People v. Williams
2013 IL App (2d) 120094
Ill. App. Ct.2014Background
- Jordan A. Williams was indicted on multiple charges and ultimately pled guilty to unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (Class X); he was sentenced to 15 years and assessed various fees and fines.
- While a public defender represented Williams through preliminary proceedings, Williams later retained private counsel; the trial court then ordered Williams to reimburse the public defender $750.
- At the time the public defender fee was imposed the record contained only a dated certificate of assets showing unemployment, no assets, three children, and that Williams was incarcerated.
- The clerk also assessed a $200 DNA indexing fee, a $75 pretrial bond supervision fee, a $3,000 mandatory drug assessment, and a debt-collection fee (30% of assessed amounts).
- The State conceded several errors; the appellate court vacated or modified several fees (public defender fee vacated and remanded for hearing on ability to pay; DNA and bond-supervision fees vacated; drug assessment offset for 346 days in custody; collection fee to be recalculated on remand).
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (People) | Defendant's Argument (Williams) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the $750 public defender reimbursement must be vacated or remanded for a hearing on ability to pay | Court should remand for a proper section 113-3.1(a) hearing to determine ability to pay | Fee must be vacated outright because no timely or adequate hearing occurred and only dated asset affidavit was in record | Vacated the fee and remanded for a proper hearing on Williams’s ability to pay (court found some sort of hearing occurred within statutory period but it was inadequate) |
| Whether the $200 DNA indexing fee must be vacated | Fee proper unless defendant not already in DNA database | Fee must be vacated because Williams had previously submitted DNA under a prior conviction | Vacated the $200 DNA fee (State conceded error) |
| Whether the $75 pretrial bond supervision fee must be vacated | Fee permissible if defendant actually released on supervised bond | Fee must be vacated because Williams was never released on bond and never received pretrial supervision | Vacated the $75 pretrial bond supervision fee |
| Whether the $3,000 drug assessment should be reduced by $5/day credit for presentencing custody (346 days) | Presentencing custody credit applies against fines; therefore assessment should be reduced | Same; credit should apply | Modified mittimus to reflect $1,730 credit (346 days × $5), reducing assessment to $1,270; debt-collection fee to be recalculated accordingly |
Key Cases Cited
- People v. Love, 177 Ill. 2d 550 (1997) (section 113-3.1(a) requires a hearing into defendant’s ability to pay before setting reimbursement)
- People v. Jones, 223 Ill. 2d 569 (2006) (drug assessment is a fine and subject to presentencing credit for time in custody)
- People v. Marshall, 242 Ill. 2d 285 (2011) (DNA fee cannot be imposed when defendant already is registered in State Police DNA database)
- People v. Dalton, 406 Ill. App. 3d 158 (2010) (pretrial bond supervision fee should not be assessed where defendant was never released on bond)
- People v. Smith, 258 Ill. App. 3d 261 (1994) (defendant held any part of a day in custody is entitled to credit for that day)