2016 IL App (2d) 140786 

No. 2-14-0786 

Opinion filed November 16, 2016 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT

______________________________________________________________________________ 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court 

OF ILLINOIS, ) of De Kalb County. 

) 

Plaintiff-Appellee, ) 

) 

v. ) No. 13-CF-898 

) 

DEMOND L. HUNT, ) Honorable 

) John F. McAdams, 

Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. 

______________________________________________________________________________ 

JUSTICE SPENCE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. 

Justices Hutchinson and Birkett concurred in the judgment and opinion. 

OPINION

¶ 1 Following a jury trial, defendant, Demond L. Hunt, was convicted of two counts of armed 

robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a)(2) (West 2012)) and one count of aggravated battery (720 ILCS 

5/12-3.05(f)(2) (West 2012)). On appeal, he argues that: (1) he was not proven guilty beyond a 

reasonable doubt, and (2) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to tender a jury instruction 

on accomplice witness testimony. We affirm. 

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 On February 14, 2014, defendant was charged by indictment with two counts of armed 

robbery, one count of aggravated battery, and one count of unlawful possession of a weapon by a 

felon. Prior to trial, the weapons charge was severed, and the State proceeded to trial on the 
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remaining counts.

¶ 4 Defendant’s jury trial began on April 14, 2014. In his opening statement, the assistant 

State’s Attorney said that the jury “should question” the credibility of State witness Mariah 

Romero and that she was “a liar” who had lied to the police. He further stated that Romero had a 

deal with the State, allowing her to plead guilty to obstructing justice rather than face charges for 

armed robbery, and that the jury “should question her credibility based on all of that.” He 

additionally stated that, if the case were based on Romero’s testimony alone, the jury should find 

defendant not guilty, but that the jury was going to hear testimony from several other witnesses. 

Defense counsel similarly argued that the Romero was not believable.

¶ 5 We now summarize events according to the victims’ testimony. On November 27, 2013, 

Beth Keller and Britany Garcia were working at the office of the University Heights apartment 

complex, at 1120 Varsity Boulevard in De Kalb. Keller was the property manager, and Garcia 

worked in the office part-time. Shortly after 4 p.m., a woman came into the office. Keller was 

on the phone and asked if she could help her. The woman said that she had a question, and 

Keller asked her to wait one moment. However, shortly before Keller got off the phone, the 

woman left. 

¶ 6 About 2 to 15 minutes later, a man with a rubbery white “Michael Myers” mask came 

into the office. Keller could see that the man was black, as she could see his skin through the 

mask’s eyeholes. Garcia could not see the man’s skin, but his voice sounded like that of a black 

man. Garcia said that she was 5 feet 4 inches tall and that the man was a couple of inches taller 

and “a little bit heavier set.” The man had a small black revolver in his hands. He repeatedly 

told Keller and Garcia to get on the floor. Garcia got on her knees and put her hands up. Keller 

refused to get down, and she hit the “panic button” to call the police. The man hit her on the 
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right side of her face with the gun, knocking her down. He asked for money, but Garcia said that 

they could not open the safe. After the man “realized he wasn’t going to get anything,” he took 

Keller’s purse, which was under her desk, and Garcia’s phone before running out the door. 

Keller’s purse contained her engagement ring, wedding band, Social Security card, and driver’s 

license, and some credit cards, cash, and cigarettes. Garcia’s phone was a white Nokia Lumia. 

After the man left, Garcia called 911. 

¶ 7 Keller later learned that the police recovered the engagement ring but not the wedding 

band. At trial, she identified a photograph of the ring. Garcia testified that on January 23, 2014, 

she went to the police department and identified a cell phone as hers based on its contents, 

including photographs and music. At trial, Garcia was shown a picture of a gun recovered by the 

police, and she testified that it appeared to be the same size and color as the robber’s gun. 

¶ 8 Romero provided the following testimony. Along with defendant, she was charged with 

armed robbery in connection with the incident. The minimum sentence for that charge was 21 

years. She also had a misdemeanor shoplifting charge pending in an unrelated case. Romero

had spoken to the assistant State’s Attorney twice about her testimony. In exchange for her 

“truthful testimony” at trial, the State would dismiss the armed robbery charge and she would be 

allowed to plead to obstructing justice and receive a sentence of conditional discharge. 

¶ 9 On November 27, 2013, Romero was living at 1120 Varsity Boulevard, in apartment 314, 

with defendant. They were in a dating relationship, and she was currently pregnant with their

child. Only Romero’s name was on the apartment lease, but they both had keys to the apartment. 

On the day in question, Romero told defendant that she was going to the apartment complex 

office because she wanted to “break” her lease and move out. Romero went to the office and 

saw two women there. The older woman asked her to wait a minute, and Romero left. She 
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returned to her apartment briefly; defendant was not there at that time. Romero then went 

downstairs to her neighbor’s apartment. After a couple of minutes, she saw defendant in the 

hallway. Two police officers entered the hallway, and defendant “basically fled” from Romero. 

One of the officers asked her to step out of the apartment and state her name. She gave the false 

name of Margaret Cartwright because she had a pending warrant for retail theft. The officers 

took her to the police station and questioned her. 

¶ 10 At the station, a detective asked Romero about the robbery that had just occurred in the 

office. Because of her warrant, Romero initially lied and said that she did not know anything 

about it. Romero later implicated Edcedric Williams and a man named “John-John” as having 

been involved in the robbery. She did not have any information suggesting that they 

participated, and at trial she could not explain why she named them. 

¶ 11 At some point in the conversation, the detective said that he knew that Romero was lying 

about her name and “everything else,” so Romero told him her real name. However, she 

identified Williams in a photo lineup as having been involved in the robbery. She kept lying to 

protect herself from the warrant, not to protect defendant. The detective exited and entered the 

room again and said that the police knew everything that had happened, so Romero then 

implicated defendant in the robbery. Romero also identified him in a photo lineup as having 

robbed the office. However, she initially identified him as “Demond Oliver,” even though she 

knew that Oliver was not his real last name. 

¶ 12 Romero consented to a search of her apartment. At trial, Romero identified pictures of 

her bathroom that showed a cell phone on the vanity. She had been in the bathroom 20 to 30 

minutes before the robbery, and she did not know how the cell phone came to be there. Romero 

also identified pictures showing a boot that belonged to her, with a gun inside. Romero 
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recognized the gun as belonging to defendant; she had last seen him with it weeks before the 

robbery. Romero further identified pictures of the following items as belonging to defendant: a 

clipper bag, a wallet, and two debit cards, an identification card, and a Social Security card all 

with defendant’s name. 

¶ 13 Romero agreed that she had lied to the police several times during the course of the 

investigation. She further agreed that, in light of those lies and the deal she had made with the 

State, people would have a hard time believing anything she said. However, she said, her 

testimony that day was the truth. 

¶ 14 On cross-examination, Romero agreed that she had also told the police that she was 

telling the truth. When she first saw the two officers in the apartment building, she told one 

officer that she had not seen anything suspicious. Romero then told the second officer that she 

had observed two unfamiliar males, and she described their clothing. At the police station, 

Romero initially said that she had started off that day in her apartment, with a person named 

Kiera Evans, and that she then left and went to apartment 218 with a person named Delaney 

Offord. Romero said that she went to the office to get some change and that in the hallway she 

saw a black male with a black or gray hoodie and a mixed-race Hispanic man. Romero then

changed her story and told the police that she started off in apartment 218 with Offord, Offord’s 

sister “Jasmine,” and Jasmine’s boyfriend. Romero said that at this point John-John and a 

biracial man came in and talked about committing a robbery. 

¶ 15 After Romero gave the police her real name, she told them that she had been at the 

apartment of Wargineele Dixon, Williams’ girlfriend, in University Village. Williams was there 

and he asked her if she knew of a place that he could rob. Romero suggested her apartment 

complex, and she went there with him. Williams showed her the handgun he was going to use, 
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and she said that she would stake out the office first. After telling the police this story, Romero

identified Williams in a photo lineup. Williams was a black male between 5 feet 4 inches and 6 

feet tall. 

¶ 16 Romero characterized defendant as living with her in her apartment, but she agreed that 

he actually just stayed with her on occasion. At the time of the robbery, she believed that she 

was pregnant, but it had not been confirmed. She knew that defendant also had another 

girlfriend. In Romero’s apartment, defendant’s possessions were in a single travel bag. When 

Romero was arrested, she had $87 cash in her possession. 

¶ 17 Romero agreed that it was her understanding that, in order to get the plea deal, her 

testimony had to be against defendant. Pursuant to the deal, she would not have to spend 

additional time in jail and would not have to report to a probation officer. Also, her retail theft 

charge would be dismissed. Romero agreed that being in jail was “not pleasurable” and that 

prison would likely be worse. 

¶ 18 On redirect examination, Romero testified that, when defendant fled from the hallway, 

he passed one of the officers and went down a staircase in the middle of the hallway. 

Immediately afterward, Romero testified that an officer was coming toward them and “just 

missed” defendant. Romero had earned the $87 while working at Party City.

¶ 19 Romero then testified that earlier in the day on November 27, 2013, defendant had asked 

if she knew where the apartment office kept money. Defendant had also asked her to go down 

and “scope out” the office for him. 

¶ 20 On re-cross-examination, Romero agreed that she was not concerned about what 

happened to defendant. She further agreed that, on the witness stand, she had offered conflicting 

versions about defendant’s movements in the hallway when the officers entered.
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¶ 21 De Kalb County Deputy Sheriff Doug Brouwer testified that inmates entering the jail 

received thorough pat-downs to make sure that they had no drugs or weapons. It was not 

“common” to find contraband that had not been found up to that point, but “it happened quite a 

bit.” In such situations, the contraband was generally small. On December 5, 2013, he 

participated in defendant’s booking process. When patting down one of the cargo pockets on 

defendant’s pants, Brouwer found a diamond engagement ring. De Kalb police officer Keith 

Ehrke testified that he transported defendant from the police department to the jail and saw 

Brouwer find the ring in defendant’s pocket. Ehrke agreed that he did not search defendant 

before transporting him, even though his department’s policies stated that inmates should be 

searched before transportation.

¶ 22 Police officers testified about recovering from Romero’s apartment the items that 

Romero identified as belonging to defendant, including the gun, as well as the cell phone that 

Garcia identified as hers. 

¶ 23 De Kalb police officer Paul Mott testified as follows. On December 5, 2013, Mott 

learned that defendant had been taken into custody in Steger, Illinois, by the U.S. Marshals 

Service. Mott made arrangements to pick up defendant. When Mott and Detective Mark 

Nachman met up with the marshals, the marshals indicated that defendant had already been 

searched for weapons. Nachman conducted a pat-down of defendant before putting him in the

patrol car.

¶ 24 Upon returning to De Kalb, Mott interviewed defendant. He told defendant of the 

charges, and defendant said that he had been to De Kalb only one time and was being framed. 

Defendant next said that he wanted to tell the truth but that he could not. Romero’s name came 

up a couple of times in their conversation. Defendant said that Romero did not know what was 
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going on and he asked what he could do to keep her “out of this.” He later asked how long it 

would be before she was released and what he needed to do to have her released. Defendant then 

asked how much time someone would get if he were honest about what happened. Last, 

defendant said that he was sorry, but he could not implicate himself. Mott did not transcribe his 

conversation with defendant verbatim but rather wrote a summary of the conversation a few days 

after defendant’s arrest.

¶ 25 On cross-examination, Mott agreed that Keller told him that her purse contained $76, 

consisting of three $20 bills, one $5 bill, and the remainder in $1 bills. When Romero was 

arrested, she had $87, consisting of three $20 bills, one $10 bill, two $5 bills, and seven $1 bills. 

Romero gave the officers many different stories when she was interviewed. Romero mentioned 

several people who might have been involved in the robbery, including Jon Rounsaville. Mott 

spoke to Rounsaville and ruled him out as having any involvement. He spoke to Offord’s 

employer, who verified where Offord was that day. Mott could not remember if he or Sergeant 

Steve Lekkas spoke to Williams. Mott also could not remember if he spoke to Jasmine and 

could not remember if he asked anyone whether they had seen defendant in the area of the 

robbery on the day in question. 

¶ 26 When Mott transported defendant to the police department, he conducted a “complete 

custodial search,” which was a pat-down of his exterior. Mott did not find anything on 

defendant. Mott agreed that defendant never said that he robbed anyone or had proceeds from 

the robbery. Mott also agreed that defendant was worried about what would happen to Romero, 

who had been in custody for about eight days at the time. 

¶ 27 On redirect examination, Mott testified that the police knew that Williams was not 

involved in the robbery, because he had an alibi. 
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¶ 28 The State rested, and defendant made a motion for a directed finding, which the trial 

court denied. 

¶ 29 U.S. Marshal Michael Urgo then testified that he arrested defendant on December 5, 

2013. He patted down defendant’s exterior clothing to search for weapons, and he found a pack 

of cigarettes in one of defendant’s upper pants pockets. In another pocket, Urgo found a plastic 

bag with a green leafy substance. During the search, Urgo was wearing gloves that were a little 

thicker than batting gloves. 

¶ 30 Lekkas testified as follows. He was part of the group of officers who responded to the 

robbery. He spoke to a man named David Billups, who was about to visit apartment 218, and a 

man named Nick Robinson, who was in apartment 218. He did not question these individuals 

again after defendant was named as a suspect. 

¶ 31 After Romero named Williams as having been involved in the robbery, Lekkas went to 

Dixon’s apartment and she said that Williams had not been there in about one month and that he 

was living in Chicago with his grandmother. Dixon called the grandmother in Lekkas’s 

presence, and the grandmother said that she had just seen Williams. Dixon allowed Lekkas to 

search the apartment, and he did not find any men’s clothing. Dixon said that she knew Romero 

and that they had not gotten along since they were arrested together. Dixon said that Romero 

was lying and probably protecting her own boyfriend. The police never interviewed Williams as 

a suspect.

¶ 32 In the State’s closing argument, the assistant State’s Attorney stated that, if Romero were

the only witness, the jury should find defendant not guilty. He said that: Romero was a liar;

some of the things she testified to were probably lies; and she lied when it suited her and to 

protect defendant. However, he further said that the circumstantial evidence, including the items
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identified as defendant’s found in Romero’s apartment and Keller’s ring found in defendant’s 

pocket, showed that the State had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Defense counsel 

argued that the jury could not believe Romero, so there was no credible evidence that defendant 

committed the crimes.

¶ 33 After more than nine hours of deliberation, the jury found defendant guilty of the charges. 

On May 15, 2014, defendant filed motions for a new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the 

verdict. The trial court denied the motions on June 24, 2014. 

¶ 34 At the sentencing hearing on August 6, 2014, the trial court found that all three counts 

merged into one armed robbery count. It sentenced defendant to 23 years’ imprisonment. 

Defendant timely appealed.

¶ 35 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 36 A. Sufficiency of the Evidence 

¶ 37 Defendant first argues that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. When 

faced with a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we must determine whether, after 

viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact 

could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. 

Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319 (1979); People v. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d 237, 261 (1985). The trier of 

fact has the responsibility to assess witnesses’ credibility, weigh their testimony, resolve 

inconsistencies and conflicts in the evidence, and draw reasonable inferences from the evidence. 

People v. Sutherland, 223 Ill. 2d 187, 242 (2006). We will not set aside a criminal conviction 

unless the evidence is so improbable, unsatisfactory, or inconclusive that it creates a reasonable 

doubt of the defendant’s guilt. People v. Lloyd, 2013 IL 113510, ¶ 42. 
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¶ 38 Defendant’s sole challenge to the evidence’s sufficiency is that the State failed to prove 

the element of identity, i.e., that he was the masked robber. 

¶ 39 Defendant cites People v. Ash, 102 Ill. 2d 485 (1984), and People v. Wilson, 66 Ill. 2d 

346 (1977). In Ash, our supreme court stated that the trier of fact may base a conviction on the 

uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice, but that such testimony must be cautiously 

scrutinized on appeal. Ash, 102 Ill. 2d at 493. The court stated that, if a witness is hoping for a 

reward from the prosecution, the witness’s testimony should not be accepted unless it carries 

within it an “ ‘absolute conviction of its truth.’ ” Id. (quoting People v. Williams, 65 Ill. 2d 258, 

267 (1976)). The court stated that such a standard was not met in the case before it, because the 

accomplice was seeking a lenient sentence; he admitted that he would “ ‘do just about anything’ 

” to avoid being incarcerated with the three men he had testified against; he chose to testify only 

after the prosecution threatened to rescind the agreements that had been negotiated; and the 

testimony allegedly corroborating the accomplice’s testimony did not pertain to who committed 

the crime. Id. at 493-94. 

¶ 40 In Wilson, our supreme court held that the defendant was not proven guilty beyond a 

reasonable doubt where the only evidence linking him to a robbery was an accomplice’s 

testimony and the accomplice was promised immunity for his testimony. Wilson, 66 Ill. 2d at 

350. The court noted that the victim never identified the defendant as the robber and that she 

described the robber as being seven inches shorter. Id.

¶ 41 Defendant argues that, like the accomplice witnesses in Ash and Wilson, Romero was the 

only person who identified him as the offender. Defendant notes that Romero testified in 

exchange for avoiding an armed robbery conviction carrying a minimum sentence of 21 years

and that she also avoided an unrelated retail theft charge. Romero was promised that she could 
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plead guilty to obstructing justice and receive 12 months’ conditional discharge. Defendant cites 

Romero’s testimony that she could receive the benefit of her bargain if she provided truthful 

testimony, which she believed required implicating him as the offender. Defendant argues that 

Romero’s inducement to testify against him is enough to call into question whether her testimony 

bore the “absolute conviction of truth.” 

¶ 42 Defendant argues that doubts about Romero’s veracity were compounded by her 

exposure as a habitual liar and her inconsistent testimony. Defendant points out that Romero 

admitted repeatedly lying to the police about her name and involvement in the robbery. He 

argues that she gave no fewer than six different versions of the events surrounding the crime and 

identified multiple suspects by description, by name, and from photo arrays. Defendant 

maintains that, at trial, Romero also gave different accounts of his involvement, including neverbefore-heard details about his escape from the apartment complex following the robbery. 

Defendant cites inconsistencies in Romero’s testimony about where he was before the robbery, 

what they talked about, when he was in the apartment building hallway, and whether he walked 

by any police officers when leaving the hallway. He further argues that Romero stated, for the 

first time at trial, that she and defendant discussed a potential robbery and that she went to the 

office to scope it out. 

¶ 43 Defendant argues that, as in Wilson, the other witnesses and the circumstantial evidence 

provided information about what happened during the incident but did not corroborate that he 

was the offender. Defendant points out that Keller and Garcia described the offender only as a 

black male who was a little bit taller than 5 feet 4 inches and “heavier set.” Defendant maintains 

that, although Garcia testified that the State’s photograph of the gun found in Romero’s 

apartment showed a gun of the same size and color as the one used in the incident, Garcia 
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admitted viewing the photograph in preparation for trial, so she might have identified the gun 

based on that prior viewing as opposed to her memory of the gun wielded by the offender. 

¶ 44 Defendant argues that the police officers’ testimony also does not corroborate Romero’s 

testimony. Defendant argues that his personal possessions found in Romero’s apartment 

established only that he might have been there at some point and left some things there. He 

maintains that the presence of the phone and the gun there implicated him only because Romero 

linked him to those items. Defendant notes that, although Romero had identified Williams as the 

offender and Williams matched the offender’s race and approximate height, it was unclear 

whether the police interviewed Williams. Defendant argues that it appears that the police simply 

credited Dixon’s statement that Williams had not been in her apartment for about one month and 

that Romero was probably lying to protect defendant. Defendant asserts that his own statements 

to Mott at most indicated that he was concerned about what would happen to Romero. 

Defendant maintains that, even if his statements could be considered inculpatory, they were 

unreliable because, rather than recording them verbatim, Mott only summarized them, a few days 

after defendant’s arrest.

¶ 45 Regarding the presence of the ring in his pocket, defendant argues that its discovery was 

dubious given that it was found after he had previously been searched at least four times and 

only after he had failed to confess. Defendant contends that, although the jury could accept the 

State’s argument that it was unreasonable to infer that the police planted the ring on defendant, 

the jury could not infer that he was guilty of the robbery based solely on his unexplained 

possession of the ring. Defendant cites People v. Housby, 84 Ill. 2d 415 (1981). There, our 

supreme court stated that a person’s recent and exclusive possession of items stolen in a 

burglary, without a reasonable explanation, gives rise to the permissive inference that the 
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possession was obtained by the burglary. Id. at 422-24. Such an inference is proper if (1) there 

is a rational connection between a person’s recent possession of property stolen in a burglary and 

that person’s participation in the burglary; (2) the person’s guilt of the burglary is more likely 

than not to flow from the recent, unexplained, and exclusive possession of the burglary proceeds; 

and (3) there is evidence corroborating the person’s guilt. Id. at 424. Defendant argues that, 

although the evidence here satisfied the second Housby prong, it did not satisfy the first and third 

prongs. As to the first prong, defendant argues that his possession of a single item taken during 

the robbery was not proximate to the time or place of the offense, as he was arrested eight days 

later and about 80 to 90 miles from the scene. As to the third prong, defendant argues that the 

only other evidence linking him to the crime was Romero’s unreliable accomplice testimony.

¶ 46 We conclude that there was sufficient evidence to prove defendant guilty of the robbery 

beyond a reasonable doubt. Romero ultimately identified defendant as the robber to the police, 

and at trial she testified that he was the offender. Romero further testified that: she was in a 

relationship with defendant, and he was the father of her unborn child; she was living at 1120 

Varsity Boulevard in De Kalb, and defendant stayed with her sometimes and had a key; the 

police found items in her apartment, including an identification card, a Social Security card, 

debit cards, and a gun, that belonged to defendant; a phone that police found in her bathroom 

was not there 20 to 30 minutes before the robbery; earlier on the day of the robbery, defendant 

asked if she knew where the apartment complex office kept money; and defendant asked her to 

“scope out” the office for him. 

¶ 47 As Romero was an accomplice, her testimony must be cautiously scrutinized, especially 

considering that her plea deal allowed her to avoid the possibility of at least 21 years’ 

imprisonment for armed robbery. See Ash, 102 Ill. 2d at 493; see also People v. Zambrano, 2016 
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IL App (3d) 140178, ¶ 27 (an accomplice’s testimony should be viewed with suspicion and 

accepted only with great caution, especially if the witness was promised leniency or immunity). 

However, Romero’s testimony was corroborated by Keller’s and Garcia’s testimony and by 

physical evidence. Specifically, Keller and Garcia testified that a woman came into the office 

and left and that the robber entered shortly afterward. They testified that the robber was a black 

male holding a black revolver and Garcia testified that the revolver looked similar to the gun 

police found in Romero’s apartment. Garcia also testified that the robber took her Nokia Lumia 

cell phone, and the evidence established that it was the phone found in Romero’s bathroom. 

Defendant’s wallet and personal possessions were found in Romero’s apartment, and, though he 

argues that they show only that he might have been there at some point, the nature of the items, 

including his identification card and two debit cards, circumstantially indicates that he was living

or staying in the apartment on the day of the robbery. Keller testified that the assailant stole her 

purse, which contained her engagement ring, and she identified the ring as the one that police 

found in defendant’s pocket eight days after the incident. Defendant’s statements to Mott 

indicated that he had an ongoing relationship with Romero. Moreover, though defendant did not 

confess, he offered somewhat inculpatory statements by saying that he wanted to tell the truth 

but could not; stating that Romero did not know what was going on; and asking how much time 

someone would get if he were honest about what happened. 

¶ 48 Thus, unlike in Ash and Wilson, aside from Romero’s testimony, there was corroborating 

evidence linking defendant to the crime, including that Keller’s ring was found in his pocket. 

Although defendant seems to take the position that we cannot consider the ring’s presence 

because the circumstances do not satisfy the Housby test, that test applies only to instructions 

advising a jury of the inferences it may draw. People v. Richardson, 104 Ill. 2d 8, 12 (1984). 
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Here, defendant has not challenged any jury instructions on this issue, nor was the jury even 

instructed about a presumption regarding robbery proceeds. Moreover, in closing argument, the 

defense brought up the possibility that someone planted the ring on defendant or that Romero 

gave it to him after the robbery occurred. It was up to the jury to determine whether to accept or 

reject the evidence and the theories presented at trial. People v. Washington, 375 Ill. App. 3d 

243, 259 (2007). 

¶ 49 As for the police investigation of Williams, the defense highlighted through its crossexamination and closing argument the limited nature of that investigation, and it was the jury’s

role to weigh that evidence. See People v. Frazier, 2016 IL App (1st) 140911, ¶ 11. Similarly, 

both the prosecution and the defense emphasized Romero’s deal with the State and her 

credibility problems, with the prosecution stating in closing that she was a “liar” and probably 

told some lies on the witness stand. “[W]hile subject to careful scrutiny, the testimony of an 

accomplice, whether it is corroborated or uncorroborated, is sufficient to sustain a criminal 

conviction if it convinces the jury of the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.” People v. 

McLaurin, 184 Ill. 2d 58, 79 (1998). The evidence against defendant cannot be characterized as 

overwhelming, but considering Romero’s testimony, along with the corroborating evidence 

mentioned, a rational trier of fact could have determined that defendant committed the crime 

beyond a reasonable doubt. 

¶ 50 B. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel 

¶ 51 Defendant next argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to tender the 

pattern jury instruction regarding accomplice witness testimony. For a claim of ineffective 

assistance of counsel, a defendant must satisfy the two-pronged test set forth in Strickland v. 

Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). People v. Hodges, 234 Ill. 2d 1, 17 (2009). As to trial 
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counsel, the defendant must first establish that, despite the strong presumption that counsel acted 

competently and that the challenged action was the product of sound trial strategy, counsel’s 

representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness under prevailing professional 

norms such that he or she was not functioning as the counsel guaranteed by the sixth amendment. 

People v. Manning, 227 Ill. 2d 403, 416 (2008). Second, the defendant must establish prejudice 

by showing a reasonable probability that the proceeding would have resulted differently absent 

counsel’s errors. People v. Valdez, 2016 IL 119860, ¶ 14. A failure to satisfy either prong of the 

Strickland test precludes a finding of ineffectiveness. People v. Simpson, 2015 IL 116512, ¶ 35. 

Where, as here, a claim of ineffective assistance was not raised in the trial court, we review the 

issue de novo. People v. Lofton, 2015 IL App (2d) 130135, ¶ 24. 

¶ 52 Defendant argues that his trial counsel should have tendered Illinois Pattern Jury 

Instructions, Criminal, No. 3.17 (4th ed. 2000) (hereinafter, IPI Criminal 4th No. 3.17). That 

instruction states:

“When a witness says he was involved in the commission of a crime with the 

defendant, the testimony of that witness is subject to suspicion and should be considered 

by you with caution. It should be carefully examined in light of the other evidence in the 

case.” Id.

The instruction should be given if the totality of the evidence and the reasonable inferences 

derived from the evidence establish probable cause to believe that the witness participated in the 

crime, as either a principal or an accomplice. People v. Davis, 353 Ill. App. 3d 790, 795 (2004). 

The instruction’s purpose is to warn the jury that the witness might have a strong motivation to 

provide false testimony for the State in exchange for immunity or some other lenient treatment. 
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Id. at 798. When accomplices testify, courts have found no valid reason for not requesting IPI 

Criminal 4th No. 3.17. Id. at 795. 

¶ 53 Defendant argues that the totality of the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to 

establish probable cause that Romero participated in the armed robbery, so the jury should have 

been given IPI Criminal 4th No. 3.17. The State concedes that trial counsel’s failure to tender 

the instruction was objectively unreasonable and thereby satisfies the first prong of the 

Strickland test.

¶ 54 The question remains whether the failure to request the instruction prejudiced defendant, 

as required by Strickland’s second prong. In People v. McCallister, 193 Ill. 2d 63, 90 (2000), 

our supreme court held that, even though trial counsel did not request the accomplice-witness 

instruction, the defendant failed to establish a reasonable probability that the trial would have 

resulted differently had the instruction been given. It based this conclusion on: (1) the inherent 

weaknesses of the defendant’s own testimony; (2) the strength of the evidence offered against the 

defendant apart from the accomplice witness’s testimony; and (3) the instructions the jury 

actually received. Id. at 91.

¶ 55 Defendant analogizes his case to People v. Wheeler, 401 Ill. App. 3d 304 (2010), and 

People v. Campbell, 275 Ill. App. 3d 993 (1995). In Wheeler, the court concluded that defense 

counsel’s error in failing to tender the accomplice-witness instruction was not harmless, because 

the evidence was closely balanced and the State’s case rested upon an accomplice as its key 

witness. Wheeler, 401 Ill. App. 3d at 314. The court stated that, without the accomplice’s 

testimony, there were no witnesses who could identify the defendant as the shooter and there was 

no physical evidence linking the defendant to the crime. Id. 
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¶ 56 In Campbell, two accomplices, who were dating each other, testified against the 

defendant pursuant to deals with the State. Campbell, 275 Ill. App. 3d at 998. Although there 

was evidence that the defendant was at the scene of the crime, only the accomplices’ testimony 

identified the defendant as the perpetrator of the offense. Id. The appellate court concluded that 

defense counsel’s failure to tender the accomplice-witness instruction constituted ineffective 

assistance of counsel. Id. at 999. 

¶ 57 As the State points out in its brief, Zambrano is also relevant to this issue. There, the 

court held that defense counsel’s failure to submit the accomplice-witness instruction prejudiced 

the defendant, because the accomplice was testifying under a grant of use immunity and his 

testimony was the only evidence establishing the defendant’s participation in the crime. 

Zambrano, 2016 IL App (3d) 140178, ¶ 32. 

¶ 58 Defendant argues that, as in the above-cited cases, here the State’s case relied heavily on 

the testimony of its accomplice witness, Romero. Defendant argues that she provided the only 

evidence that he could access her apartment in her absence, that he was in De Kalb on the day of 

the offense, that he possessed the gun found in her apartment and used in the robbery, and that he 

expressed an intent to rob the apartment complex office and had done so. Defendant maintains 

that these facts amount to the motive, means, and opportunity to commit the offense. Defendant 

contends that, without Romero’s testimony, the State had nothing to prove that he was the 

robber, nor could it establish more than a tenuous link between him, the gun in Romero’s 

apartment, and the proceeds of the robbery. Defendant maintains that his alleged statements to 

Mott were unreliable and only arguably inculpatory. Defendant also argues that, although the 

State “disingenuously” encouraged the jury to question Romero’s credibility because she was a 

“liar,” the jury had to believe at least some of her testimony for the State to meet its burden. 
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¶ 59 After considering the record in this case, we conclude that defendant has failed to 

sufficiently establish that the results of the trial would have been different had defense counsel 

tendered the accomplice-witness instruction. Looking at the McCallister factors (see supra ¶ 

54), the first factor does not apply, because defendant did not testify. The second factor involves 

the strength of the evidence offered against the defendant apart from the accomplice witness’s 

testimony. McCallister, 193 Ill. 2d at 91. As discussed, there was corroborating evidence 

linking defendant to the crime. Keller and Garcia described the perpetrator as a black male, 

taller than 5 feet 4 inches and heavier set. The presence of defendant’s personal possessions in 

Romero’s apartment, including his wallet with his identification, Social Security, and debit cards, 

circumstantially indicates that he was staying or living in the apartment on the day in question. 

Keller and Garcia described the offender as holding a black revolver, and Garcia testified that the 

revolver looked similar to the gun police found in Romero’s apartment. Garcia’s cell phone, 

which she testified that the robber took, was also found in Romero’s apartment. Keller testified 

that the robber took her purse, which contained her engagement ring, and she identified as hers 

the ring found in defendant’s pocket eight days after the robbery. Defendant’s conversation with 

Mott contained somewhat inculpatory statements, including that he wanted to tell the truth but 

could not, that Romero did not know what was going on, and that he wanted to know how much 

time someone would get if he were honest about what happened. Finally, the police investigated 

the other men Romero initially implicated in the robbery, but the police ruled them out as 

suspects.

¶ 60 The third McCallister factor considers the instructions the jury actually received. Id. The 

jury here received the pattern instruction on witness credibility, which states: 
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“Only you are the judges of the believability of the witnesses and the weight to be 

given to the testimony of each of them. In considering the testimony of any witness, you 

may take into account his ability and opportunity to observe, his memory, his manner 

while testifying, any interest, bias, or prejudice he may have, and the reasonableness of 

his testimony considered in the light of all the evidence in the case.” Illinois Pattern Jury 

Instructions, Criminal, No. 1.02 (4th ed. 2000) (hereinafter, IPI Criminal 4th No. 1.02). 

This general instruction on witness credibility alone will not cure the failure to request the

accomplice-witness instruction. McCallister, 249 Ill. 2d at 96. However, in McCallister, our 

supreme court stated that “the fact that the jury was told to consider, in general, the bias, interest 

or prejudice of the witnesses may be considered as one factor, among others, which establishes 

that [the] defendant was not prejudiced by his trial counsel’s failure to tender the accomplice 

witness instruction.” (Emphasis in original.) Id. at 97. 

¶ 61 Here, the jury was additionally given Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 3.11 

(4th ed. 2000) (hereinafter, IPI Criminal 4th No. 3.11), which pertains to prior inconsistent 

statements and provides: 

“The believability of a witness may be challenged by evidence that on some 

former occasion he made a statement that was not consistent with his testimony in this 

case. Evidence of this kind ordinarily may be considered by you for the limited purpose 

of deciding the weight to be given to the testimony you heard from the witness in this 

courtroom.” 

¶ 62 Moreover, the assistant State’s Attorney specifically argued in both his opening and

closing statements that the jury should question Romero’s credibility; that she was “a liar” who 

lied to the police; and that, if Romero were the only witness, the jury should find defendant not 
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guilty. In his opening statement and in his direct examination of Romero, he highlighted that she 

had a deal with the State whereby, in exchange for her testimony at trial, the armed robbery 

charge against her would be dismissed and she could plead guilty to obstruction of justice and 

receive conditional discharge. Defense counsel also argued in his opening and closing 

statements that Romero was not believable, and, in his cross-examination of her, he brought out 

the conflicting versions of events that she had given to the police and in her testimony. Defense 

counsel similarly emphasized Romero’s deal with the State, including her belief that the 

agreement required her to testify against defendant. As stated, the purpose of the accomplicewitness instruction is to warn the jury that the witness might have a strong motivation to provide 

false testimony for the State in return for some form of lenient treatment (Davis, 353 Ill. App. 3d 

at 798), and the attorneys’ arguments, coupled with the instructions that were given, clearly 

warned the jury that it should view Romero’s testimony with suspicion. 

¶ 63 In sum, considering (1) the evidence corroborating Romero’s testimony; (2) the 

instructions that the jury did receive, namely IPI Criminal 4th No. 1.02 on general witness 

credibility and IPI Criminal 4th No. 3.11 on prior inconsistent statements; and (3) the fact that, in 

their opening and closing statements and in their examinations of Romero, the parties repeatedly 

encouraged the jury to question Romero’s credibility, we conclude that defendant cannot show 

that he was prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to tender the instruction on accomplice-witness

testimony. 

¶ 64 The above-mentioned considerations distinguish this case from Wheeler, Campbell, and 

Zambrano. Specifically, in those cases there was no physical evidence linking the defendants to 

the crimes; the juries did not receive IPI Criminal 4th No. 3.11; and those trials did not include

repeated assertions by both parties that the juries should question the accomplices’ credibility. 
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Defendant argues that arguments by the parties cannot substitute for jury instructions from the 

court. See People v. Carini, 151 Ill. App. 3d 264, 280 (1986) (instructing the jury as to matters 

of law is a judicial function exclusively within the province of the trial court). We have no 

quarrel with this general assertion. However, accepting that the failure to give the accomplicewitness instruction was unreasonable, under Strickland and McCallister defendant was still 

required to show a reasonable probability that the trial would have resulted differently had his 

counsel tendered the instruction. In making this assessment, we considered the totality of the 

circumstances (see People v. Furdge, 332 Ill. App. 3d 1019, 1028 (2002)), which includes, 

among other things, the parties’ examinations of the witnesses and their remarks to the jury. See 

also Campbell, 275 Ill. App. 3d at 996-97 (stating that counsel’s arguments can be considered in 

the analysis). Notably, we also considered the evidence apart from Romero’s testimony and the 

instructions that the jury did receive. Based on the record before us, defendant cannot show that 

he was prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to tender the instruction on accomplice-witness 

testimony, and he therefore cannot succeed on his claim that he received ineffective assistance of 

counsel. 

¶ 65 III. CONCLUSION

¶ 66 For the reasons stated, we affirm the judgment of the De Kalb County circuit court. As 

part of our judgment, we grant the State’s request that defendant be assessed $50 as costs for this 

appeal. 55 ILCS 5/4-2002(a) (West 2014); see also People v. Nicholls, 71 Ill. 2d 166, 179 

(1978). 

¶ 67 Affirmed.