{ "id": 2707730, "name": "The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ronald Richard Mass, Defendant-Appellant", "name_abbreviation": "People v. Mass", "decision_date": "1975-09-15", "docket_number": "No. 74-45", "first_page": "759", "last_page": "768", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "31 Ill. App. 3d 759" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.", "id": 8837, "name": "Illinois Appellate Court" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 29, "name_long": "Illinois", "name": "Ill." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "22 Ill.App.3d 849", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2945623 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/22/0849-01" ] }, { "cite": "3 Ill.App.3d 293", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2836482 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/3/0293-01" ] }, { "cite": "23 Ill.App.3d 25", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2505710 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/23/0025-01" ] }, { "cite": "13 Ill.App.3d 322", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 5340587 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/13/0322-01" ] }, { "cite": "58 Ill.2d 187", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2952306 ], "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "193" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/58/0187-01" ] }, { "cite": "8 Ill.App.3d 927", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2763354 ], "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "930" }, { "page": "930" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/8/0927-01" ] }, { "cite": "59 Ill.2d 115", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2958986 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "116" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/59/0115-01" ] }, { "cite": "52 Ill.2d 455", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5393606 ], "weight": 2, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "460-61" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/52/0455-01" ] }, { "cite": "52 Ill.2d 170", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5395792 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/52/0170-01" ] }, { "cite": "38 Ill.2d 255", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2861845 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/38/0255-01" ] }, { "cite": "85 Ill.App.2d 202", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2552255 ], "year": 1967, "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-2d/85/0202-01" ] }, { "cite": "59 A. 440", "category": "reporters:state_regional", "reporter": "A.", "weight": 4, "year": 1904, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "442" }, { "page": "442" }, { "page": "440" }, { "page": "441" } ], "opinion_index": 1 }, { "cite": "99 Me. 329", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Me.", "case_ids": [ 625123 ], "weight": 4, "year": 1904, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "332" }, { "page": "333" }, { "page": "330" }, { "page": "331-32" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/me/99/0329-01" ] }, { "cite": "55 Ill.2d 134", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2937735 ], "year": 1973, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "135" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/55/0134-01" ] }, { "cite": "32 Ill.2d 497", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2839868 ], "year": 1965, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "502" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/32/0497-01" ] }, { "cite": "410 U.S. 458", "category": "reporters:federal", "reporter": "U.S.", "case_ids": [ 11957586 ], "weight": 3, "year": 1973, "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/us/410/0458-01" ] }, { "cite": "37 Ill.2d 627", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "year": 1968, "opinion_index": 1 }, { "cite": "88 Ill.App.2d 212", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 2d", "case_ids": [ 8499199 ], "year": 1968, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "215-18" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-2d/88/0212-01" ] }, { "cite": "57 Ill.2d 285", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5407650 ], "year": 1974, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "288" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/57/0285-01" ] }, { "cite": "406 Ill. 490", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill.", "case_ids": [ 2635307 ], "year": 1950, "pin_cites": [ { "page": "494" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill/406/0490-01" ] }, { "cite": "8 Ill.App.3d 927", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2763354 ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/8/0927-01" ] }, { "cite": "59 Ill.2d 115", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2958986 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "116" } ], "opinion_index": 1, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/59/0115-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 871, "char_count": 21711, "ocr_confidence": 0.691, "pagerank": { "raw": 1.3717926970423297e-07, "percentile": 0.6384366424451773 }, "sha256": "56c29a9c1e76e84a452ba57890fb25f230975a354c52437476f6a3437d124366", "simhash": "1:ab2fc444c10714f3", "word_count": 3658 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T21:34:56.206419+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ronald Richard Mass, Defendant-Appellant." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE RECHENMACHER\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nThis is an appeal under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 122 \u2014 1). The defendant was convicted of attempted murder on May 20, 1971, and sentenced to a term of not less than 10 nor more than 15 years in the penitentiary. In October, 1971, the defendant filed a petition for rehearing on aggravation and mitigation. This court treated the petition as one for post-conviction relief and remanded the case to the circuit court of Winnebago County for an evidentiary hearing under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act.\nThe defendant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus and a petition for relief under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act in tire trial court. After a hearing, both petitions were denied by the trial court.\nIn this appeal the defendant contends (1) that his conviction is illegal and void because the information charging him with \"Attempt, in that [he], with intent to commit the offense of Murder\u201d did not allege that the defendant took any substantial step toward tire commission of the offense; (2) that the defendant did not effectively waive his right to be prosecuted by indictment; (3) that the guilty plea entered by the defendant was not knowingly and voluntarily entered because the defendant was not properly admonished at the guilty plea hearing under Supreme Court Rule 402(b) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 110A, par. 402(b)).\nAs to the first contention, it is the defendant\u2019s theory that since the statute defining the crime of Attempt requires that a substantial step be taken toward the commission of the offense, the failure to state such substantial step was so taken is a fatal defect in the charge.\nWe think the defendant has misunderstood the effect of the wording defining the elements of the offense of attempt. The statute (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 8-4(a)) reads:\n\u201cA person commits an attempt when, with intent to commit a specific offense, he does any act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that offense.\u201d\nIt is clear that under this wording if the defendant did not, in fact, take any substantial step toward the commission of the offense he could not be guilty of the offense of attempt, but this does not mean that an information charging him with attempt must be in those precise words. Where, as here, the information describes an act or behavior which in itself is a substantial step toward the commission of the offense, it is sufficient. The purpose of requiring the charge to be in specific language is so that the defendant can properly respond to the charge and to bar any subsequent prosecution for the same offense. (People v. Patrick, 38 Ill.2d 255; People v. Hayes, 52 Ill.2d 170.) We believe the language of the information in this case, that the defendant, \"with intent to commit the offense of murder, attempted to kill and murder Louis Gotti,\u201d is sufficient to inform the defendant of the charge against him so he could prepare his defense and to prevent his being subjected to another prosecution for the same crime. The fundamental purpose of the information was therefore fulfilled.\nAs to the sufficiency of the charge itself, the language was clearly sufficient to charge an attempt-it is not required that it be sufficiently detailed to support the actual crime itself. In People v. Williams, 52 Ill.2d 455, involving the charge of attempted kidnapping, the indictment was challenged in that it did not state that the confinement of the child was without the parents\u2019 consent. The supreme court in answer to this contention said:\n\u201cBut the indictment was brought, not for kidnapping, but for the crime of attempt. As an indictment for conspiracy need not allege all the elements of the substantive offense which is the object of the conspiracy [Citation], in an indictment for attempt, the crime intended need not be set out as fully and specifically as would be required in an indictment for the actual commission of the crime.\u201d 52 Ill.2d 455, 460-61.\nLikewise, in People v. Lonzo, 59 Ill.2d 115, 116, involving an attempted theft, the court said in answer to the contention that the indictment was defective in not alleging ownership of the property, \u201cObviously, the elements of an inchoate offense cannot be charged with the particularity that is possible after the offense has been completed.\u201d\nThe case of People v. Fowler, 8 Ill.App.3d 927, 930, almost exactly parallels the facts of this case in that in an indictment for attempted murder the indictment merely recited that the defendant, \u201c\u2018with the intent to commit the offense of murder, intentionally and knowingly attempted to kill one Ronnie Faff, without lawful justification * * The court, in answer to the contention that the indictment was defective in not alleging the acts which constituted a substantial step toward the commission of the offense, said:\n\u201cAlthough the indictment did not describe the particular method of the attempt it was unnecessary for the State to plead such evidentiary details. [Citations.] The essence of the crime of assault with intent to murder, or \u2018attempt * * * murder as the indictment states, is the specific intent to take life [citation], and in a case of this kind the indictment need not set out the manner of the assault with any degree of particularity.\u201d 8 Ill.App.3d 927, 930.\nWe agree and hold that the information in the case before us was sufficient to sustain the conviction for attempted murder.\nThe defendant also contends that he did not constitutionally waive his right to be indicted by the grand jury. The record discloses that at the waiver of indictment proceeding the defense attorney moved the court to waive prosecution by indictment on behalf of \u201call three defendants.\u201d Following is the colloquy which tiren took place between fire judge, the defendant, and defense counsel:\n\u201cTHE COURT: What is your motion today?\nMR. BEYNON [Defense Counsel]: We are here this morning, your Honor, on a motion to waive prosecution by Indictment on behalf of all three of the defendants.\nTHE COURT: As I understand it, you want to waive the intervention of the grand jury. Now I will address my remarks to all three of you and explain to you what it means.\nIf you don\u2019t waive the grand jury then when the grand jury meets, the State\u2019s Attorney would present what evidence he has against you, and in the event that a majority of the grand jury were of the opinion that there was probable cause to hold you for trial, then they would return an Indictment against you and you would be arraigned and tried on the Indictment.\nWhere you waive the intervention of the grand jury, then the State\u2019s Attorney would file what is known as an Information against you which would charge that on the 6th day of March, 1971, in Count I, in the County of Winnebago and State of Illinois, Rodney Glen Abney, Ronald Richard Mass and Rudolph Louis Kessler committed the offense of burglary in that they without authority knowingly entered into the building of Joseph Provenzano and Louis F. Cotti, a partnership doing business as Anchor Tap as lessee located at 415 \u2014 15th Avenue, Rockford, Illinois with intent to commit therein a theft or felony. That is Count I.\nCount II states that on the 6th day of March, 1971, in the County of Winnebago and State of Illinois Rodney Glen Abney, Ronald Richard Mass and Rudolph Louis Kessler committed the offense of attempt in that they with intent to commit the offense of murder attempted to kill and murder Louis Cotti * * *.\n# # #\nCount II and III are attempt, the Court might sentence you to the penitentiary for a period of years not less than one or more than twenty years. That is, the Court may sentence you not less than one or more than twenty, or any combination of years not less than the minimum of one year or more than the maximum which is twenty.\nNow after the Information is filed or the Indictment is returned, then the procedure is the same whether it is by Indictment or by Information.\ne # *\nTHE COURT: Ronald Richard Mass, do you wish to waive the intervention of the grand jury?\nDEFENDANT MASS: Yes.\nfree\nTHE COURT: Let the record show the defendants and each of them have been advised of their rights and the nature of the charge against them, they persist in their waiver of the grand jury. Leave given to file the Information.\u201d\nOn the basis of the entire record before us the court had ample reason to make the determination that the defendant had voluntarily and understandingly waived his right to be prosecuted by indictment and consented to be prosecuted by information.\nThe defendant\u2019s contention with regard to the court\u2019s admonishment -under Supreme Court Rule 402 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 110A, par. 402) deserves little consideration. This was with regard to the nature of the charge and we believe the nature of the charge was adequately covered by the recital of the facts of the crime in open court by the State\u2019s Attorney, to which the defendant and his attorney did not demur. In People v. Krantz, 58 Ill.2d 187, where a similar contention was raised in a forgery case, the court said:\n\u201cThe recital by the assistant State\u2019s Attorney of the anticipated prosecutive evidence made clear what criminal conduct of Krantz the People expected to prove. Neither the defendant nor his attorney demurred to the prosecutor\u2019s statement. * * * \u2018[T]he remarks and advice of the court must be read in a practical and realistic manner. The essentials have been complied with if an ordinary person in the circumstances of the accused would understand them as conveying the information required by the rule.\u2019 \u201d 58 Ill.2d 187, 193.\nThe facts related by the State\u2019s Attorney in the case before us clearly set forth the nature of the charge and the remarks in Krantz above are perfectly appropriate to this case. The court had every reason to make the determination from these facts and the defendant\u2019s acquiescence in them, that the defendant clearly understood the nature of the charge. There was, therefore, substantial compliance with this aspect of the rule.\nThe defendant also raises a question as to the voluntariness of his plea. While the trial judge did not inquire whether the plea was voluntary, he not only read the information to the defendant but also had the State\u2019s Attorney recite the facts of the crime in open court and the defendant agreed these facts were correct. The defendant also signed a written plea of guilty and waiver of trial by jury. He was 26 years old and had two previous convictions. The defendant does not cite any facts casting doubt on the voluntariness of his plea \u2014 his contention in that regard apparently is on the basis that the trial court did not ask him whether his plea was voluntary. However, this is a post-conviction appeal and the lack of a certain form of words or procedure in establishing the voluntariness of the plea does not raise a constitutional question as to its voluntariness. Supreme Court Rule 402(b) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 110A, par. 402(b)) applying to voluntariness only requires that the trial court \u201cdetermine\" that the plea is voluntary and that no \u201cforce or threats or any promises apart from a plea agreement, were raised to obtain the plea.\u201d The trial court obviously did make that determination based on the whole record before him and there is no question of the voluntariness of the plea of guilty, when the whole record is examined. In any event, however, as indicated above, the burden is on the defendant in a post-conviction hearing to prove that his plea was not voluntary because of some constitutional deprivation. There was no such evidence here.\nA further point is raised by the defendant as to lack of admonishment on the possibility of consecutive sentences. It is true that the trial court did not mention the possibility of consecutive sentences other than to inform the defendant of the possible sentence on his plea of guilty,. but there is no indication of any possibility that this had any effect on his plea. The defendant pleaded guilty to only one count of the information and was convicted and sentenced on only one count. If a defendant decides to plead guilty in ignorance of the possibility of consecutive sentences the court\u2019s failure to mention such possibility has no prejudicial effect unless the defendant does receive consecutive sentences. If on the other hand he realizes the possibility of consecutive sentences and arranges a plea bargain as to one count in order to avoid such possibility he simply makes a bargain and there is no prejudice by the court\u2019s failure to discuss it with him. Where the result is based on the defendant\u2019s own choice and no prejudice results, it would be absurd to reverse a conviction because a certain possibility was not mentioned which had no bearing on the result. This was a negotiated plea and while the defendant did not know the actual sentence which would be imposed he was pleading guilty to only one count of the information and he expected to receive \u2014 and did receive \u2014 only one sentence. People v. Zatz, 13 Ill.App.3d 322, cited by the defendant on this point has since been overruled in People v. Wills, 23 Ill.App.3d 25. The case before us is more nearly akin to People v. Reed, 3 Ill.App.3d 293, although in the Reed case the exact sentence had been discussed. We see no substantial difference, however, between our present case and Reed as to the question of consecutive sentences. The defendant in both cases, after discussions with the State\u2019s Attorney, pleaded guilty to only one count and received only one sentence \u2014 in neither case was there any prejudice to the defendant by the trial court\u2019s omission of an admonishment as to consecutive sentences. See People v. Davenport, 22 Ill.App.3d 849.\nWe find that the admonishments required by Supreme Court Rule 402 were substantially complied with.\nThe judgment of the trial court is affirmed.\nJudgment affirmed.\nDIXON, J., concurs.", "type": "majority", "author": "Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE RECHENMACHER" }, { "text": "Mr. JUSTICE THOMAS J. MORAN,\ndissenting:\nThe accused shall \u2018he informed of the nature and cause of the accusation (U.S. Const, amend. VI) or, otherwise stated, the accused shall have the right to \u201cdemand the nature and cause of the accusation\u201d (III. Const, art. I, \u00a7 8). These constitutional mandates have been supplemented by statute. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1969, ch. 38, \u00a7 111 \u2014 3(a)(3).) Consequently, an indictment must allege the necessary elements of the offense charged. It is by this standard that the validity of an indictment is tested. When the standard is met, the natural result will bes to enable the defendant to prepare his defense and to avoid double jeopardy. By omitting any necessary element, the indictment fails to charge the accused with the criminal offense (People v. Edge, 406 Ill. 490, 494 (1950)) is void (People v. Wallace, 57 Ill.2d 285, 288 (1974)) and thereby bars a plea of double jeopardy (People v. Somerville, 88 Ill.App.2d 212, 215-18, appeal denied, 37 Ill.2d 627 (1968)). Also see Illinois v. Somerville, 410 U.S. 458, 35 L.Ed.2d 425, 93 S.Ct. 1066 (1973).\nFrom 1845 to 1962, it was unnecessary, for the crime here charged, to plead any act constituting a substantial step toward commission of the intended offense. During that time, the instant crime would have been categorized under the general classification of \u201cassault\u201d which was defined as \u201can unlawful attempt, coupled with a present ability, to commit a violent injury on the person of another.\u201d (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1959, ch. 38, \u00a7 55.) It is to be noted that assault was synonymous with attempt. The earlier statute provided that \u201cWhoever attempts to commit murder by poisoning, drowning, strangling or suffocating another, or by any means, shall be guilty of * * * assault with intent to murder * * IH. Rev. Stat. 1959, ch. 38, \u00a7 59.\nThe change occurred in 1961 when the legislature enacted a general attempt section designed to govern attempts to commit all offenses previously covered by specific provisions relating to individual offenses. (Ill. Ann. Stat. ch. 38, \u00a7 8 \u2014 4, at 513 (1972).) One of the first cases to interpret the section was People v. Richardson, 32 Ill.2d 497, 502 (1965). There the sufficiency of proof, not the indictment, was at issue; however, the court set forth the necessary elements by stating:\n\u201cAll that need be shown in a charge of attempt is the intent to commit a specific offense (here, theft from the person) and an overt act constituting a substantial step toward commission of that offense (here, the insertion of defendant\u2019s hands into John Overbea\u2019s pockets). These elements have been established.\u201d\nResearch of subsequent supreme court cases wherein tire validity of the charge of attempt has been challenged and the verbiage of the indictment has been expressed, reveals that in each instance the indictments contained facts describing the act which constituted a substantial step toward the commission of the intended offense. See People v. Woodward, 55 Ill.2d 134, 135 (1973); People v. Lonzo, 59 Ill.2d 115, 116 (1974).\nThe majority relies on tire cited cases of People v. Williams and People v. Lonzo. At issue in Williams was whether, in addition to the necessary elements of attempt, the indictment must also include the required elements of the intended offense. The court, answering the question in the negative, relied in part upon State v. Doran, 99 Me. 329, 332, 59 A. 440, 442 (1904), by quoting a portion of that decision. In Doran, the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine preceded the Williams quote with the statement:\n\u201cAccording to the great weight of authority, however, as well as upon sound reason, the ulterior felony intended need not be set out as fully and specifically as would be required in an indictment for the actual commission of such felony.\u201d 99 Me. 329, 333, 59 A. 440, 442.\nThe indictment in Doran read:\n\u201c[T]he defendant, \u2018with force and arms the car numbered 18656 of the Boston & Maine Railroad 999 feloniously, wilfully and maliciously did attempt to break and enter for the purpose of committing a felony.\u2019 \u201d (99 Me. 329, 330, 59 A. 440, 440.)\nIt is noteworthy to mention that in the Doran case, the court found the indictment insufficient, stating:\n\u201cThe indictment contains neither a description of the overt act done by the accused in attempting to commit the crime charged, nor a specification of the particular felony which the defendant is charged with attempting to commit, after breaking and entering the car. * * * \u2018An indictment for an attempt to commit burglary must not only allege the attempt and intent but it is essential that it also allege the overt acts relied upon as constituting the attempt\u2019 \u201d 99 Me. 329, 331-32, 59 A. 440, 441.\nIn Lonzo, an attempt theft case, the appellate comt reversed the judgment on the grounds that the complaint was insufficient for not alleging ownership of the property involved. The supreme court, in reversing, found ownership to be an element of the completed offense not necessary to the charge of attempt theft, and reiterated the rule set forth in Williams. More pertinent, however, is the fact that the complaint in Lonzo described the overt a.ct\nthe case sub judice, the issue does not concern the pleading of the elements of the intended offense, but whether the elements of the crime of attempt are sufficiently set forth in tire indictment. Hie indictment charges \u201cthat on the sixth day of March, 1971, 999 Ronald Richard Mass, \u00ab * * committed the offense of Attempt, in that [he], with intent to commit the offense of Murder, attempted to kill and murder Louis Cotti.\u201d The specific intent pleaded is murder but the \u201cact which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of that offense\u201d is lacking, unless it can be said that the act is \u201cattempted to kill and murder Louis Cotti.\u201d As defendant argues, however, attempt is the offense itself and cannot also be the act which constitutes a substantial step. In short, defendant is charged with attempt murder, in that he, with intent to murder, attempted to murder.\nThe majority also finds support in People v. Fowler, 8 Ill.App.3d 927 (1972), which relied upon People v. Drink, 85 Ill.App.2d 202 (1967), and the authorities cited therein. Authorities cited in both these cases do not speak to the issue before us for at the time of those decisions it was unnecessary, under the statute, to plead an act which constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the intended offense. The * * overt act is the essence of the offense.\u2019 \u201d (Ill. Ann. Stat. ch. 38, \u00a7 8 \u2014 4, at 512 (1972).) Therefore, I am of the opinion, contrary to Fowler and Drink, that by not stating the act, the indictment herein, failed to charge an offense and was void.\nI would reverse.\nTo test the validity of a criminal charge, some courts, without regard to the indictment\u2019s inclusion of the necessary elements of the crime, have, from a reading of the indictment, concluded that the accused could properly prepare his defense and avoid further prosecution for the same offense. I submit that this \u201ctest\u201d is without guidelines and is therefore no test at all;. that such procedure allows various interpretations to be drawn dependent upon the views or visceral reaction of the individual reader.", "type": "dissent", "author": "Mr. JUSTICE THOMAS J. MORAN," } ], "attorneys": [ "Ralph Ruebner and Phyllis K. Perko, both of State Appellate Defender\u2019s Office, of Elgin, for appellant.", "Philip G. Reinhard, State\u2019s Attorney, of Rockford (James W. Jerz and Martin Moltz, both of Illinois State\u2019s Attorneys Association, of counsel), for the People." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ronald Richard Mass, Defendant-Appellant.\n(No. 74-45;\nSecond District (2nd Division)\nSeptember 15, 1975.\nT. MORAN, J., dissenting.\nRalph Ruebner and Phyllis K. Perko, both of State Appellate Defender\u2019s Office, of Elgin, for appellant.\nPhilip G. Reinhard, State\u2019s Attorney, of Rockford (James W. Jerz and Martin Moltz, both of Illinois State\u2019s Attorneys Association, of counsel), for the People." }, "file_name": "0759-01", "first_page_order": 783, "last_page_order": 792 }