested that the motion could possibly be decided later that day when the attorney and the State were scheduled to appear before Judge Ford on another matter. Alternatively, defendant’s attorney suggested the possibility that the substitution motion could be decided without a hearing. Judge Ford rejected both proposals and eventually set the motion for a hearing nine days later on April 27. When the parties appeared in court on that date — 15 days after the substitution motion was filed — Judge Ford summarily granted the motion without objection by the State or argument by the parties, and ordered the case reassigned to Judge DeLaMar, before whom the rescission hearing was ultimately conducted. I see no valid justification for the trial court’s failure to rule on the substitution motion more promptly. The Code of Civil Procedure provides that a motion for substitution of judge as of right "shall be granted if it is presented before trial or hearing begins and before the judge to whom it is presented has ruled on any substantial issue in the case.” (Emphasis added.) 735 ILCS 5/2— 1001(a)(2)(ii) (West 1992). The substitution motion presented no complicated factual or legal issues, and defendant was clearly entitled to relief since he filed his substitution motion on the same date as the petition initiating these proceedings. The State did not object to the motion, nor does it appear there is any basis upon which it could have objected in good faith. Moreover, the delay in deciding the motion clearly cannot be attributed to a lack of diligence on defendant’s part. Defendant’s attorney brought the motion to the attention of all persons who might be affected, and made a concerted effort to obtain a prompt ruling from the trial court. Unlike the majority, I am not content to decide this case by means of a nimble presumption that the trial court heard the substitution motion on the first available date. The court proceeding at which the substitution motion was ultimately granted was a mere formality; the trial court announced its ruling with no discussion or argument by the parties. This pro forma proceeding on defendant’s routine uncontested motion could have taken no more than two minutes, and I find it difficult to imagine that the trial court was genuinely unable to attend to this matter earlier. Even if no earlier hearing date was available, in view of the routine nature of defendant’s motion and the lack of objection by the State, the trial court could have decided the motion without a formal hearing. See Lawless v. Central Production Credit Association (1992), 228 Ill. App. 3d 500, 515 (noting that the requirement of a hearing in the local court rules applicable in the circuit court of Champaign County "is not necessarily restricted to an oral presentation by the parties and may instead refer to the court’s consideration of a written presentation by the parties”). The record shows that the trial court acted with utter indifference to defendant’s interest in obtaining a prompt hearing on the merits of the rescission petition. The trial court knowingly delayed ruling on a routine, uncontested motion in a manner patently unfair to defendant. The 15-day delay cannot justly be attributed to defendant. Set against the timetable of ordinary civil litigation, 15 days may seem a relatively brief period of time. In the present setting, however, 15 days constitutes exactly one half of the total period allotted by statute for holding the rescission hearing. In enacting the 30-day time limit, the General Assembly deemed 30 days sufficient to allow the court to schedule a rescission hearing and the State to prepare for it. The General Assembly certainly did not contemplate that a motion for substitution of judge as of right would warrant increasing the statutory period by half again. Nor do I think it asks too much that trial courts handle such motions with greater diligence and dispatch than occurred here. For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent. JUSTICE FREEMAN joins in this dissent.