Court Opinion

ID: 9725413
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 11:46:12.832796+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:15.010609
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE KNECHT, specially concurring: I concur, and write only to comment on the impact of this decision on waiver and People v. Brady (1988), 172 Ill. App. 3d 1079, 1086, 527 N.E.2d 590, 595. As the author of several decisions involving recoupment, and whether waiver should be applied, I fully agree with the decision here. Any confusion concerning the rights of defendants and the standards to be met in recoupment orders should by now have been clarified. As in People v. Burrows (1989), 183 Ill. App. 3d 949, 955-56, 539 N.E.2d 842, 846, it is inappropriate to permit a defendant to sit silently, and then raise this issue on appeal. Trial courts have many hoops to jump through. In future, the defendant concerned about recoupment must point out the hoop or be barred from criticizing the trial judge’s form. It might also help if State’s Attorneys would assist trial judges in making a complete record instead of perfunctorily participating in recoupment proceedings. As for Brady, I agree its analysis of People v. Cook (1980), 81 Ill. 2d 176, 407 N.E.2d 56, is inconsistent with our decision here. To that extent, it should be overruled. The act of posting cash bond is evidence of an “ability to pay” a recoupment order. The trial court may elect to handle recoupment in a different fashion, but it is incumbent on both the defendant and the prosecution to assist in achieving an appropriate and fair result.