People v. Golden

State: Illinois

Docket No: 104315 Rel

Case Date: 06/05/2008

Preview:Docket No. 104315.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellant, v. EDWARD GOLDEN et al., Appellees. Opinion filed June 5, 2008.

JUSTICE FITZGERALD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Thomas and Justices Freeman, Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION The State appeals the decision of the appellate court affirming the circuit court of Lake County's order denying postconviction petitioners Edward Golden and Sandra Haissig leave to file late notices of appeal, but remanding the cause and authorizing the petitioners to file successive petitions. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the appellate court's judgment and remand for further proceedings. BACKGROUND Sandra Haissig, an engineer manager for Abbott Laboratories responsible for overseeing elevator maintenance, and Edward Golden, a maintenance employee for Abbott Laboratories with extensive

elevator repair experience, formed a company called Elevator Components, Inc. This company performed $300,000 of elevator repair work for Abbott Laboratories, while Haissig and Golden still worked there. Abbott Laboratories pressed theft charges, and Haissig and Golden were convicted of theft over $100,000 and sentenced to supervised probation and work release. They appealed, arguing only that their convictions were improper as a matter of law because Abbott Laboratories had not suffered any pecuniary loss. The petitioners' contentions were based, however, on transcripts missing from the appellate record

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