Court Opinion

ID: 9711173
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:25:44.957876+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:02.631997
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE STOUDER, specially concurring: I concur in the opinion of Justice Alloy, the opinion of the court in this case, even though there are some aspects of this case which trouble me. I believe the result reached by Justice Alloy is amply supported by People v. Hendrix (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 165, 295 N.E.2d 724, even though it well may be that the subsequent abolishment of the requirement of indictment by a grand jury in all felony cases may suggest a different result. (See People v. Kirkley (1978), 60 Ill. App. 3d 746, 377 N.E.2d 540 (Barry, J., concurring).) Although the constitutional right of a person charged with a felony to be required to stand trial only after a showing of probable cause is well established, the concomitant right that such determination be made promptly appears to be a right without any recognized remedies or sanctions for its enforcement. So long as there is a probable cause determination at some time prior to the trial, courts have been unable to develop any implementing sanctions promoting the prompt determination required by the constitution. Even where the prosecution is not initiated by grand jury indictment and a preliminary hearing is required, where there are deliberate efforts of the prosecution to postpone and delay such preliminary hearing in order that a grand jury proceeding may be initiated to determine probable cause, there seems to be no appropriate way under present procedures of fully implementing the constitutional right which is disregarded by such procedure. A brief review of the time frame suggests the nature of the problem at hand. First of all the defendant was arrested on December 29,1978, but was not indicted until February 20, 1979, nearly seven weeks later. Counsel for defendant was appointed on January 19, 1979, but the defendant was not indicted until about one month later. Although the issue was not raised by appellate counsel on this appeal, the record of the hearing on the habeas corpus petition amply demonstrates that the continuance sought by the prosecution on February 2, 1979, was for the purpose of delaying the preliminary hearing until after the issue of probable cause could be submitted to a grand jury. At the hearing on February 2,1979, the prosecution alleged that the testimony of the victim was necessary but the victim was unavailable for that date. A police officer was available and present in court. Defense counsel objected to the continuance because the victim was unable to identify the defendant as the offender. According to the statement of facts it was stipulated the prosecution was ready to proceed on February 13,1979, but the hearing was continued on the court’s own motion before the defendant or defense counsel was even present in court. In stipulating the prosecution was ready to proceed the crucial element of the stipulation was that the victim was not present, had not been subpoenaed and according to the prosecution his testimony was not required. From the testimony of several assistant state’s attorneys adduced at the February 14 hearing on the habeas corpus petition, it appeared that preliminary hearings were seldom held because of the practice of the state’s attorney’s office to seek grand jury indictments in preference to holding preliminary hearings. As matters now stand, so long as there is a determination of probable cause by the grand jury, no consequences attach to the failure to hold a prompt preliminary hearing whether such failure is deliberate or otherwise. It might well be that if the prosecution was required to proceed with the preliminary hearing when the prosecution was initiated other than by indictment, without regard to whether there was a later indictment, the reasons for delaying the preliminary hearing might disappear and some recognition of the constitutional requirement would ensue.