Court Opinion

ID: 9885124
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 03:30:50.455956+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:44.155892
License: Public Domain

MR. CHIEF JUSTICE UNDERWOOD, dissenting: I would affirm the appellate court’s dismissal of this appeal. This case must be considered in the context in which it comes before us. It is abundantly clear from the record that defendant and his counsel had negotiated this plea of guilty as a means of disposing of eight armed-robbery charges then pending against him. The 3-to-5-year sentence then imposed had been agreed upon by defendant, his counsel and the State’s Attorney. There is no suggestion made to us that defendant is not guilty, that he was in any way misled as to the offense to which he was pleading guilty or the sentence which would be recommended. The recommended sentence was imposed, and it is not suggested to be excessive. In short, it is entirely clear that no element of unfairness to defendant in the conduct or completion of the plea-negotiation proceedings is alleged to exist. It is undisputed that defendant was properly admonished as to the consequences of his guilty plea and that he was apprised of his right to appeal notwithstanding that plea. Nevertheless, defendant failed to either perfect his appeal or conform with the requirements of our rule 606(c) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1969, ch. 110A, par. 606(c)), by which we have provided an expeditious method for obtaining review of otherwise tardy appeals. It was this procedure, which requires an elementary showing of reasonable excuse for failure to file, that we considered in People v. Keeney (1970), 45 Ill.2d 280, and People v. Wilson (1972), 50 Ill.2d 323, and I believe the distinction between those cases and this one to be well taken. What the majority brushes aside as formality, in fact represents a requirement calculated to promote timely and meritorious appeals, and I find no abuse of discretion in dismissal of the appeal when defendant here neglected to satisfy that requirement. In my opinion the effect of the majority opinion is to create uncertainty and instability in the time limits upon appeals. It does so unnecessarily in a case where there is no hint of unfairness to defendant in the trial court proceedings, and, to me, no justification to further belabor an already overtaxed judicial system.