Court Opinion

ID: 9714892
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:48:08.121485+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:29.304130
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE FREEMAN, dissenting: The majority holds that the State’s motion to reconsider the circuit court’s order quashing arrest tolled the time for filing its notice of interlocutory appeal under Supreme Court Rule 606(b). According to the majority, this result is compelled by the language as well as public policy. Neither consideration supports the majority’s decision, and I, therefore, must respectfully dissent. Our rules are to be construed in the same manner as statutes (134 Ill. 2d R. 2; People v. Fitzgibbon, 184 Ill. 2d 320, 328 (1998); see also Adams v. Northern Illinois Gas Co., 211 Ill. 2d 32, 48 (2004) (setting out rules of construction)), and our review is de novo )(People v. Drum, 194 Ill. 2d 485, 488 (2000)). This appeal concerns appellate jurisdiction, which arises under section VI of the judicial article of our state constitution: “Appeals from final judgments of a Circuit Court are a matter of right to the Appellate Court in the Judicial District in which the Circuit Court is located except in cases appealable directly to the Supreme Court and except that after a trial on the merits in a criminal case, there shall be no appeal from a judgment of acquittal. The Supreme Court may provide by rule for appeals to the Appellate Court from other than final judgments of Circuit Courts.” Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, §6. Pursuant to the above, this court has provided, in Rule 604, for interlocutory appeals in criminal cases in certain situations for both the prosecution and the defendant. 210 Ill. 2d R. 604. Rule 604(a) specifies those instances in which the State may appeal certain interlocutory orders, such as those which quash arrest and suppress evidence. Rule 604 does not, however, set forth when the State’s notice of appeal must be filed. Instead, the time for filing a notice of appeal in a criminal case is the subject of Rule 606(b), which provides: “Except as provided in Rule 604(d), the notice of appeal must be filed with the clerk of the circuit court within 30 days after the entry of the final judgment appealed from or if a motion directed against the judgment is timely filed, within 30 days after the entry of the order disposing of the motion. When a timely posttrial or postsentencing motion directed against the judgment has been filed *** any notice of appeal filed before the entry of the order disposing of all pending postjudgment motions shall have no effect and shall be stricken by the trial court. Upon striking the notice of appeal, the trial court shall forward to the appellate court within 5 days a copy of the order striking the notice of appeal, showing by whom it was filed and the date on which it was filed. This rule applies whether the timely postjudgment motion was filed before or after the date on which the notice of appeal was filed. A new notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days following the entry of the order disposing of all timely postjudgment motions. Within 5 days of its being so filed a copy of the notice of appeal or an amendment of the notice of appeal shall be transmitted by the clerk of the circuit court to the clerk of the court to which the appeal is taken. Except as provided in paragraph (c) below, and in Rule 604(d), no appeal may be taken from a trial court to a reviewing court after the expiration of 30 days from the entry of the order or judgment from which the appeal is taken.” (Italics and underscore added.) 210 Ill. 2d R. 606(b). The majority bases its construction on the first sentence of the rule, particularly on that portion of the sentence which is underlined in the excerpt quoted above. The majority reads the word “final” in that sentence as modifying only the first use of the word “judgment,” but not the second. Under this reading, a notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days of the final judgment, or within 30 days after the ruling on a timely motion to reconsider directed against any appealable judgment, final or interlocutory. In other words, the State’s filing of a motion to reconsider tolls the time in which a notice of appeal need be filed. Had the sentence been drafted with the indefinite article “a” before the second “judgment,” the majority’s conclusion would be more persuasive. But the sentence was not drafted in that manner, and, as a result, the majority’s construction is at odds with the plain meaning of the words used in the sentence. The second time that the word “judgment” appears in the sentence, it is preceded by the definite article “the.” The “the” is used to carry out its normal grammatical duty: “as a function word to indicate that a following noun or noun equivalent refers to someone or something previously mentioned or clearly understood from the context of the situation.” Webster’s Third New World International Dictionary 2368 (1986). The only reasonable construction, therefore, of the first sentence is that “the judgment” means “final judgment appealed from.” The sentences immediately following give further support to this construction because they refer to cases involving final judgments by specifying the procedure to be followed when a defendant files a posttrial or postsentencing motion.4 For this reason, the first sentence does not apply to a notice of appeal taken from an interlocutory order. It is the penultimate sentence of the rule, which omits any reference to a “final” judgment and simply discusses the procedure for appeal of nonfinal orders or judgments (such as those in Rule 604) that controls in this case. Nevertheless, the majority believes that its construction is consistent with the rule that a circuit court should have the opportunity to correct itself before an appeal is taken. See generally People v. Heil, 71 Ill. 2d 458, 461 (1978). The majority, however, elevates this consideration over another, which is more consistent with the plain language of Rule 606(b); namely, the speedy resolution of interlocutory appeals. See People v. King, 349 Ill. App. 3d 877, 879-80 (2004) (recognizing the importance of fostering “ ‘expediency and celerity in appeals from interlocutory orders’ ”). This policy is recognized in our rules governing civil appeals, which contain deadlines as short as two days. See 210 Ill. 2d R. 306A; 188 Ill. 2d R. 307; 155 Ill. 2d R. 308. The filing of a motion to reconsider cannot extend the deadline for filing civil interlocutory appeals. Craine v. Bill Kay’s Downers Grove Nissan, 354 Ill. App. 3d 1023, 1025-29 (2005). I see no reason for criminal interlocutory appeals to get different treatment. It is important to note that the interlocutory appeals provided for in Rule 604(a) center mainly around pretrial matters, which ultimately may lead to a dismissal of criminal charges. Where a defendant is in jail awaiting trial, and it might be presumed that most cases involve people being in custody, obtaining a final determination on the merits, whether it be an acquittal or a conviction, is important. Although Rule 604(a)(3) provides that a defendant shall not be held in jail or on bond during the pendency of an interlocutory appeal by the State, the rule also allows for an exception in “compelling” circumstances (see 210 Ill. 2d R. 604(a)(3)). Thus, in some cases, a defendant who has successfully litigated a motion to suppress may still be held in jail or on bond while the matter is on appeal. I note, too, that Rule 604(a)(4) states that “[t]he time during which an appeal by the State is pending is not counted for the purpose of determining whether an accused is entitled to discharge under [the speedy-trial act].” Thus, by not recognizing a tolling period under Rule 606(b) in interlocutory appeals, the case proceeds more quickly to the reviewing courts, thereby allowing for more prompt resolution of the merits.5  The majority believes that its construction of the rule is necessary because to hold otherwise “would create a systematic bias wherein, if only the defendant can file a motion to reconsider, then only those erroneous decisions against defendants will be corrected, and erroneous decisions against the State will escape review.” 233 Ill. 2d at 170. I do not understand what this statement means. It is, of course, possible that a defendant can move to reconsider an “erroneous” denial of a motion to suppress, but so what? If the court denies the motion, the case against the defendant proceeds without delay, with review of the pretrial decision put off until appeal, if the resulting trial ends in the defendant’s conviction. On the other hand, if the defendant’s motion is granted, the State can appeal under Rule 604(a). Where is the “systematic bias”? About “systematic bias,” the majority states: “This bias is made more harsh when one considers that, if an erroneous decision suppressing evidence is affirmed in an interlocutory appeal, and eventually results in the acquittal of the defendant for lack of sufficient evidence, the State would have no further recourse.” 233 Ill. 2d at 170. I frankly do not understand what point my colleagues are attempting to make. An “erroneous decision suppressing evidence” ultimately “affirmed in an interlocutory appeal” cannot be “erroneous.” Courts of review are not in the business of affirming “erroneous” suppression orders. Moreover, if a defendant is acquitted due to insufficient evidence, the State cannot appeal by virtue of our constitution, not because of “systematic bias” stemming from the construction of Rule 606(b). The State’s appeal rights in the instance of an “erroneous decision suppressing evidence” are amply protected by Rule 604(a). In yet another instance of the majority’s misunderstanding of the policy at work against its conclusion, the opinion states: “Additionally, a defendant may avoid the possibility of unreasonable delay involved in hearing the State’s motion to reconsider by simply filing a speedy-trial demand.” 233 Ill. 2d at 171. Again, it is difficult to understand what point the majority is trying to make. On its face, the statement presumes that no speedy-trial demand had been pending prior to the filing of the motion to quash and suppress. When a defendant files such a motion, the delay occasioned by litigating the motion, including the time for the State to respond and for the court to hear evidence and decide the matter, is chargeable to the defendant as a delay occasioned by him. People v. Kliner, 185 Ill. 2d 81, 117 (1998); People v. McDonald, 168 Ill. 2d 420, 440 (1995). This, of course, is why the time for a State interlocutory appeal tolls the running of the statute, under Rule 604(a)(4), as noted above. A speedy-trial demand runs until it is withdrawn. Thus, the majority must be referring to a situation where a defendant, who has not previously demanded a speedy trial, does so for the first time upon the State’s request for reconsideration of a suppression order. But the State can negate the effect of such a demand if it goes on to lose the motion to reconsider — under Rule 604(a)(4), the time spent on the State’s interlocutory appeal would toll the demand, as I have previously noted. In light of the foregoing, I strongly disagree with the majority’s construction of Rule 606(b). Its construction is contrary to the plain language of Rule 606(b) under basic rules of grammar. Moreover, the majority’s policy arguments do not withstand even mild scrutiny. The appellate court majority correctly decided this issue and its judgment should be affirmed.  A defendant is required under the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 to file postjudgment motions. 725 ILCS 5/116 — 1(b) (West 2006). Rule 606(b) therefore provides the means in which that statutory duty is squared with timeliness requirements for notices of appeal.   Rule 604(a)(2) provides the State with the ability to petition for leave to appeal under Rule 315(a) in such cases. This, of course, means that a defendant will have his speedy-trial demand tolled through both an appellate and a supreme court appeal process, which can take several years.