Court Opinion

ID: 9529297
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:49:35.931286+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:43.962892
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE LYTTON, partially concurring and partially dissenting: I agree with Justice Holdridge’s determination that the trial court’s failure to properly consider the Boose factors deprived defendant of a fair trial. I write separately because I disagree with the narrow scope of the remand; I would remand for a new trial, not simply a retrospective hearing on the issue of the stun belt. By insisting on a limited remand, Justice Holdridge’s opinion contradicts supreme court precedent in a presumed effort to overturn it.1  Justice Holdridge’s resolution is not consistent with our supreme court’s holding in People v. Boose, 66 Ill. 2d 261 (1977). In Boose, the supreme court found that the trial court did not consider sufficient factors to justify shackling the defendant; it then reversed and remanded the case for a new fitness hearing, nothing less. Boose, 66 Ill. 2d at 269; see also In re Staley, 67 Ill. 2d 33, 38 (1977) (remand for new trial). From the time Boose was decided until now our appellate court has always followed the supreme court’s mandate. See People v. Allen, 354 Ill. App. 3d 442, 446 (2004), appeal allowed, 214 Ill. 2d 537 (2005) (remand for new trial); People v. Doss, 347 Ill. App. 3d 418, 427 (2004) (same); People v. Martinez, 347 Ill. App. 3d 1001, 1005 (2004) (same); People v. Bennett, 281 Ill. App. 3d 814, 825-26 (1996) (same). Justice Holdridge offers no rationale for treating this case differently from Boose and Staley. The Florida and New York cases cited by Justice Holdridge are contrary to Illinois law and cannot be relied on as authority to support his position. See Allstate Insurance Co. v. Lane, 345 Ill. App. 3d 547, 552 (2003). Even if we were to consider the practice of other jurisdictions, these cases offer us no guidance. Justice Holdridge cites three cases. The first, from Florida, is Childers v. State, 782 So. 2d 513 (Fla. App. 2001). The shackling issue in Childers was a claim that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the use of a stun belt. Childers, 782 So. 2d at 518. The case was remanded for a hearing on the ineffective assistance claim, not on the propriety of the stun belt. Childers, 782 So. 2d at 518. Florida cases decided after Childers have affirmed the necessity of a full remand when the trial court has failed to make proper Boose-type findings. See Green v. State, 850 So. 2d 597, 598 (Fla. App. 2003); Shelton v. State, 831 So. 2d 806, 807 (Fla. App. 2002) Justice Holdridge also cites two New York cases decided in 1971 and 1974.2 Both have long been superceded by more recent decisions in that state, where cases are now routinely remanded for a new trial. See People v. Vigliotti, 203 A.D.2d 898, 898, 611 N.Y.S.2d 413, 413 (1994); People v. Thomas, 125 A.D.2d 873, 875, 510 N.Y.S.2d 460, 462 (1986). Eighteen other states that have visited this issue also require a new trial after remand. See Townsend v. State, 308 Ark. 266, 272, 824 S.W.2d 821, 826 (1992); People v. Mar, 28 Cal. 4th 1201, 1230, 52 P.3d 95, 114, 124 Cal. Rptr. 2d 161, 184 (2002); Weldon v. State, 247 Ga. App. 17, 23, 543 S.E.2d 56, 60 (2000); Pace v. State, 212 Ga. App. 489, 490, 442 S.E.2d 307, 308 (1994); McKenzey v. State, 138 Ga. App. 88, 90, 225 S.E.2d 512, 514-15 (1976); State v. Castro, 69 Haw. 633, 654-55, 756 P.2d 1033, 1046-47 (1988); State v. Brewer, 301 So. 2d 630, 636 (La. 1974); Lovell v. State, 347 Md. 623, 648, 666, 702 A.2d 261, 273, 282 (1997); Commonwealth v. De Vasto, 7 Mass. App. 363, 367-68, 387 N.E.2d 1169, 1172 (1979); People v. Baskin, 145 Mich. App. 526, 545, 546, 378 N.W.2d 535, 540, 544 (1985); State v. Borman, 529 S.W.2d 192, 196 (Mo. App. 1975); Dickson v. State, 108 Nev. 1, 4, 822 P.2d 1122, 1124 (1992); State v. Roberts, 86 N.J. Super. 159, 168, 206 A.2d 200, 205-06 (1965); Davis v. State, 709 P.2d 207, 209 (Okla. App. 1985); State v. Glick, 73 Or. App. 79, 83, 697 P.2d 1002, 1004 (1985); Commonwealth v. Cruz, 226 Pa. Super. 241, 246, 311 A.2d 691, 693 (1973); Willocks v. State, 546 S.W.2d 819, 822 (Tenn. App. 1976); Mendoza v. State, 1 S.W.3d 829, 831 (Tex. App. 1999); Walthall v. State, 505 S.W.2d 898, 898 (Tex. App. 1974); Martin v. Commonwealth, 11 Va. App. 397, 410, 399 S.E.2d 623, 630 (1990); Miller v. Commonwealth, 7 Va. App. 367, 370, 374, 373 S.E.2d 721, 723, 725 (1988); State v. Jaquez, 105 Wash. App. 699, 717, 20 P.3d 1035, 1041 (2001). Illinois law requires a remand for a new trial when the record does not support the trial court’s decision to require a defendant to wear a stun belt. There is no justification requiring a change in the rule; this cause should be reversed and remanded for a new trial.  Decisions of our supreme court bind lower courts in this state, including the Third District Appellate Court. Super Liquors, Inc. v. Illinois Liquor Control Comm’n, 113 Ill. App. 3d 229 (3d Dist. 1983); Garcia v. Hynes & Howes Real Estate, Inc., 29 Ill. App. 3d 479 (3d Dist. 1975). This is true notwithstanding any supposed different approaches to the law elsewhere. See Hensley v. Hensley, 62 Ill. App. 2d 252 (1965).   People v. Reingold, 44 A.D.2d 191, 353 N.Y.S.2d 978 (1974); People v. Williams, 36 A.D.2d 1018, 321 N.Y.S.2d 463 (1971).