Court Opinion

ID: 9744593
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:08:34.484525+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:50.251496
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE COOK, dissenting: The supreme court in Bounds held that when a motion to reconsider is filed simultaneously with a notice of appeal, the jurisdiction of the reviewing court attaches instanter, and the trial court may not consider the motion to reconsider. Bounds, 182 Ill. 2d at 3, 694 N.E.2d at 561 (involving a direct appeal to the supreme court from the dismissal of a postconviction petition). Failure to consider the motion to reconsider in Bounds had little significance. The supreme court simply addressed the original order on its merits, reversing the dismissal of the petition. In People v. Jenkins, 303 Ill. App. 3d 854, 709 N.E.2d 265 (1999), in contrast, we applied Bounds to prevent trial court consideration of a postsentencing motion, a motion which was very significant. After we ruled that the postsentencing motion could not be considered by the trial court, we found that the sentencing issues were forfeited for failure to file a timely postsentencing motion in the trial court. Jenkins, 303 Ill. App. 3d at 860-61, 709 N.E.2d at 269. We apply the same reasoning to deprive defendant of his appeal in this case. I respectfully dissent. The majority applies Bounds far beyond what was intended by the supreme court. I would remand this case to the trial court for consideration of defendant’s postsentencing motion and the other issues addressed by the majority. Supreme Court Rule 303(a)(2) (155 Ill. 2d R. 303(a)(2)) (effective February 1, 1994) provides that the timely filing of a posttrial motion, even if it is preceded by the filing of a notice of appeal, requires that the notice of appeal be withdrawn and the posttrial motion heard by the trial court. Rule 303(a)(2) is a civil rule, but it has been applied in criminal cases. See, e.g., People v. Neal, 286 Ill. App. 3d 353, 354-55, 675 N.E.2d 130, 131 (1996); People v. Rowe, 291 III. App. 3d 1018, 1020, 684 N.E.2d 1368, 1370 (1997). We should follow those cases here. Finally, the supreme court amended Rule 606(b), effective December 1, 1999, to make it clear that postsentencing motions in cases like this should be heard, and the notice of appeal should have no effect. Official Reports Advance Sheet No. 22 (November 3, 1999), R. 606(b), eff. December 1, 1999. Jenkins was wrong, and the supreme court has now said so. We should not follow it.