Appellate court: Sterling man serving 8 years for 2017 drunken driving death can again try to withdraw plea

MORRISON – The state’s appellate court has vacated a Whiteside County judge’s 2024 ruling denying a Sterling man’s motion to withdraw the guilty plea he made three years ago in the 2017 drunken driving death of a Sterling woman.

Illinois’ appellate court, in a ruling filed June 13, said Douglas Strehlow can once again make a motion for the circuit court to consider whether he can withdraw his 2022 guilty plea to aggravated driving under the influence resulting in the death of Summer D. Harmon, 40. He also can ask the court once again to reconsider his 8-year sentence, which he deems excessive.

Strehlow, whose blood-alcohol concentration was almost three times the legal limit at the time, was traveling south on Route 40 in rural Sterling, just north of Fulfs Road, about 2:40 a.m. Aug. 19, 2017, when his pickup hit Harmon’s vehicle almost head on, according to court documents. Harmon, also of Sterling, died three days later. Strehlow pleaded guilty in November 2022 and was sentenced on Sept. 25, 2023, to eight years in prison.

He has appealed his case three times since then.

Strehlow’s first appeal was shot down because, according to court documents, his attorney, Louis Pignatelli, did not file a certificate pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 604(d) when seeking the appeal.

Strehlow appealed again. During the second appeal’s process, Strehlow’s attorney certified to the court that he had “made any amendments to the motion necessary for the adequate presentation of any defects in [the] proceedings,” according to court documents. That motion hearing, which took place in September 2024, was overseen by Whiteside County Judge Trish Senneff, who also had been the sentencing judge in 2023.

At the 2024 hearing, Strehlow testified that he should be able to withdraw his plea because he was on several medications that could have affected his judgment as he made his decision to plead guilty. He also asked for his sentence to be reconsidered because he believes it to be excessive. He said at the 2024 hearing that he was surprised at the length of the sentence, as he thought he would get a shorter sentence based on discussions with Pignatelli after a 402 conference concerning the case in 2021.

When Strehlow, under questioning by Pignatelli, told Senneff during the 2024 hearing that he wasn’t sure how much the medications had affected him and they may have clouded his judgment at the time he pleaded guilty, Senneff would not accept that argument.

“This is the very first time any of us are hearing this,” Senneff said of Strehlow’s claims. She also said Strehlow had not provided any expert testimony about the medications or whether it was known if those medications would impact judgment. She said it wan’t enough for Strehlow to say he had been affected.

Pignatelli at that 2024 court hearing continued to back up an argument for sentence reconsideration, saying Strehlow’s sentence should be reduced to probation because he was a veteran of both the U.S. Army and Marines, suffered severe injuries while in the military that required him to be on several medications, has had back surgeries for those injuries, has abstained from alcohol for five years, goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, has worked toward his bachelor’s degree and is a father with shared custody.

Strehlow also said he didn’t know he would be sentenced to eight years, saying that he thought the sentence “would be less than it was.”

Before making her ruling denying the motions for withdrawal and reconsideration, Senneff read aloud the sentencing transcript, specifically the passages in which she asked Strehlow if he understood the agreement and he had said yes. She also said she could have sentenced him to 14 years in prison, but had decided at that time to sentence him to eight years, with 85% of the sentence to be served.

She also shut down Strehlow’s claim that the information he received from Pignatelli about what happened at the 402 conference led him to believe he would get a lighter sentence. Senneff at that time said she would not allow discussion about a 402 conference, that they are private conversations and that she doesn’t record them for future use.

The appellate court in the June 13 ruling said Strehlow’s motion to withdraw his guilty to plea should be heard. The court said Strehlow’s attorney had not detailed the clouded judgment grounds with supporting evidence when filing the motion even though he had certified with the court he had everything in order. Because those details were not presented with the filing, the state objected to the claim at the 2024 hearing and the judge denied Strehlow’s argument. The appellate court’s June 13 ruling says the motions can be filed again to ensure strict compliance with Rule 604(d).

The appellate court also said that trial courts are not prevented from making a record of what happens at a 402 conference as it can assist judges when making a future ruling. The court also said that Strehlow’s concerns about the 402 conference could have been allowed to be discussed in court because they were about interactions he had had with his attorney.

The case now goes back to the circuit court. No further motions in the case had been filed as of Thursday, June 26, according to court records.