A Galesburg woman convicted in the 2021 murder of her daughter will get a second hearing on a motion to reconsider her sentence following an appeal.
In a July decision, the Fourth District Appellate Court reversed the circuit court’s denial of a motion to reconsider a 53-year prison sentence for Hazel L. Ivy, 33.
At a status hearing Wednesday in Knox County court, Public Defender Chris Kanthak said he is filing an amended motion to reconsider sentencing for Ivy.
A new hearing on the motion to reconsider Ivy’s sentence is set for Dec. 11.
Kanthak will also file a motion to vacate Ivy’s guilty plea, per the Appellate Court’s decision, which found that counsel failed to comply with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 604(d).
The rule, in effect since 2017, states no appeal can be taken upon a negotiated guilty plea challenging the sentence as excessive unless the defendant files a motion to withdraw the guilty plea and vacate the judgment.
Allowing a defendant to seek reconsideration of a sentence without withdrawing a plea “unfairly binds the State to the terms of the plea agreement while giving the defendant the opportunity to avoid or modify those terms,” the Appellate Court stated in the decision.
“In other words, following a court’s acceptance of a negotiated guilty plea resulting in a sentencing concession by the State, a defendant must move to withdraw the guilty plea, even if only to challenge the sentence imposed,” the decision stated.
In June 2022, Ivy pleaded guilty but mentally ill in Knox County to one count of first-degree murder in the January 2021 stabbing and strangling death of her 8-year-old daughter in a Galesburg apartment.
Knox County State’s Attorney Jeremy Karlin initially stated he would seek a natural life sentence for Ivy.
But in exchange for the plea, the state agreed to recommend a sentence of 20 to 53 years in prison. The charge carries a non-probationable sentence of up to 60 years in prison.
At a sentencing hearing in September 2022, the state argued for a sentence of 53 years and Ivy’s public defenders argued for a sentence of 20 years.
Ninth Circuit Judge Andrew Doyle sentenced Ivy to 53 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Through counsel, Ivy filed a motion to reconsider her sentence in October 2022, alleging the circuit court erred in not finding certain factors in mitigation of her sentence.
At the hearing to reconsider sentencing in April 2023, defense counsel stated they were not moving to vacate the guilty plea, just to reconsider the sentence.
After arguments, Doyle denied the motion to reconsider sentencing.
Later that month, Ivy appealed. She argued plea counsel failed to comply with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 604(d).
On appeal, the state argued Ivy’s right to appeal was forfeited because she failed to file a motion to withdraw her plea.
But the Appellate Court found the motion to reconsider the sentence was not legally cognizable without withdrawing the negotiated plea, and remanded the motion to reconsider sentencing.
