Background
Shavez D. Chapple entered a negotiated guilty plea to manufacture or delivery of 900 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine. In exchange, the State agreed to dismiss two controlled-substance-trafficking counts, and Chapple received the agreed 20-year prison sentence, followed by three years of mandatory supervised release.
At the plea hearing, the circuit court advised Chapple that he had to file a written motion to withdraw his guilty plea within 30 days before appealing, and that omitted grounds would be waived. Chapple filed no such motion. Instead, 141 days after sentencing, he sought leave to file a late notice of appeal, asserting that the court had improperly considered a prior aggravated-unlawful-use-of-a-weapon conviction at sentencing.
The Court’s Holding
The Illinois Appellate Court dismissed the appeal. Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 604(d), a defendant who entered a negotiated guilty plea must timely move to withdraw the plea before pursuing an appeal challenging the sentence. Although the omission does not eliminate appellate jurisdiction, it prevents appellate merits review and requires dismissal.
The court rejected the potential exception for inadequate Rule 605(c) appeal admonishments. It held that the circuit court substantially—and, in its view, thoroughly—complied with the rule by explaining the 30-day written-motion requirement, waiver consequences, reinstatement of dismissed charges, and the availability of appointed counsel and free transcripts for an indigent defendant. The court therefore granted the Office of the State Appellate Defender’s Anders motion to withdraw and dismissed the appeal.
Key Takeaways
- A negotiated-plea defendant must file a Rule 604(d) motion to withdraw the plea within 30 days before appealing.
- A late notice of appeal does not cure the failure to file the required postplea motion.
- Inadequate Rule 605(c) admonishments can excuse noncompliance, but the court found no deficiency here.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that negotiated guilty pleas carry a mandatory procedural route to appellate review in Illinois. Defendants seeking to challenge an agreed sentence must first timely seek withdrawal of the plea in the circuit court.
Because this was a Rule 23 order, it is nonprecedential except in the limited circumstances Illinois Supreme Court Rule 23(e)(1) permits.