In re Ch. W. ( 2010 )

Filed 4/16/10 NO. 4-09-0925
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
IN RE: Ch. W. and Ca. W., Minors, ) Appeal from
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Circuit Court of
Petitioner-Appellee, ) Champaign County
v. ) No. 09JA57
JERRY WELLS, )
Respondent-Appellant. ) Honorable
) John R. Kennedy,
) Judge Presiding.
________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE TURNER delivered the opinion of the court:
In August 2009, the State filed a petition for adjudi-
cation of wardship as to Ch. W. (born in October 2001) and Ca. W.
(born in September 2002), the minor children of respondent, Jerry
Wells. The minor children's mother, Dena Wells, is not a party
to this appeal. After an adjudicatory hearing, the trial court
found the minor children were neglected and dependent. In
December 2009, the court made the minor children wards of the
court and appointed the Department of Children and Family Ser-
vices (DCFS) as their guardian.
Respondent appeals, contending (1) he was denied
effective assistance of counsel, (2) the State violated his due-
process rights, and (3) the trial court erred by finding the
minor children were neglected. We remand with directions.
I. BACKGROUND
Respondent and Dena adopted the minor children, who are
Dena's biological grandchildren, in 2004. Dena suffers from
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On March 26, 2009, DCFS
became involved with the family after allegations were made that
respondent had molested J.C., a neighbor child. The next day,
Sheri Foley, a DCFS investigator, conducted separate forensic
interviews of J.C. and Ch. W., which were recorded by both video
and audio. Under a DCFS safety plan, the minor children remained
in the home with Dena, and respondent lived elsewhere.
In April 2009, respondent was arrested and incarcer-
ated. People v. Wells, No. 09-CF-746 (Cir. Ct. Champaign Co.).
In June 2009, a grand jury charged respondent with one count of
predatory criminal sexual assault of a child (720 ILCS 5/12-
14.1(a)(1) (West 2006)) (Ch. W. alleged victim) and one count of
aggravated criminal sexual abuse (720 ILCS 5/12-16(c)(1)(i) (West
2008)) (J.C. alleged victim) for his actions in March 2008. In
the criminal case, the State moved to admit, inter alia, Ch. W.'s
statements to Foley under section 115-10 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/115-10 (West 2006)). After holding
a hearing on the motion and viewing the recordings of the inter-
views, Judge Heidi Ladd denied the motion as to Ch. W.'s state-
ments because Foley's questions were too leading to provide
sufficient safeguards of reliability. On appeal, respondent has
supplemented the record with a verbatim transcript of Judge
Ladd's oral ruling on the motion. In October 2009, the State
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dismissed all of the criminal charges against respondent, and he
was released from jail.
On August 14, 2009, the police took protective custody
of the minor children when Dena was admitted to the hospital and
had no one to care for the minor children. Three days later, the
State filed its petition, alleging the minor children were (1)
neglected under section 2-3(1)(b) of the Juvenile Court Act of
1987 (Juvenile Court Act) (705 ILCS 405/2-3(1)(b) (West 2008)),
in that their environment was injurious to their welfare when
they resided with Jerry as the environment exposed them to the
risk of sexual abuse; and (2) dependent under section 2-4(1)(a)
of the Juvenile Court Act (705 ILCS 405/2-4(1)(a) (West 2008))
because they lacked a parent, guardian, or legal custodian to
care for them due to respondent's incarceration and Dena's poor
physical health.
On September 25, 2009, the trial court commenced the
adjudicatory hearing. Dena admitted and stipulated to the
dependent count of the petition, and the shelter-care report
served as the factual basis for the admission. The court entered
judgment in favor of the State and against Dena and then pro-
ceeded to hear evidence as to respondent. Only the pertinent
testimony presented at the adjudicatory hearing is set forth
below.
Foley testified she had received specific training in
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forensic interviewing of children and had "conducted 185
sexual[-]abuse reports." On March 27, 2009, Foley interviewed
Ch. W. at the Child Advocacy Center, which had a child-friendly
atmosphere. Foley indicated Ch. W. was developmentally delayed
and that, while Ch. W.'s language was clear, it was more on the
level of a five-year-old than a seven-year-old. According to
Foley, Ch. W. was comfortable during the interview and did not
seem nervous or fearful. Foley stated that, due to Ch. W.'s
limited ability to answer open-ended questions, the questions
asked her were more direct as to sexual abuse.
When Foley was asked about what Ch. W. said regarding
the charges being investigated, defense counsel made an objection
for the record, which the trial court overruled. Foley testified
Ch. W. disclosed sexual touching by respondent, whom Ch. W.
referred to both as father and grandfather. Specifically, Ch. W.
stated her father had touched her in the vaginal area.
During the interview, Foley used both anatomically
correct drawings and dolls. Ch. W. was able to identify and
describe all the body parts on both the male and female drawings.
Ch. W. also knew the differences between the genders and, for the
most part, knew what every body part did in her own language.
Foley admitted that, at certain points, Ch. W. was unable to
identify certain body parts. Foley explained the dolls were
tools used to help her understand what the child had stated
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happened. Foley showed Ch. W. all of the parts on the dolls,
which were fully clothed. Foley asked Ch. W. to show her what
happened, and Ch. W. took the male doll's hand and touched it to
the girl doll's vaginal area. Ch. W. indicated it was skin-to-
skin touching and Ch. W. was not wearing clothes. Foley testi-
fied Ch. W. stated it happened more than once but it was diffi-
cult to know a number with Ch. W.'s age and developmental delays.
On cross-examination, defense counsel asked Foley if
she was able to make an estimate of Ch. W.'s mental age and what
term Ch. W. used for "vagina." He also asked a couple of ques-
tions about (1) what Ch. W. called respondent and (2) Ch. W.'s
biological father. In total, respondent's counsel asked Foley
six questions on cross-examination.
The State also presented the testimony of Jeffrey
Smith, the DCFS caseworker for respondent's family; Investigator
Dwayne Roelfs, who interviewed respondent twice; and Deputy
Andrew Good, an investigator with the Champaign County sheriff's
department who observed Investigator Roelfs' two interviews of
respondent. Investigator Roelfs testified respondent recalled an
incident in his bathroom, in which Ch. W. touched his partially
erect penis. Respondent told her never to do it again. Respon-
dent also recalled a time when he was giving Ch. W. a bath and
was sightly aroused by bathing Ch. W.
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The guardian ad litem presented the testimony of Deputy
Kristin Zimmer, who had interviewed J.C.
Respondent testified on his own behalf and presented
the testimony of his sister, Kathy Bush, and his brother, Greg
Wells. Respondent's counsel did not raise Judge Ladd's ruling.
On appeal, respondent supplemented the record with an affidavit,
in which he states he told his counsel before the adjudicatory
hearing about Judge Ladd's ruling.
In adjudicating the minor children neglected, the trial
court noted it found the testimony of Foley to be "particularly
convincing." Specifically, the court noted it found her inter-
view was conducted under circumstances that enhanced the minor's
credibility, rather than detracted from it. Besides Foley's
testimony, the court noted Investigator Roelfs' testimony that,
on at least one occasion, Ch. W. had touched respondent's penis.
At the December 2, 2009, dispositional hearing, the
trial court found respondent was unfit and unable and Dena was
unable to care for the minor children. The court made the minor
children wards of the court and appointed DCFS as their guardian.
The next day, the court filed a written dispositional order. On
December 9, 2009, respondent filed a notice of appeal in compli-
ance with Supreme Court Rule 303 (Official Reports Advance Sheet
No. 15 (July 16, 2008), R. 303, eff. May 30, 2008), and thus this
court has jurisdiction under Supreme Court Rule 301 (155 Ill. 2d
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R. 301). See 210 Ill. 2d R. 660(b) (providing the rules govern-
ing civil cases govern appeals from final judgments in all
proceedings under the Juvenile Court Act, except for delinquency
ones).
II. ANALYSIS
Respondent first contends he was denied his right to
effective assistance of counsel.
Section 1-5(1) of the Juvenile Court Act (705 ILCS
405/1-5(1) (West 2008)) grants minors and their parents the right
to be represented by counsel in juvenile proceedings. While the
right to counsel in juvenile proceedings is statutory and not
constitutional, "Illinois courts apply the standard utilized in
criminal cases to gauge the effectiveness of counsel in juvenile
proceedings." In re S.G., 347 Ill. App. 3d 476, 479, 807 N.E.2d
1246, 1248 (2004). Thus, courts review ineffective-assis-
tance-of-counsel claims in juvenile proceedings under the stan-
dards set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 80 L.
Ed. 2d 674, 104 S. Ct. 2052 (1984). S.G., 347 Ill. App. 3d at
479, 807 N.E.2d at 1248.
To establish ineffective assistance of counsel under
Strickland, one must prove (1) his counsel's performance failed
to meet an objective standard of competence and (2) counsel's
deficient performance resulted in prejudice to the defendant.
People v. Evans, 186 Ill. 2d 83, 93, 708 N.E.2d 1158, 1163-64
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(1999). To satisfy the deficiency prong of Strickland, the party
must demonstrate counsel made errors so serious and counsel's
performance was so deficient that counsel was not functioning as
"counsel" guaranteed by the sixth amendment (U.S. Const., amend.
VI). Further, the party must overcome the strong presumption the
challenged action or inaction could have been the product of
sound trial strategy. Evans, 186 Ill. 2d at 93, 708 N.E.2d at
1163. To satisfy the prejudice prong, the party must prove a
reasonable probability exists that, but for counsel's unprofes-
sional errors, the proceedings' result would have been different.
Evans, 186 Ill. 2d at 93, 708 N.E.2d at 1163-64.
Respondent asserts his counsel failed to (1) object to
Foley's testimony about her interview with Ch. W.; (2) request
the trial court to take judicial notice of Judge Ladd's ruling in
the criminal case; (3) submit to the court the recordings of
Foley's interview with Ch. W., which Judge Ladd reviewed; and (4)
aggressively cross-examine Foley about her interview techniques
used with Ch. W.
In Massaro v. United States, 538 U.S. 500, 504, 155 L.
Ed. 2d 714, 720, 123 S. Ct. 1690, 1694 (2003), the United States
Supreme Court recognized the preference of having ineffective-
assistance-of-counsel claims brought on collateral review rather
than on direct appeal and rejected a rule requiring defendants to
bring such claims on direct review or face forfeiture of the
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claim. One of the problems with raising an ineffective-assis-
tance claim on direct appeal is the "appellate counsel and the
court must proceed on a trial record not developed precisely for
the object of litigating or preserving the claim and thus often
incomplete or inadequate for this purpose." Massaro, 538 U.S. at
504-05, 155 L. Ed. 2d at 720, 123 S. Ct. at 1694. Another
problem is the record likely does not reflect counsel's reasoning
behind his or her actions or omissions, and thus the reviewing
court may lack a "way of knowing whether a seemingly unusual or
misguided action by counsel had a sound strategic motive or was
taken because the counsel's alternatives were even worse."
Massaro, 538 U.S. at 505, 155 L. Ed. 2d at 720, 123 S. Ct. at
1694. However, in a collateral proceeding, "the defendant 'has a
full opportunity to prove facts establishing ineffectiveness of
counsel, the government has a full opportunity to present evi-
dence to the contrary, the district court hears spoken words we
can see only in print and sees expressions we will never see, and
a factual record bearing precisely on the issue is created.'"
Massaro, 538 U.S. at 506, 155 L. Ed. 2d at 721, 123 S. Ct. at
1694, quoting United States v. Griffin, 699 F.2d 1102, 1109 (11th
Cir. 1983).
The problems associated with addressing an ineffective-
assistance-of-counsel claim raised for the first time on appeal
described by the Supreme Court in Massaro are present in this
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case. While respondent has supplemented the record on appeal
with Judge Ladd's ruling, he did not supplement the record with
the recordings of Foley's interview of Ch. W. Moreover, while
juvenile proceedings are not meant to be adversarial (People v.
Santiago, 384 Ill. App. 3d 784, 790, 895 N.E.2d 989, 994 (2008)),
the State may still present evidence to refute respondent's
claim, such as the testimony of respondent's counsel, to permit a
full review of the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel issue. The
appellate record also lacks any statements from respondent's
counsel. Further, this court will not simply assume the trial
court would have ruled the same way as Judge Ladd regarding
Foley's interview of Ch. W., especially with the appellate record
lacking the recordings. Additionally, respondent did not raise
his claim in the trial court, and thus a hearing focused on the
ineffective-assistance-of-counsel issue has not yet taken place.
Since the Juvenile Court Act does not provide for
collateral review of its judgments, we retain jurisdiction of
this matter and remand the cause for a hearing on respondent's
ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim. See 155 Ill. 2d R.
366(a)(5) (granting reviewing courts in civil cases the powers to
grant any relief including remandment); Jones v. Board of Fire &
Police Commissioners, 127 Ill. App. 3d 793, 797, 469 N.E.2d 393,
397 (1984) ("a reviewing court in Illinois is not divested of
jurisdiction until the parties' rights of appeal have been
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exhausted"). Such a hearing will give respondent a full opportu-
nity to prove facts establishing ineffectiveness of counsel, the
State a full opportunity to present evidence to the contrary, and
the establishment of a factual record on the issue. See Massaro,
538 U.S. at 506, 155 L. Ed. 2d at 721, 123 S. Ct. at 1694. If
respondent does not receive a new trial as a result of ineffec-
tive assistance of counsel, we will then address respondent's
remaining arguments.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated, we retain jurisdiction and
remand the cause for a hearing on respondent's ineffective-
assistance-of-counsel claim.
Remanded with directions.
KNECHT and APPLETON, JJ., concur.
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