Court Opinion

ID: 9745071
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:32:14.918493+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:55.396911
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE STAMOS, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1) sets out the basic provision governing when the State may appeal dispositions of the trial court: “In criminal cases the State may appeal only from an order or judgment the substantive effect of which results in dismissing a charge for any of the grounds enumerated in section 114 — 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure * * (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 110A, par. 604(a)(1).) Our supreme court, in People v. Love (1968), 39 Ill. 2d 436, 235 N.E.2d 819, made clear that the grounds for dismissal enumerated in section 114 — 1 are not all-inclusive and should not impede the State’s appeal of any trial court judgment, the “substantive effect” of which is to constitute a dismissal of the information or indictment. (See People v. Lawson (1977), 67 Ill. 2d 449, 455-56, 367 N.E.2d 1244.) The State contends that this judgment of acquittal was in reality a dismissal of the information and thus appealable under Supreme Court Rule 604. Concluding that the trial court’s disposition is appealable, the State argues that the trial court acted beyond its authority in “dismissing” the action where there was neither a clear showing of a due process violation nor explicit statutory grounds for the dismissal. (See Lawson.) The State relies on a long line of cases which stand for the proposition that the trial court can only dismiss for one of the reasons enumerated in section 114 — 1 of the Criminal Code, or for a clear due process violation. See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 114 — 1; People v. Shields (1979), 76 Ill. 2d 543, 394 N.E.2d 1161, cert. denied (1980), 445 U.S. 917, 63 L. Ed. 2d 602, 100 S. Ct. 1279 (witness sworn as part of preliminary proceeding; no testimony relating to facts of crime; no jury waiver); People v. Marbly (1980), 85 Ill. App. 3d 935, 407 N.E.2d 721 (no witness sworn; no evidence heard); People v. Dellecarto (1978), 67 Ill. App. 3d 490, 384 N.E.2d 902 (no witness sworn; no evidence heard); People v. Lipp (1978), 63 Ill. App. 3d 1034, 380 N.E.2d 1007 (no witnesses sworn; no jury impaneled; no testimony); People v. Thomas (1975), 24 Ill. App. 3d 907, 322 N.E.2d 97; People v. Abel (1974), 21 Ill. App. 3d 314, 315 N.E.2d 136 (no witnesses sworn; no testimony heard); People v. Barksdale (1969), 110 Ill. App. 2d 163, 249 N.E.2d 165; People v. Shick (1968), 101 Ill. App. 2d 377, 241 N.E.2d 507. A trial judge’s characterization of his disposition as an “acquittal” rather than a “dismissal” is not controlling on its appealability. (See United States v. Scott (1978), 437 U.S. 82, 96, 57 L. Ed. 2d 65, 77, 98 S. Ct. 2187, 2196.) Rather, it is the actual nature of the disposition: whether it is a “judgment the substantive effect of which [is a] dismissal of the iildictment.” (Love, at 439.) My review of Illinois authorities discloses but one case which is on all points identical to that at bar; it holds that the trial court’s disposition constitutes an acquittal and is therefore not appealable. In City of Peoria v. Davis (1976), 39 Ill. App. 3d 557, 558, 350 N.E.2d 531, the “defendants were sworn to testify as witnesses and en masse each stated he was not guilty.” The People presented no evidence because of a ruling, immediately prior, suppressing evidence. “Although the People have characterized their appeal as one arising from a dismissal of the charges by the trial court, the defendants characterized the appeal as one from a judgment of not guilty, a decision on the merits which is not appealable by the People. Having once been found not guilty, defendants urge the People have no right to appeal and hence the appeal should be dismissed. It is well settled that after a trial on the merits in a criminal case, there shall be no appeal from a judgment of acquittal. (Ill. Const, art. VI, §6; Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 3-4(1).) * * * According to the trial court’s written order the defendants were each found not guilty and ordered discharged.’ We conclude this judgment is an acquittal after a hearing on the merits and therefore not an appealable judgment. (People v. Kapande, 23 Ill. 2d 230, 177 N.E.2d 825.)” (39 Ill. App. 3d 557, 558.) The result in City of Peoria is consonant with the reasoning in those cases which have considered the instant situation. The apparent progenitor of this analysis is People v. Thomas (1975), 24 Ill. App. 3d 907, 322 N.E.2d 97. Though Thomas dealt with a dismissal prior to trial, the reviewing court considered the alternatives available to a trial judge confronted with a request for a continuance on the scheduled date of trial: “Where the motion for a continuance has been properly denied the case should be called for trial, and if no evidence or insufficient evidence is presented by the People, then a judgment of acquittal may be entered by the court.” (Thomas, at 908.) In People v. Guido (1973), 11 Ill. App. 3d 1067, 297 N.E.2d 18, which also dealt with a trial court’s improper dismissal prior to hearing evidence, the court commented: “The conclusion we have reached does not leave the court powerless to control its calendar. Besides discharging cases pursuant to defendants’ rights, the court has contempt powers to require the State to appear. In the unlikely event that a prosecuting officer should refuse to proceed to trial after being ordered by the court to do so, the trial judge may order that the case proceed to trial.” 11 Ill. App. 3d 1066,1070. In People v. Hurlbert (1976), 41 Ill. App. 3d 300, 354 N.E.2d 652, the trial court, after the jury was sworn and impaneled, ordered the State to proceed to trial, not on the charge brought by the State (aggravated battery), but on a lesser charge (simple battery). The State refused to put on evidence after the trial court denied a motion to amend the indictment to reinstitute the greater charge. The reviewing court found that the trial judge’s action in construing the indictment as only charging the lesser offense was erroneous and the State should have been allowed to proceed on the greater offense. Nevertheless, the reviewing court determined that jeopardy had already attached. Thus, even though the trial judge was mistaken in his ruling that the indictment did not charge aggravated battery and the State refused to put on evidence of either charge, retrial of defendant was barred on the offense charged because jeopardy had attached. See Fong Foo v. United States (1962), 369 U.S. 141, 143, 7 L. Ed. 2d 629, 631, 82 S. Ct. 671, 672 (although judgment was entered erroneously, retrial was barred by double jeopardy); see also United States v. Martin Linen Supply Co. (1977), 430 U.S. 564, 571, 51 L. Ed. 2d 642, 650-51, 97 S. Ct. 1349, 1354-55, quoting with approval United States v. Ball (1896), 163 U.S. 662, 671, 41 L. Ed. 300, 303, 16 S. Ct. 1192, 1195, (“[a] verdict of acquittal * * ° could not be reviewed, on error or otherwise, without putting [a defendant] twice in jeopardy, and thereby violating the Constitution”); accord, State v. Bryant (1971), 31 Ohio Misc. 230, 277 N.E.2d 264; Commonwealth v. DiPasquale (1968), 431 Pa. 536, 246 A.2d 430. The result in both lines of cases is sustained by a review of the pertinent statutes. Section 114 — 1 of the Criminal Code lists ten specific grounds for the trial court’s dismissal on defendant’s motion of the State’s prosecution. It further provides some extent of discretion to the trial court in granting a dismissal. The only provision allowing dismissal where the State is not ready to proceed to trial is 114 — 1(a)(1): “The defendant has not been placed on trial in compliance with Section 103 — 5 of this Code.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 114 — 1(a)(1).) Section 103 — 5 is the Speedy Trial Act, which, essentially, allows the State either 120 days or 160 days (dependent on the incarceration status of defendant) to bring defendant to trial. Thus the only statutory ground for dismissal, as the cases listed earlier indicate, is the Speedy Trial Act. Our supreme court in People v. Lawson held that a trial court has “inherent” power to dismiss where there has been a constitutional or due process violation. (67 Ill. 2d 449,456; see Love, at 443 (statutory speedy trial right does not necessarily delimit constitutional right).) Defendant in the instant case has not argued either of these grounds as a basis for the trial court’s action. Accordingly, if defendant’s “acquittal” were in actuality a “dismissal,” the trial court’s action would be an unauthorized dismissal, and double jeopardy would not bar retrial. Nevertheless, in the instant case, the proceedings below advanced beyond the dismissal stage considered in People v. Deems (1980), 81 Ill. 2d 384, 410 N.E.2d 8, and People v. Shields (1979), 76 Ill. 2d 543, 394 N.E.2d 1161. Rather, with the swearing of a witness and the taking of evidence, the trial below proceeded to a point where the holdings in People v. Hurlbert (1976), 41 Ill. App. 3d 300, 354 N.E.2d 652, and City of Peoria v. Davis (1976), 39 Ill. App. 3d 557, 350 N.E.2d 531, are apposite. The rule of Hurlbert and City of Peoria is also consistent with the controlling statutory provision. Section 114 — 4, governing the issuance of continuances, provides in relevant part: “(c) A motion for continuance made by the State more than 30 days after arraignment may be granted when: # « « (2) A material witness is unavailable * * *. o a (h) This Section shall be construed to the end that criminal cases are tried with due diligence consonant with the rights of the defendant and the State to a speedy, fair and impartial trial.” (Emphasis added.) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 114 — 4(c), (h).) The statute affords the trial court the discretion to issue or deny continuances. This would be a merely illusory grant of discretion if a recalcitrant prosecutor could thwart the trial court’s attempt to move its calendar of cases. It has long been held that a trial court has the right to refuse a continuance to a defendant, even if it amounts to forcing the defendant to trial without witnesses. (See People v. King (1977), 66 Ill. 2d 551, 557, 363 N.E.2d 838, cert. denied (1977), 434 U.S. 894, 54 L. Ed. 2d 894, 98 S. Ct. 273 (defendant may be forced to trial where there is no showing of diligence; trial judge’s denial of a continuance is evaluated on the facts and circumstances attendant to his ruling); accord, Mitchell v. State (1979),_Ind__,_, 398 N.E.2d 1254, 1256; Traylor v. State (1975), 164 Ind. App. 50, 52, 326 N.E.2d 614, 616.) These cases have not focused on the propriety of forcing a defendant to trial but rather on whether the denial of a continuance was an abuse of discretion. (See People v. Poland (1961), 22 Ill. 2d 175, 178, 174 N.E.2d 804 (action of trial judge in granting or denying continuance will not be disturbed without clear abuse of discretion); People v. Peterson (1979), 70 Ill. App. 3d 205, 209, 387 N.E.2d 951 (defendant’s motion is considered in light of the diligence shown by defendant, and whether the denial “embarrasses the defendant in the preparation of his case and prejudices his rights”).) The policy behind granting the trial judge the discretion to allow or deny continuances is the “ ‘interest of the judicial system in avoiding delays’ ” (see Commonwealth v. Grieco (1977), 5 Mass. App. 350, 362 N.E.2d 1204, 1208); however, a court should not refuse a continuance where “the ends of justice clearly require it.” (Bullistron v. Augustana Hospital (1977), 52 Ill. App. 3d 66, 70, 367 N.E.2d 88 (civil case); see People v. Davis (1970), 45 Ill. 2d 514, 519, 261 N.E.2d 314.) Acknowledging the established right of a trial judge to deny a continuance to a defendant, thereby forcing him to trial, the question is whether the trial court has the same right and discretion with respect to the State. See People v. Richards (1980), 81 Ill. 2d 454, 460, 410 N.E.2d 833. The statutory provisions which govern the issuance of continuances to the State and to the defendant show close correspondence. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1979, ch. 38, par. 114 — 4(a), (b), (c).) It is established that the trial court has the inherent authority to impose sanctions against the prosecutor in order to secure compliance with its orders. (See People v. Endress (1969), 106 Ill. App. 2d 217, 222-23, 245 N.E.2d 26.) Further, it is clear that the trial court has the discretion to decline to permit the State’s attorney to enter a nolle prosequi. (People ex rel. Hoyne v. Newcomer (1918), 284 Ill. 315, 323-25,120 N.E. 244 (“The acts of the State’s attorney are not purely ministerial but involve in a large measure the exercise of discretion as a minister of justice, but it does not follow that the court charged with the administration of the law has no authority over the records of his court but is a purely ministerial officer for recording the will of the State’s attorney”); see also People ex rel. Kunstman v. Nagano (1945), 389 Ill. 231, 250, 59 N.E.2d 96.) As always, however, the exercise of the trial court’s discretion is reviewable and may be reversed where defendant has not been placed in jeopardy and the trial court’s action was improper or an abuse of its discretion. See People v. Deems (1980), 81 Ill. 2d 384, 390-91, 410 N.E.2d 8 (witness sworn but no testimony adduced, thus no double jeopardy interests arise; action of trial court was reversed and case remanded). Thus, both by its inherent and statutory authority and by analogy to supreme court cases treating the trial court’s discretion to refuse defendant a continuance, the trial court has discretion to deny or issue continuances to the State, even if it amounts to forcing the prosecution to trial. (See L. Bonaguro, Continuances — The Trial Judge’s Authority and Responsibility, 67 Ill. B.J. 106,116 (1978) (“the same authority the court has to compel a defendant to go to trial is also applicable to the state”).) It must be stressed that this discretion is normally subject to review. In the instant case, however, the interests protected by the constitutional prohibition of double jeopardy bar that review. The State contends, while not citing or distinguishing either Hurlbert or City of Peoria, that Deems controls the instant case. In Deems, our supreme court held that jeopardy had not attached and did not bar remand for trial where a witness was sworn but no testimony was adduced. The result in Deems is entirely consistent with the proposition that jeopardy has attached in the instant case. In Deems, the prosecutor was attempting to dismiss the charges against defendant. Unlike Deems, in the case at bar, the prosecutor intended to proceed to trial on the charges against defendant, only at a time more convenient to the State. Both cases involved bench trials, and in both cases defendant was sworn. In Deems, however, defendant did not testify. In the instant case defendant testified. Deems clearly excepts from its holding those instances where evidence is introduced. (See Deems, at 390.) In the instant case sworn testimony was introduced; the trial court found the evidence insufficient to convict. (See United States v. Scott (1978), 437 U.S. 82, 91, 57 L. Ed. 2d 65, 74, 98 S. Ct. 2187, 2193-94 (“To permit a second trial after an acquittal, however mistaken the acquittal may have been, would present an unacceptably high risk that the Government, with its vastly superior resources, might wear down the defendant so that ‘even though innocent he may be found guilty’ ”).) When the trial judge terminated the proceedings on the basis of his determination of factual guilt or innocence, the interests protected by the provisions against double jeopardy arose. (See Shields, at 546 (jeopardy attaches when first witness sworn and court begins to hear evidence); see also Scott, at 99; Serfass v. United States (1975), 420 U.S. 377, 388, 43 L. Ed. 2d 265, 273-74, 95 S. Ct. 1055, 1062-63 (in nonjury trial, jeopardy attaches when the court begins to hear evidence).) In accord with those cases which have considered the double jeopardy implications presented by the instant case, I find that the instant appeal is barred. This appeal is not permitted by the statutory provisions governing appeal from dismissals; more fundamentally, the State’s appeal is disallowed by notions of double jeopardy. Thus no review of the judge’s exercise of discretion, no matter how questionable it might appear, lies. I would dismiss the appeal.