People v. ArnoldPeople v. Arnold
delivered the opinion of the court: On November 2, 1997, defendant was arrested for robbery and attempted robbery. On November 24, 1997, after a pretrial conference, defendant pied guilty to both offenses. Although defendant never disclosed this information to anyone, he was only 14 years old at this time. On the police report and all other documents, defendant stated that he was 17 years old. Defendant was sentenced to two years of felony probation, 60 days in the Cook County jail with 23 days of credit and 60 days of home confinement. He was also ordered to complete high school. Defendant was also a ward of the court as a result of abuse and neglect proceedings against his parents and had two outstanding delinquency warrants out for his arrest.
On March 18, 1998, the State filed a petition for violation of probation against defendant. While on probation, defendant failed to comply with the court’s sentence of home confinement and was arrested for possession of a controlled substance and burglary. On September 17, 1998, defendant’s probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to the Cook County Impact Incarceration Program (boot camp).
On October 7, 1998, defendant escaped from boot camp. After he was found and charged with one count of escape, the public defender assigned to his case discovered for the first time that defendant was still a minor. Subsequently, hearings were held and the trial court concluded that defendant was in fact a minor and was а
On March 4, 1999, the court held a hearing to determine whether defendant’s escape charge should be prosecuted under the Criminal Code of 1961 (
Defendant raises two issues on appeal: (1) whether his conviction for escape should be vacated pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act; and (2) whether his convictions for attempted robbery and robbery should be vacated pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act.
We shall first address the issue of whether defendant’s convictions for attempted robbery and robbery should be vacated.
•1 When a defendant does not file a timely notice of appeal from an order placing him on probation, we lack jurisdiction to consider errors in the underlying conviction unless such errors render the conviction void. People v. Hall,
In Hall, the defendant was indicted for armed robbery and several months later filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, raising age as an issue. Hall,
We held that not only did we lack jurisdiction over the original conviction, but that defendant had “waived consideration of the fact that the statutory transfer procedures under the Juvenile Court Act were not complied with prior to his plea of guilty.” Hall,
•2 In this case, we lack jurisdiction to consider errors in the underlying conviction for attempted robbery and robbery because defendant did not file a notice of appeal from those orders. Therefore, the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to vacate his convictions for robbery and attempted robbery.
The cases relied upon by defendant can be distinguished because the minors promptly raised age as an issue. In People v. Gooden,
In People v. G.V.,
In People v. Nichols,
Finally, the Illinois Supreme Court, in People v. Smith,
We have consistently applied Waiver, however, in cases where the minor continually misrepresents his age to the court and police officers and fails to make age an issue until after he is found guilty. In People v. Fox,
We applied the same reasoning in Henderson, Green and Walker. In Henderson, we held that where a defendant was tried, found guilty and sentenced, and then asserted age as an issue, she waived her right to be prosecuted under the juvenile act. People v. Henderson,
In People v. Green,
Finally, in Walker we held that due to defendant’s repeated misrepresentations to the police, and the fact that his minor status was not brought to the attention of the trial court until after sеntence had been pronounced, the trial court in the criminal division had jurisdiction to hear the charge against defendant, even though defendant made no misrepresentation as to his age in court while under oath. People v. Walker,
In this case, defendant was arrested for robbery and attempted robbery in November 1997 and misrepresented his age to arresting officers as being 17 years old. After being assigned a public defender, he had a plea bargaining conference with his attorney and the judgе, entered a guilty plea to the offenses and received a sentence of two years felony probation, 60 days in the Cook County jail, 60 days’ home confinement and a mandate to complete his high school education. His age was never raised as an issue. In March 1998, defendant was found to have violated probation and was once again arrested. He continued to misrepresent his age to the police and to the court. In September 1998, the court sentenced him to adult boоt camp. At no time during these hearings did defendant raise age as an issue. In November 1998, defendant escaped from boot camp, and after he was captured, he raised age as a defense for the first time.
Under this set of circumstances, we cannot say that defendant promptly asserted his age as a defense to being prosecuted under the Criminal Code. Unlike the defendants in Gooden, G.V., Nichols and Smith, defendant waited until a year after he pied guilty, was sentenced in the underlying offenses, violated probation and was sentenced to adult boot camp to bring his minor status to the attention of the court. Similar to the defendant in Fox, defendant continually misrepresented himself as an adult to arresting officers, probation officers and to the court. The record indicates that on at least three occasions the trial court judge specifically inquired about defendant’s age because he looked young, to which defendant consistently represented that he was an adult. Based upon the foregoing, we cannot say that the decision of the trial court was incorrect.
In the cases cited by both parties, the Illinois courts seem to make an important distinction between cases in which a defendant promptly raises age as an issue before he is convicted by a jury at trial or if a plea has been entered before sentencing or shortly thereafter. The court places great emphasis on the promptness of raising age as an issue and does not look favorably upon minors who try to take advantage of the system. The courts almost always apply waiver where defendants continually misrepresent themselves and choose not to raise age as an issue until long after they have been prosecuted as adults.
The second issue we consider is whether defendant’s conviction for escape should be vacated pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act.
•3 Whether a person is to be tried in juvenile or criminal court is procedural rather than jurisdictional. People v. Green,
•4 However, a defendant may waive the right to be tried as a juvenile. Illinois case law has established that waiver can occur if a defendant waives an indictment and pleads guilty in criminal court on the advice of counsel (People v. Shaw,
Defendant in this case maintains, however, that in order to be charged with the crime of “escape” as an adult, he must either voluntarily elect to be charged as an adult, be transferred to adult criminal court under the mandatory transfer provision or be transferred based upon the discretion of the judge. Unless the case falls under one of these spеcific categories, defendant asserts he cannot be tried for escape as an adult under the Criminal Code. Since there is no actual compliance with the terms of the statute, defendant argues, he should be transferred back to the juvenile courts for prosecution. Defendant further maintains that since the crime of “escape” is a separate charge and conviction, any waiver that might have occurred under the attempted robbery and robbery convictions cannоt apply here because he properly raised age as an issue when he was charged with the crime of escape.
•5
“The definition of delinquent minor under Section 5—3 of this Act shall not apply to any minor who is charged with a violation of subsection (a) of Section 31—6 [escape] *** of the Criminal Code of 1961 when the minor is subject to prosecution under the Criminal Code of 1961 as a result of the application of the provisions of paragraph (a) of subsection (3) [the discretionary transfer stаtute]; subsection (5) [voluntary election by the minor to proceed under the terms of the Criminal Code]; paragraph (a) of subsection (6) [amandatory transfer statute]; or paragraph (a) of subsection (7) [another mandatory transfer statute] of this Section. These charges and all other charges arising out of the same incident shall be prosecuted under the Criminal Code of 1961. [ 720 ILCS 5/1—1 et seq. (West 1996)].”705 ILCS 405/5—4(8) (West 1996) (repealed by Pub. Act 90—590, eff. January 1, 1999).
In this case, the only section that could apply to defendant is subsection (5), his voluntary election to proceed under the Criminal Code.
“(5) If an original petition for adjudication of wardship alleges the commission by a minor 13 years of age or over of an act that constitutes a crime under the laws of this State, the minor, with the consent of his or her counsel, may, at any time before commencement of the adjudicatory hearing, file with the court a motion that criminal prosecution be ordered and that the petition be dismissed insofar as the act or acts involved in the criminal proceedings are concerned. If such a motion is filed as herein provided, the court shall enter its order accordingly.”705 ILCS 405/5—4(5) (West 1996) (repealed by Pub. Act 90—590, eff. January 1, 1999).
Therefore, pursuant to the Act, a delinquent minor who escapes from an adult penal institution, when the court had previously transferred that child to criminal court due to either the judge’s discretionary transfer, voluntary transfer by the defendant, or automatic transfer due to the nature of the crimes committed, will be prosecuted under the Criminal Codе.
The State argues that the Act does not apply in this case because the statutes relied upon by defendant have no application unless the proceedings began against him in juvenile court. The State’s position is that the statutes cited by defendant are normally relied upon in cases that deal with the transfer of a minor from juvenile to criminal court. The State maintains that although defendant’s case does not fit within the procedural steps outlined in the Act, and the Act does not contain а specific provision for transferring a minor to the juvenile court who was originally adjudicated in the adult criminal courts, Illinois courts have consistently relied upon the Act in situations such as this where a defendant is requesting a transfer from criminal court to juvenile court.
However, the factual scenario presented in this case is somewhat different from the cases cited by both parties on appeal.
Before addressing this issue, however, we will first consider the application of the statutes relied upon by defendant in this case.
We note that there is no provision under the Act that specifically addresses this factual scenario, and we have found no case exactly on point. As such, not only must we consider the legislative intent behind the sections relied upon by the defendant but also the legislature’s intent behind drafting the Juvenile Court Act as a whole.
Additionally, we must keep in mind that this statute is not jurisdictional but is a procedural mechanism created for the benefit of minors. People v. Green,
The reasoning in People v. Brown,
We reasoned that the “trial court is not precluded from using its discretion on cases in which the automatic transfer provisions do not apply.” Brown,
The same reasoning was employed in People v. Shaw,
•6 The statute, the legislative history behind the statute and case law indicate that the Act is discretionary rather than mandatory, and that although a trial court judge does not have the ad hoc, unfettered pоwer to impose adult prosecution on a juvenile, the judge may employ his discretion without abuse when a unique factual circumstance is presented that does not squarely fall under the procedural confines of the Act.
With this legislative history in mind, we shall now address the pertinent issue in this case, namely, whether the prior consistent misrepresentations committed by defendant in his prior conviction for attempted robbery and robbery can constitute waiver for purposes of his subsequent conviction fоr escape. The legislative history behind
Considering the exact language of the Act,
However, keeping in mind the discretionary nature of the Act, the fact that
•7 It is true that “[c]ourts should indulge every reasonable presumption against waiver” especially when dealing with minors. Gooden,
Although the paramount concern of the Juvenile Court Act is the welfare of the juvenile, the legitimate interests of the community, being safeguarded from activity sufficiently serious so that but for the age оf the actor a criminal prosecution would result, must also be considered. People v. Felt,
•8 In this case, the trial court determined after a hearing on defendant’s minor status that, based upon his continued misrepresentations to law enforcement, parole officers and to the court, he had waived his rights to be tried under the Act, not only
We find that based upon the facts of this case, defendant has waived his right to be prosecuted under the Act for the charge of escape. Illinois case law is clear that a defendant may waive the right to be tried in a juvenile court. We find that to be the case here and, therefore, will not disturb the trial court’s decision.
Based upon the foregoing, we affirm the trial court’s decision.
Affirmed.
HOFFMAN and BARTH, JJ., concur.