Court Opinion

ID: 9729840
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:50:08.702047+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:01.590999
License: Public Domain

Mr. JUSTICE MILLS, concurring: If the State alleges in a petition to revoke probation that a defendant committed a particular crime, inter alia, and the petition is denied by the trial court after a hearing on the merits but where no evidence is presented on this specific offense set forth, can that defendant be subsequently prosecuted for that particular substantive offense itself? No — double jeopardy. Illinois decisions have recognized that, although the differences between a criminal trial and a probation revocation hearing are substantial, the doctrine of collateral estoppel does not allow the State to relitigate issues in one proceeding — be it trial or probation revocation hearing — that have been decided against it in the other proceeding. People v. Grayson (1974), 58 Ill. 2d 260, 319 N.E.2d 43, cert, denied (1975), 421 U.S. 994, 44 L. Ed. 2d 484, 95 S. Ct. 2001; People v. Kondo (1977) , 51 Ill. App. 3d 874, 366 N.E.2d 990. In Grayson, the supreme court held that a trial judge’s finding of not guilty in a bench trial on an armed robbery charge precluded the State, under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, from relitigating the question of such robbery in subsequent proceedings to revoke defendant’s probation. In Kondo, our brothers in the Fifth District found that the denial of a petition to revoke defendant’s probation upon a specific finding that defendant had carried the weapon in a broken down, nonfunctioning state, was a final determination of the charge. Therefore, the appellate court held that the State was barred under the doctrine of collateral estoppel from seeking relitigation, upon the same evidence, in a prosecution for carrying a concealed weapon. The court decided that the State — having elected to first prosecute defendant by way of a probation revocation hearing and having failed to meet the less stringent burden of proof required in that proceeding — was subsequently barred from attempting to relitigate the identical issue upon the same evidence under the more demanding standards of a criminal trial. In the instant case, as opposed to the situations in Kondo and Grayson, the circumstances of the August 2, 1977, transaction were not litigated by the trial court at the first probation revocation hearing. Therefore, the State argues that the situation here is clearly distinguishable from Grayson and Kondo and that the doctrine of collateral estoppel does not apply. Collateral estoppel applies when an issue of ultimate fact has once been determined by a valid and final judgment. That issue cannot again be litigated between the same parties- in any future lawsuit. (Grayson.) Collateral estoppel is limited to situations in which an examination of the entire record in the prior case shows that a rational trier of fact could only have rendered its verdict upon a resolution of the issue that is in controversy in the immediate cause. (Ashe v. Swenson (1970), 397 U.S. 436, 444, 25 L. Ed. 2d 469, 475-76, 90 S. Ct. 1189, 1194; People v. Kennedy (1978) , 60 Ill. App. 3d 947, 377 N.E.2d 830.) Here, the August 2 transaction was not even considered by the trial court at the first probation revocation hearing and therefore the doctrine of collateral estoppel simply does not apply. However, the doctrine of collateral estoppel is merely one element of the fifth amendment’s guarantee against double jeopardy. (See Ashe.) The double jeopardy clause states: * ° nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ” ° U.S. Const., amend. V. The fifth amendment applies to the States through the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment (Benton v. Maryland (1969), 395 U.S. 784, 23 L. Ed. 2d 707, 89 S. Ct. 2056), and Illinois has codified double jeopardy principles in section 3 — 4 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 3 — 4). The State, however, argues that the principle of double jeopardy is inapplicable in this case. I cannot agree. In an analogous situation, we have recently held that the constitutional and statutory concepts of double jeopardy should be applied to MINS cases (minor in need of supervision). (In re R.L.K. (1978), 67 Ill. App. 3d 451, 384 N.E.2d 531.) In R.L.K., the State had brought unsuccessful petitions seeking to declare respondents minors in need of supervision. Subsequently, the State attempted to bring petitions alleging that the minors should be adjudged delinquents. We held that the delinquency petitions were barred by the constitutional and statutory principles of double jeopardy. In so doing, we discounted the State’s argument that a MINS petition is a civil — rather than a criminal — proceeding. Instead, we felt that the better analysis involved an examination of the characteristics of the proceeding, including the stigma and deprivation of liberty associated with the action. See also Breed v. Jones (1975), 421 U.S. 519, 44 L. Ed. 2d 346, 95 S. Ct. 1779; In re Vitale (1978), 71 Ill. 2d 229, 375 N.E.2d 87 (appeal pending). Similarly, an analysis of a probation revocation proceeding convinces us that the consequences of such a proceeding parallel those involved in a criminal case. If probation is revoked, a defendant can be incarcerated. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 6—4.) The fact that different standards of proof are involved in criminal trials and probation revocation proceedings is of no consequence. (See Grayson; Kondo; but see People v. Rose (1978), 58 Ill. App. 3d 397, 374 N.E.2d 736.) Consequently, I conclude that principles of double jeopardy are applicable to petitions to revoke probation. Ergo, since the State decided to include both the July 20 and August 2 transactions in the initial petition to revoke defendant’s probation, jeopardy attached, and the State was prohibited from bringing those allegations in a subsequent criminal prosecution or a subsequent petition to revoke probation. Because of the severe consequences involved in a probation revocation proceeding, charges should not be brought unless the prosecution has determined that there is sufficient evidence to support those charges and that such evidence can be marshaled and presented at the probation revocation hearing. There must be some sanctity in pleadings upon which reliance can be grounded — particularly in proceedings of a criminal nature where liberty may be at stake. Since a defendant must be prepared to defend against the allegations of criminal conduct made in a petition to revoke his probation, it is only fair that the State either present evidence on those charges at the revocation hearing, withdraw the charges, or face dismissal of those charges. Accordingly, I believe that both the defendant’s conviction on the August 2 drug transaction and the trial court’s decision to revoke his probation on the aggravated battery charge must be reversed.