Court Opinion

ID: 9717138
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:59:03.279905+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:51.597455
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE STEIGMANN, dissenting: I agree with everything the majority has stated in its well-reasoned opinion with one significant exception. That exception is the majority’s analysis of the Friedman case and its conclusion that we can affirm this defendant’s conviction consistent with what the supreme court said in Friedman. Because I believe that Friedman compels the conclusion that defendant’s July 27 and August 16, 1994, statements were admitted in violation of Rule 402(f), I respectfully dissent. Under current Illinois law, a court, in determining whether a particular statement is plea related, must consider the following: (1) whether the accused exhibited a subjective expectation to negotiate a plea and, if he did, (2) whether his expectation was reasonable under the totality of the circumstances. Friedman, 79 Ill. 2d at 351, 403 N.E.2d at 235. In this case, because defendant did not testify as to his subjective expectations, the objective circumstances surrounding his statements may be considered in evaluating whether they were plea related. See Taylor, 289 Ill. App. 3d at 402, 682 N.E.2d at 313, citing Friedman, 79 Ill. 2d at 353, 403 N.E.2d at 236. Those circumstances include (1) to whom the defendant is speaking, (2) the nature of the conversation, and (3) what the parties to the conversation stated. See Friedman, 79 Ill. 2d at 352-53, 403 N.E.2d at 235-36. For a statement to be plea related, “it must contain the rudiments of the negotiation process, i.e., a willingness by defendant to enter a plea of guilty in return for concessions by the State.” Friedman, 79 Ill. 2d at 353, 403 N.E.2d at 236. On both July 27 and August 16, 1994, defendant suggested to police investigators that he was willing to consider pleading guilty to a lesser offense in return for a lesser sentence. At the July 27, 1994, meeting, defendant specifically stated that he would plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and would accept a sentence of no more than 10 years, to run concurrently with his federal sentence. The investigators told defendant that they could not negotiate a guilty plea but would relay the information to the State’s Attorney’s office. That exchange formed the context in which defendant mentioned the murder weapon and the blood in the bathroom — both highly incriminating statements at the time. At the July meeting, defendant also requested information about the penalties for involuntary manslaughter, and on August 16, 1994, the police investigators returned with an Illinois statute book containing that information. At that meeting, which occurred only one day after defendant had reduced his plea offer to writing on the assumption that the detectives would take it to the State’s Attorney, the investigators told defendant that it would “behoove” him to tell them what happened if it amounted to less than first degree murder. Defendant again told the investigators that he wanted to work out a deal. He then provided a new statement, which differed from his earlier statements. Defendant’s statements on July 27 and August 16, 1994, evinced his intent to enter a guilty plea to involuntary manslaughter in return for a lesser sentence and demonstrated his willingness to plead guilty in exchange for concessions. See Sexton, 162 Ill. App. 3d at 613, 515 N.E.2d at 1364. The evidence also established that the statements were to be delivered to the State’s Attorney’s office by the police investigators. Defendant was not merely asking the investigators whether the State’s Attorney would plea bargain, he was asking the investigators to convey a specific plea offer to the State’s Attorney, and they informed him that they would convey the information. Defendant stated his interest in negotiating a plea early in both the July 27 and August 16 interviews, before he made any incriminating statements. Because defendant’s early interview statements contain “the rudiments of the negotiation process,” under current Illinois law, his subsequent statements on those dates constituted plea-related statements and were therefore inadmissible pursuant to Rule 402(f). Under Friedman, the law in Illinois is essentially the same as federal law was under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e)(6) (Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(e)(6)) before it was amended to its present, much more limited, form. Professor LaFave’s treatise explains that Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(e)(6) (Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(e)(6)) was “changed so as to cover only statements made by [a] defendant in court when a guilty plea was tendered or during plea discussions with [a] prosecutor.” (Emphasis added.) 5 W. LaFave, J. Israel & N. King, Criminal Procedure § 21.2(h), at 106 (2d ed. 1999). Under the prior version of the rule, a defendant’s statement made in the custody of two postal inspectors that said he would plead guilty to armed robbery if the murder charge against him was dropped was inadmissible. United States v. Herman, 544 F.2d 791 (5th Cir. 1977). Even though one inspector responded that they were not in a position to make any deals in that regard, the Herman court held that because the defendant made the statements during the course of a conversation in which he sought concessions from the government in return for a guilty plea, the statements were inadmissible under the then-version of Federal Rule 11(e)(6). Herman, 544 F.2d at 798. At that time, Federal Rule 11(e)(6) made inadmissible “ ‘statements made in connection with, and relevant to, any’ offer to plead guilty.” 5 W. LaFave, J. Israel & N. King, Criminal Procedure § 21.2(h), at 106 n.325 (2d ed. 1999), quoting Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(e)(6). Just as Herman was the vehicle for changing federal law, perhaps this case might cause the Supreme Court of Illinois to reconsider Friedman and change either Supreme Court Rule 402(f) or that court’s interpretation of the rule to be more in line with Federal Rule 11(e)(6), which may be regarded as providing all the legitimate protections to which any suspect is entitled.