People v. Baker

2020 IL App (3d) 180348Opinion filed August 6, 2020
____________________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
THIRD DISTRICT
2020
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
ILLINOIS, ) of the 12th Judicial Circuit,
) Will County, Illinois.
Plaintiff-Appellee, )
) Appeal No. 3-18-0348
v. ) Circuit No. 17-CF-1997
)
MICAH C. BAKER, )
) Honorable Edward A. Burmila Jr.,
Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.
____________________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE SCHMIDT delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
Justices Carter and O’Brien concurred in the judgment and opinion.
OPINION
¶1 Defendant, Micah C. Baker, appeals the Will County circuit court’s denial of his motion to
withdraw his guilty plea. Defendant argues the circuit court failed to comply with Illinois Supreme
Court Rule 604(d) (eff. July 1, 2017). We reverse and remand.
¶2 I. BACKGROUND
¶3 After a grand jury indictment, the State charged defendant with two counts of domestic
battery (720 ILCS 5/12-3.2(a)(2), (b) (West 2016)). The court appointed counsel to represent
defendant. On March 15, 2018, defendant pled guilty to the more serious charge. In exchange for
his plea, the State moved to dismiss the lesser charge and recommended a sentence of 180 days in
jail and 30 months’ probation. The court granted the State’s motion and imposed the recommended
sentence.
¶4 On March 21, 2018, defendant appeared without counsel and told the court he wished to
withdraw his guilty plea. The court instructed defendant to file a written document containing his
reasons for wanting to withdraw his plea and provide the State with notice.
¶5 On March 23, 2018, defendant filed a timely pro se motion titled “My plea withdrawl
[sic],” wherein defendant described his reasons for wanting to withdraw his plea. Defendant
appeared without counsel that same day. The court did not determine whether defendant had legal
representation. The State said it did not have a copy of defendant’s motion and requested additional
time to respond. The court allowed the request and scheduled a hearing for April 11, 2018. When
defendant did not appear on April 11, the court removed the case from the docket, saying, “Strike
it from the call.”
¶6 On April 16, 2018, defendant appeared without counsel. The court failed to determine
whether defendant had legal representation. The court asked defendant what he wanted his pro se
motion to accomplish. Defendant said he wished to withdraw his guilty plea. The court repeated
its previous instructions, directing defendant to file a written document laying out his reasons for
wanting to withdraw his plea, and scheduled a hearing for April 20, 2018.
¶7 On April 20, 2018, defendant appeared without counsel before a different judge, who reset
the hearing for May 3, 2018, to ensure the plea judge would oversee the matter. On May 3, 2018,
defendant failed to appear. The court removed defendant’s case from the docket, saying
defendant’s “motion to withdraw his plea of guilty is stricken.”
¶8 On May 8, 2018, defendant filed a second pro se motion titled “[Defendant’s] reasons for
plea withdrawl [sic],” which largely repeated his first motion’s assertions. Defendant appeared
-2-
without counsel that same day. The court failed to determine whether defendant had legal
representation. The court allowed the State’s request for time to respond to defendant’s motion.
The State filed its written response on May 24, 2018. On May 29, 2018, defendant appeared
without counsel, said he did not have a copy of the State’s response to his motion, and received
time to review the response. The court reset the case for a June 6, 2018, hearing.
¶9 On June 6, 2018, defendant appeared without counsel. Without addressing defendant’s lack
of counsel, the court held a hearing on defendant’s first motion to withdraw his guilty plea. After
hearing the parties’ arguments, the court denied the motion. The court asked defendant if he had a
public defender, and defendant said “No.” The court then asked, “Are you going to be able to
afford counsel on appeal now?” Defendant replied, “What is counsel?” Plea counsel, who was
sitting in the courtroom at the time, informed the court that he had represented defendant during
the plea proceedings. The circuit clerk filed a notice of appeal on defendant’s behalf on June 7,
2018.
¶ 10 II. ANALYSIS
¶ 11 Defendant argues the circuit court failed to comply with Illinois Supreme Court Rule
604(d) (eff. July 1, 2017) by not determining whether defendant had legal representation,
appointing counsel for defendant for postplea proceedings, or obtaining a knowing waiver of
defendant’s right to counsel. The State concedes that the court erred when it did not determine
whether defendant had postplea legal representation. However, the State argues that we do not
have jurisdiction to consider defendant’s appeal.
¶ 12 Where, as in this case, defendant entered a fully negotiated guilty plea, he may not appeal
the judgment entered upon the guilty plea without first filing a motion to withdraw the plea within
30 days of sentencing. Id. If the court denies the motion, defendant must then file a notice of appeal
-3-
in the circuit court within 30 days. Id. Defendant may file a late notice of appeal in the appellate
court under certain circumstances. Ill. S. Ct. R. 606(c) (eff. July 1, 2017). “The timely filing of a
Rule 604(d) motion and a notice of appeal are jurisdictional prerequisites to a review of
defendant’s guilty plea.” People v. Dieterman, 243 Ill. App. 3d 838, 841 (1993).
¶ 13 The State contends that we lack jurisdiction to review the merits of defendant’s appeal
because defendant filed his notice of appeal more than 30 days after the court imposed his sentence.
The State argues the court struck defendant’s timely first motion from the record, either on April
11, 2018, by saying “[s]trike it from the call” or on May 3, 2018, by saying the “motion to withdraw
his plea of guilty is stricken.” As a result, defendant’s May 8, 2018, motion, which was filed 54
days after sentencing, was untimely.
¶ 14 The State’s argument misconstrues the record. The court impliedly extended the time for
filing a motion to reconsider sentence by considering the merits of defendant’s May 8, 2018,
motion. See People v. Church, 334 Ill. App. 3d 607, 613-14 (2002). Observing defendant’s filing
difficulties, the court allowed defendant at least three attempts to file his motion properly. The
court’s April 11, 2018, statement “Strike it from the call” removed the case from the docket
because defendant failed to appear. It did not eliminate defendant’s motion entirely. Likewise, the
court’s May 3, 2018, statement “motion to withdraw his plea of guilty is stricken,” only removed
the case from the docket. When defendant filed a written motion and appeared, the court allowed
the State to respond and properly considered the merits of defendant’s motion. To find otherwise
would require us to determine that the court erred by conducting a hearing on defendant’s second
motion and denying the motion on its merits instead of dismissing it for untimeliness. See People
v. Bailey, 2014 IL 115459, ¶ 27. We presume the court knows the law and applied it properly
unless the record contains strong affirmative evidence to the contrary. People v. Howery, 178 Ill.
-4-
2d 1, 32 (1997). Therefore, the court did not err by ruling on the merits of defendant’s pro se
motion to withdraw. Defendant’s timely notice of appeal from the court’s denial of his timely
pro se motion to withdraw his guilty plea vested us with jurisdiction to consider the merits of
defendant’s appeal.
¶ 15 Under Rule 604(d), when a defendant files a motion to withdraw his guilty plea within 30
days of sentencing the court shall “determine whether the defendant is represented by counsel, and
if the defendant is indigent and desires counsel, the trial court shall appoint counsel.” Ill. S. Ct. R.
604(d) (eff. July 1, 2017). When a defendant manifests an interest in challenging the judgment
against him, the court “ ‘has an affirmative duty to ascertain whether a defendant desires counsel
for preparation and presentation of postplea motions.’ ” (Emphasis in original.) People v. Perry,
2014 IL App (1st) 122584, ¶ 22 (quoting People v. Griffin, 305 Ill. App. 3d 326, 332 (1999)). The
court must either appoint counsel to represent an indigent defendant for postplea proceedings or
find that the defendant knowingly waived the right to appointed counsel. People v. Smith, 365 Ill.
App. 3d 356, 360 (2006). If a court fails to satisfy this requirement, it must remand the case. Id. at
361. We review de novo the issue of whether the court failed to comply with the Rule 604(d)
requirements. Id. at 358.
¶ 16 After reviewing the record, we accept the State’s concession. Defendant filed his first
pro se motion to withdraw his plea on March 23, 2018, within the prescribed 30-day period, but
the court did not determine whether defendant had legal representation until after the June 6, 2018,
hearing where the court denied the motion. The court failed to comply with Rule 604(d). Moreover,
defendant’s comments during the postplea proceedings indicated that he was unaware of his right
to postplea counsel. The appointment of counsel would have eliminated the confusion around the
-5-
motion filing process. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court denying defendant’s
motion to withdraw his guilty plea and remand the case for further proceedings.
¶ 17 III. CONCLUSION
¶ 18 For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court of Will County and
remand for further proceedings.
¶ 19 Reversed and remanded.
-6-
No. 3-18-0348
Cite as: People v. Baker, 2020 IL App (3d) 180348Decision Under Review: Appeal from the Circuit Court of Will County, No. 17-CF-1997;
the Hon. Edward A. Burmila Jr., Judge, presiding.
Attorneys James E. Chadd, Thomas A. Karalis, and Steven Varel, of State
for Appellate Defender’s Office, of Ottawa, for appellant.
Appellant:
Attorneys James W. Glasgow, State’s Attorney, of Joliet (Patrick
for Delfino and Thomas D. Arado, of State’s Attorneys Appellate
Appellee: Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.
-7-