Court Opinion

ID: 9859617
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 22:09:57.584681+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:55:35.595098
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE THOMAS, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I agree with the majority that the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to suppress, and I therefore concur in that portion of the majority opinion. However, I disagree with the majority’s finding that, with regard to defendant’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, prejudice must be presumed based upon defense counsel’s actions in this case. Therefore, I respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority opinion. As the majority observes, the United States Supreme Court decisions in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 104 S. Ct. 2052 (1984), and United States v. Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 80 L. Ed. 2d 657, 104 S. Ct. 2039 (1984), set forth the standards for evaluating ineffective assistance of counsel claims. In general, the familiar Strickland standard applies: in order to establish ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show both that his attorney’s performance fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and that his attorney’s deficient performance resulted in prejudice to the defendant. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687-88, 694, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 693, 698, 104 S. Ct. at 2064, 2068. However, in Cronic, the Supreme Court recognized three situations so likely to prejudice an accused that prejudice would be presumed. Cronic, 466 U.S. at 658, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 667-68, 104 S. Ct. at 2046-47. The first situation is where a defendant was denied the presence of counsel at a critical stage. Cronic, 466 U.S. at 659, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 668, 104 S. Ct. at 2047. The second situation is where counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing. Cronic, 466 U.S. at 659, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 668, 104 S. Ct. at 2047. The third situation is where counsel is called upon to render assistance under circumstances where competent counsel very likely could not due to surrounding circumstances. Cronic, 466 U.S. at 659-60, 80 L. Ed. 2d at 668, 104 S. Ct. at 2047. Until today, in addressing the second situation set forth in Cronic, this court consistently has refused to presume prejudice unless a defendant’s attorney entirely failed to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing. Thus, in People v. Hattery, 109 Ill. 2d 449 (1985), this court applied the Cronic standard to the defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim, finding that the defense counsel’s actions did not subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing. We observed that one of defendant’s attorneys conceded the defendant’s guilt in his opening statement despite the defendant’s not-guilty plea. Hattery, 109 Ill. 2d at 458-59. In addition, defense counsel advanced no theory of defense, presented no evidence of their own, and did not make a closing argument to the jury. Hattery, 109 Ill. 2d at 459. In contrast, in cases subsequent to Hattery, this court declined to presume prejudice, even where defense counsel conceded a client’s guilt, if the defense counsel otherwise acted as the defendant’s advocate during the proceedings. See People v. Williams, 192 Ill. 2d 548, 567 (2000) (no presumption of prejudice where defense counsel aggressively cross-examined State’s witnesses, argued for not-guilty verdict in opening statement and closing argument, and moved to suppress defendant’s statement); People v. Nieves, 192 Ill. 2d 487 (2000) (no presumption of prejudice where defense counsel extensively cross-examined State’s witnesses, called witness on behalf of defendant, and argued forcefully defendant should be found “not guilty”); People v. Shatner, 174 Ill. 2d 133 (1996) (no presumption of prejudice where defense counsel aggressively cross-examined virtually all State’s witnesses and called several witnesses on defendant’s behalf); People v. Page, 155 Ill. 2d 232 (1993)(case distinguishable from Hattery because defense counsel cross-examined State’s witnesses, objected to allegedly improper evidence and argument, and moved for directed verdict); People v. Ganus, 148 Ill. 2d 466, 473 (1992) (case distinguishable from Hattery because record showed defendant consented to counsel’s trial strategy). Clearly, then, a presumption of prejudice where defense counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing requires just that: an entire failure of adversarial testing. Here, as in Williams, Nieves, Shatner, Page and Ganus, defense counsel did act as defendant’s advocate throughout the proceedings. Defense counsel made an opening statement and closing argument and presented evidence on defendant’s behalf. Defense counsel cross-examined the State’s witnesses. Defense counsel tried to persuade the jury that defendant’s confession was a lie told to protect defendant’s wife, and that it was Hoover, not defendant, that killed Shorter. In addition, and in contrast to Hattery, defendant consented on the record to his counsel’s actions in conceding his guilt to the murder of Fred Jones. The majority’s finding that defense counsel’s actions in this case entirely failed to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful adversarial testing is contrary to the well-established precedent of this court. In addition, the majority’s decision also is contrary to the recent decision of the United States Supreme Court in Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 152 L. Ed. 2d 914, 122 S. Ct. 1843 (2002). In Bell, the Supreme Court explained that “[w]hen we spoke in Cronic of the possibility of presuming prejudice based on an attorney’s failure to test the prosecutor’s case, we indicated that the attorney’s failure must be complete.” Bell v. Cone, 535 U.S. 685, 696-97, 152 L. Ed. 2d 914, 928, 122 S. Ct. 1843, 1851 (2002). Thus, the Court in Bell rejected a defendant’s claim that his case was one in which prejudice must be presumed. The Court stated that “respondent’s argument is not that his counsel failed to oppose the prosecution throughout the sentencing proceeding as a whole, but that his counsel failed to do so at specific points. For purposes of distinguishing between the rule of Strickland and that of Cronic, this difference is not of degree but of kind.” Bell, 535 U.S. at 697, 152 L. Ed. 2d at 928, 122 S. Ct. at 1851. Defense counsel’s failure in this case, while certainly serious and significant, was not complete. As in Bell, defendant’s claim in this case was not that his defense counsel failed to oppose the prosecution throughout the trial, but that his counsel failed to do so at specific points. The majority attempts to fit this case within the parameters of Bell by finding that “in all practical effect, as a result of defense counsel’s actions, defendant stood before the jury throughout the trial with no defensive strategy whatsoever.” 209 Ill. 2d at 188. Bell and Cronic, however, require more than a failure in defensive strategy. Bell clarifies that Cronic requires a complete failure in advocacy before prejudice may be presumed. Defense counsel’s representation here did not amount to a complete failure in advocacy. Under the circumstances, Bell requires analysis of defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claim under Strickland, not Cronic. For that reason, I dissent from the majority’s finding that prejudice must be presumed based upon counsel’s actions in this case.