Summary
This Illinois Appellate Court opinion addresses whether an appeal challenging the unsatisfactory termination of probation for failure to pay a probation fee is moot after the defendant has fully served her sentence. The court applies the collateral consequences exception to mootness, concluding that speculative future sentencing impacts do not constitute concrete injuries-in-fact under Supreme Court precedent. Consequently, the court dismisses the appeal as moot.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the appeal is moot because the defendant has completed her sentence.
- Whether the collateral consequences exception to mootness applies to the defendant’s probation revocation.
Holdings
- The appeal is moot; therefore the court dismisses the appeal.
- The collateral consequences exception does not apply because the defendant failed to demonstrate a concrete injury-in-fact arising from the probation revocation.
Key quotations
“The defendant testified that she was working and making at least $2,000 a month for whatever period of time, and while that’s uncertain, there is an indication that she was making that sum of money for some period of time. There’s no indication that she’s unable to work now, just that she’s not working, and from what I gather of the testimony, she has not paid any money on 21‑CM‑1253 or on [this case]. She certainly had the ability to pay something, but she’s made no effort to do that at all.” (¶11)
“We assume and expect the same of [the] defendant in the present case. We take it as a given that she will never again find herself in a sentencing hearing. Thus, she lacks a personal stake in the question of the probation revocation, and this appeal is moot.” (¶35-36)
Factual background
Defendant was sentenced to 116 days in jail and 24 months’ probation after pleading guilty to domestic battery. Probation required a $480 fee; she paid none of the $40 balance owed at the time of revocation. The trial court found her failure to pay was willful and terminated probation unsatisfactorily.
Procedural history
The circuit court revoked defendant's probation for failure to pay a $40 fee and other violations. Defendant appealed the revocation order.