Court Opinion

ID: 9720258
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:22:51.393363+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:14.814055
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE COOK, dissenting: It is improper for a prosecutor to refer to matters outside the rec-. ord, either in the trial court (People v. Hayes, 173 Ill. App. 3d 1043, 1050, 527 N.E.2d 1342, 1348 (1988); People v. Davilla, 236 Ill. App. 3d 367, 383, 603 N.E.2d 666, 676 (1992)) or in the appellate court (155 Ill. 2d Rs. 341(e)(6), (f)). It is axiomatic that statements of fact not based on the evidence may not be argued to a jury or to the court sitting as the trier of fact. People v. Carlson, 92 Ill. 2d 440, 449, 442 N.E.2d 504, 508 (1982); People v. Edgeston, 157 Ill. 2d 201, 242-43, 623 N.E.2d 329, 350 (1993). According to the majority, “[t]he State asserts that on June 23, 1997, a trial docket naming Judge Pacey as the trial judge was mailed to defense counsel. However, nothing in the record supports this contention.” 299 Ill. App. at 286. Instead of ignoring the prosecutor’s arguments that are not supported by the record, the majority criticizes the defendant for not providing that support. That criticism is misplaced. The State has the duty to ensure that its evidence is placed into the trial court record. The State also has some obligation to ensure that the portions of the trial court record upon which it relies are included in the record on appeal. See 134 Ill. 2d R. 608(a) (“appellee may file a designation of additional portions of the circuit court record to be included”); see also 166 Ill. 2d R. 323(a) (appellee may designate “additional portions of the proceedings that the appellee deems necessary for inclusion in the report of proceedings”). Particularly in civil cases, the rules recognize that it is wasteful to include unnecessary materials in the record on appeal, that there is no obligation to include everything found in the trial court record, and that both sides have some obligation to identify materials on which they intend to rely. The State, in its brief, asserts “there is no dispute in the record” that the June 23, 1997, trial docket “clearly identified Judge Pacey as the trial judge (the only judge in the county).” The State cites the record, at R. Cll, for that proposition, but R. Cll is only an objection filed by the State to the motion for substitution of judge, containing the State’s argument that the trial docket clearly identified Judge Pacey as the trial judge. Mere references in briefs to items that are not of record cannot be used to supplement the record. Jones v. Police Board, 297 Ill. App. 3d 922, 930, 697 N.E.2d 876, 881 (1998). The State’s reference to the June 23, 1997, trial docket in the objection it filed in the trial court did not serve to make the trial docket a part of the record. Are trial dockets normally made a part of the court file in Ford County? Perhaps the State thought that the clerk had filed the trial docket in the trial court record when the trial docket was mailed out. If the State wanted to argue the trial docket to us, however, it should have attempted to supplement the record to include the trial docket, not just complained that the defendant had not done so. See 155 Ill. 2d R. 366(a)(3). In the Foster case, cited by the majority, the record did not contain a transcript of a sentencing hearing, a copy of a presentence report, or other documents that were clearly in the record. Foster, 199 Ill. App. 3d at 393, 556 N.E.2d at 1303 (where the court refused to compare Foster’s sentence to that of Langley, because it did not have a sufficient record of the Langley proceedings). In this case, in contrast, the clerk has certified that everything required by Rule 608(a) has been included in the record on appeal. See 134 Ill. 2d R. 608(a). “The record on appeal shall be taken as true and correct unless shown to be otherwise.” 134 Ill. 2d R. 329. The objection in this case is not that appellant has omitted something from the trial court record in the record on appeal. The objection is that something that was not in the trial court record has been omitted from the record on appeal. The majority is critical of appellant for not filing a transcript of proceedings or bystander’s report of the hearing on defendant’s motion for substitution of judge. The State does not indicate why such a transcript or report might be necessary, and defendant’s argument in this court does not rely on anything that happened during the hearing. This was a motion for automatic substitution of judge. See 725 ILCS 5/114 — 5(a) (West 1996). There was no need for the taking of evidence and no indication that any evidence was taken. If the State had introduced any exhibits, they would have been included in the record. The other case cited by the majority, Foutch, considered the trial court’s denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment. It there appeared that testimony, sworn or unsworn, had been presented at the hearing on the motion, but that testimony (which constituted all the testimony in the case) was not preserved by a transcript, bystander’s report, or any other means. Foutch, 99 Ill. 2d at 391-92, 459 N.E.2d at 959. It is common practice not to have a court reporter present on many occasions, such as motion hearings, when only argument is heard. Arguments can be repeated in the appellate court and often are adequately set out in the motion and the order of the court. If the State feels that something in the arguments on the motion is essential to the resolution of this case, it should have filed a bystander’s report. The lesson for defendants today is to insist on a court reporter on every occasion, even routine motion hearings. We should ignore the State’s argument regarding the June 23, 1997, trial docket, because it is unsupported by the record. Doyle Plumbing & Heating Co. v. Board of Education, Quincy Public School District No. 172, 291 Ill. App. 3d 221, 229-30, 683 N.E.2d 530, 536 (1997) (material submitted by appellee which is not part of the record on appeal should not be considered). We are then left with the State’s remaining arguments: that Judge Pacey was automatically assigned to this case because he was the only resident circuit judge in Ford County and that he was stated as the trial judge on the uniform traffic citation. (The State’s brief seems to indicate these same arguments are also its reason for saying the June 23, 1997, trial docket “clearly identified Judge Pacey as the trial judge.”) These arguments have been previously rejected by this court. People v. Gunning, 108 Ill. App. 3d 429, 430-32, 439 N.E.2d 108, 109-10 (1982). A 10-day period is a very short period, and if the running of that period can be started by some vague reference or rumor, then a defendant’s statutory right to substitution of judge is “ ‘disappointingly hollow.’ ” Gunning, 108 Ill. App. 3d at 432, 439 N.E.2d at 110, quoting People v. Samples, 107 Ill. App. 3d 523, 527, 437 N.E.2d 1232, 1235-36 (1982). If a defendant’s motion to substitute is filed too early, before the judge is assigned to the trial, the motion will be disregarded. People v. Williams, 217 Ill. App. 3d 791, 796, 577 N.E.2d 944, 948 (1991). In a district where it is common to have different judges at pretrial and trial, a defendant should not have to assume that the first judge whose name is mentioned will be his trial judge. The State cites People v. Aldridge, 101 Ill. App. 3d 181, 184, 427 N.E.2d 1001, 1004 (1981), for the proposition that a motion for substitution of judge must be filed within 10 days of the date defendant could be “charged with knowledge” of the assignment of his case to the trial judge. Actually Aldridge sets out that rule, not to limit defendant’s rights, but to expand them. Section 114 — 5(a) by its terms does not require notice to defendant of the assignment of the trial judge in order to commence the running of the period, but Aldridge and other cases read that requirement into the section. “Charged with knowledge” requires more than a possibility, or even a likelihood, of knowledge. “We do not believe that simply because a trial calendar is published in a law bulletin, a defendant can be charged with knowledge of an-assignment to a particular judge’s trial call.” Aldridge, 101 Ill. App. 3d at 184, 427 N.E.2d at 1004. I would reverse the decision of the trial court on the motion for substitution of judge and remand for a new trial before a different judge.