Court Opinion

ID: 9532973
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:26:48.545777+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:52.916540
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE STEIGMANN, dissenting: This case presents an astonishing situation. Defendant, before ever being tried, obtained the dismissal of the criminal charges against him because he purportedly received ineffective assistance of counsel, yet throughout these proceedings, including this appeal, defendant has continued to be represented by the same, allegedly ineffective, counsel. In this nation’s entire legal history, I doubt there has ever been such a case. To support this astonishing result, the majority opinion speaks of “a miscarriage of justice.” 308 Ill. App. 3d at 1050. I agree that a miscarriage of justice has occurred, but it is due to the trial court’s dismissal that the majority opinion affirms. I respectfully dissent. Another peculiar feature of this case is that the majority questions not only this court’s earlier Rule 23 order, which reversed defendant’s initial dismissal, but also (at least implicitly) this court’s Ground decision upon which the earlier dismissal was based. And the majority does all of this not only sua sponte, but also in the teeth of overwhelming approval of Ground by every court that has discussed it. See, for instance, People v. Staten, 159 Ill. 2d 419, 422, 639 N.E.2d 550, 552-53 (1994), where the supreme court (without dissent) cited Ground in an approving, if not dispositive, fashion; People v. Meyer, 294 Ill. App. 3d 954, 956-57, 691 N.E.2d 1191, 1192-93 (1998); People v. Baker, 273 Ill. App. 3d 327, 329-30, 652 N.E.2d 858, 860-61 (1995); People v. Erickson, 266 Ill. App. 3d 273, 276-77, 639 N.E.2d 979, 982 (1994) (noting that recently “our supreme court quoted from Ground with approval,” meaning the Staten decision); and, most interestingly, People v. Milsap, 261 Ill. App. 3d 827, 831-32, 635 N.E.2d 1043, 1046-47 (1994), where the author of the majority opinion in the instant case wrote on behalf of a unanimous court and cited Ground approvingly in rejecting a defendant’s speedy trial demand as unclear and unequivocal. The majority opinion concedes that (1) section 114 — 1(a) of the Code lists only 11 grounds upon which a court may dismiss charges against a defendant, and (2) ineffective assistance of counsel is not one of them. 725 ILCS 5/114 — 1(a) (West 1998). Citing Fassler, the majority states that trial courts may dismiss charges for reasons other than those listed in section 114 — 1(a) “when failure to do so will effect a deprivation of due process or result in a miscarriage of justice” (308 Ill. App. 3d at 1050), and the majority apparently concludes that this is such a case. However, this is not such a case, and the majority opinion is bereft of any analysis to show otherwise. Although trial courts have limited authority to dismiss charges for reasons other than those listed in section 114 — 1(a) of the Code, that authority may “ ‘be exercised only when failure to do so will effect a deprivation of due process or result in a miscarriage of justice.’ ” (Emphasis added.) Fassler, 153 Ill. 2d at 58, 605 N.E.2d at 580, quoting People v. Sears, 49 Ill. 2d 14, 31, 273 N.E.2d 380, 389 (1971); see also People v. Newberry, 166 Ill. 2d 310, 313-14, 652 N.E'.2d 288, 290 (1995) (following Fassler). Trial courts must exercise restraint in dismissing cases on due process grounds. People v. Young, 220 Ill. App. 3d 488, 492, 581 N.E.2d 241, 244 (1991). A defendant who seeks dismissal bears the burden of showing a clear violation of due process resulting in actual and substantial prejudice. Young, 220 Ill. App. 3d at 492, 581 N.E.2d at 244. As the majority correctly states, to establish that defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel, he must show that (1) counsel made errors so serious that he was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed by the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution, and (2) he was prejudiced. To satisfy the prejudice prong of this test, a defendant must show that counsel’s conduct resulted in an unreliable trial or a fundamentally unfair proceeding; a mere showing that counsel’s conduct affected the outcome is insufficient. People v. Davison, 292 Ill. App. 3d 981, 985, 686 N.E.2d 1231, 1233 (1997), citing People v. Griffin, 178 Ill. 2d 65, 73-74, 687 N.E.2d 820, 827 (1997). These standards are intentionally difficult to satisfy, and defendant here has not come close to doing so. Defendant apparently believes that the charges would have been dismissed if only Barylske had properly drafted the speedy trial demand. Assuming defendant’s belief to be correct, the question remains whether denying defendant that dismissal resulted in a miscarriage of justice or foreclosed the possibility of defendant’s receiving a fair trial on the merits, as occurred, for example, in Newberry, 166 Ill. 2d at 314-15, 652 N.E.2d at 291 (wherein the State destroyed evidence, without which the defendant did not “have any realistic hope of exonerating himself’). The answer is clearly no. This court’s underlying concern in Ground was that, as a matter of fairness, the State should not suffer the ultimate sanction of 'having charges against a defendant dismissed when that defendant never clearly and unequivocally invoked section 103 — 5 of the Code, often referred to as the Speedy Trial Act (725 ILCS 5/103 — 5 (West 1998)). However, the trial court’s order now on appeal caused that same result under those same circumstances. It makes no sense for defendant to argue that such a result was the only way to avoid a “miscarriage of justice.” Fassler, 153 Ill. 2d at 58, 605 N.E.2d at 580. Defendant does not claim that Barylske’s actions somehow foreclosed the possibility of a fair trial, nor does the record before us provide any basis to so conclude. Accordingly, this court should hold that the sort of prejudice required to justify a trial court’s dismissal of criminal charges for reasons other than those listed in section 114 — 1(a) of the Code simply does not exist in this case. The State argues alternatively that the trial court erred by finding Barylske ineffective. Even though the majority apparently rejects this argument, I believe the record before us is insufficient to conclusively resolve this issue. The trial court adjudicated defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim without receiving any evidence in support of — or in opposition to — that claim. Instead, the court relied upon Barylske’s oral representations regarding his conduct. Normally, resolving whether a defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel requires the trial court to hear testimony from relevant witnesses, including defense counsel, regarding counsel’s conduct and the reasons for it. People v. Flores, 231 Ill. App. 3d 813, 827-28, 596 N.E.2d 1204, 1213-14 (1992). Here, because the merits of defendant’s claim depend at least partially on whether the State would have provided a trial in accordance with the time limit imposed by the Speedy Trial Act if defendant had properly demanded one, testimony from the prosecutor may have also been required to properly address defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim. Claims of ineffective assistance of counsel are normally more appropriately addressed in a petition under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) (725 ILCS 5/122 — 1 et seq. (West 1998)), where the trial court can conduct an evidentiary hearing and develop a complete record regarding the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. See People v. Holloman, 304 Ill. App. 3d 177, 186-87, 709 N.E.2d 969, 975-76 (1999); People v. Morris, 229 Ill. App. 3d 144, 166, 593 N.E.2d 932, 947 (1992); People v. Gilbert, 224 Ill. App. 3d 624, 633, 586 N.E.2d 1308, 1314 (1992). This court should reverse the trial court’s dismissal and remand for further proceedings, and if defendant were convicted after remand, he could pursue his ineffective assistance of counsel claim in a petition filed under the Act.