Opinion ID: 2226837
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: hearing in aggravation and mitigation

Text: Defendant waived his right to have the jury determine whether he should be sentenced to death based on the matters in aggravation and mitigation. At the hearing on the second phase of sentencing, the State introduced testimony of defendant's criminal record. A Chicago Heights police officer testified regarding defendant's 1974 convictions for the armed robbery and murder of a liquor store operator. According to the officer's testimony, defendant and three other men came into the store and robbed the victim. The three others left but defendant stayed behind and shot twice into the back of the apparently unconscious victim. The supervisor of records at Joliet Correctional Center testified that during the years defendant spent in prison for the armed robbery and murder, 1974 through 1987, defendant amassed 104 disciplinary tickets. In the view of the supervisor of records, 32 of these disciplinary write-ups were serious. The most recent incident report was January 1985, when defendant was cited for having unauthorized property, a cap and a jacket, in his cell. Another witness testified regarding defendant's juvenile record, starting with auto theft in 1968 and 1969. Defendant was charged with criminal trespass in 1971, for which he received probation. Later that year he received a six-month sentence for aggravated battery. A Chicago police officer testified that in 1988, when defendant was arrested for armed violence, possession of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, defendant was wearing a necklace with a sixpointed star, which the officer said he recognized as a symbol of the Disciples' gang. In mitigation, defendant's former girlfriend testified. She said that defendant had always maintained an interest in their child, who was born in 1972, even though she had married another man when the child was four months old and defendant was in the Army. She had never known defendant to be violent. A woman, who taught reading and math in the prison from September 1988 through September 1989, testified that defendant was a cooperative student who was eager to learn and who was willing to help other students. A third witness testified that she had seen defendant often after his release from prison in 1987 and that he treated her and her children well. She never heard him talk about committing crimes or killing anyone. David Randall, a mitigation specialist who is a doctoral candidate in psychology, testified regarding his investigation into defendant's family life and upbringing. Randall related that defendant was born in Chicago Heights to middle-aged parents who already had adult children when defendant was born, and they paid little attention to him. His father was a laborer who drank frequently when he was not working. His mother rarely left the house and spent her time cooking and watching television. The home was in poor condition with a dirt floor, no running water, and an outhouse. Defendant essentially was left to raise himself and was only disciplined for behavior that embarrassed his parents, such as wetting his pants. Defendant eventually drifted, while a teenager, to the home of Antoinette Johnson and her children. Although she was not a relative, Johnson tried to be a good role model. Randall described her as the neighborhood surrogate mother for wayward adolescents. They would come to her to be fed and to get positive support. She met defendant when he was 14 or 15 and saw him regularly. Johnson had not met defendant's parents, but she heard the other children tease defendant about his father, whom they described as an illiterate old man who lived in a shack. Defendant was always respectful but was shabbily dressed and ignorant about basic things like how to turn on the shower and washing machine. Antoinette said the mothers of the other children would call her home to see if their children were there, but defendant's parents never called about him. Defendant's parents died in 1973. He had two brothers, one near his own age and one about 20 years older (Jimmie Jr.). His sister, Lucille Drake, was 19 years older. Drake told Randall that she and her mother had beaten defendant often but it had done no good. Randall described Drake as an angry, self-centered woman who supported herself as a babysitter. She lamented to Randall that she could not whoop the children anymore like they deserved because the Department of Children and Family Services had investigated her and she had to behave herself. Jimmie Jr. died in 1977, when defendant was in prison. Defendant became very depressed at that time and was admitted to the prison psychiatric unit for about a month. Antoinette spoke highly of Jimmie Jr., but said that the only reason his sister, Lucille Drake, was not in a home for the mentally ill was because there was no one to commit her. Randall met eight times with defendant, and recalled his most recent interview with him. Defendant told Randall that he had just learned of the death of Antoinette Johnson's son, Whitney. Defendant also stated that his daughter had come to the prison to see him. He seemed emotionally affected by both of these incidents. Randall also interviewed defendant's aunt, Marcella Johnson. She had known defendant since birth and she echoed what Antoinette Johnson said about defendant's home life. A cousin also testified that members of defendant's extended family were not close and that contact among them was infrequent. Sandra Young told Randall that defendant had dated her daughter and had gotten along well with Young, her daughter, and her grandchildren. According to Randall's investigation, defendant first got drunk at age 11, and over the years had abused cannabis and cocaine as well. It was Randall's understanding that when defendant went AWOL from the Army it was because he had overstayed his leave when his mother was ill and subsequently died; his father died several months later. The murder for which defendant was convicted in 1974 occurred shortly thereafter. Defendant told Randall that while he was in the penitentiary, he had asked to be transferred from place to place because he was trying to quit the gangs and he felt pressured. In fact, he had been stabbed as part of the ritual for getting out of the gang. While in prison, he received graphic arts training with MacIntosh computers and earned his GED. Defendant told the court that to him, the sixpointed star was a symbol of the Muslim religious faith, with each point representing a prophet. He again denied that he had any part of the death of Douglas Coleman. The trial court enumerated statutory factors in aggravation of sentencing and concluded that defendant was a repeat assassin and that a sentence of death was necessary to protect society or prison guards in the future. Subsequent post-trial matters were heard and denied on the same day, including defendant's pro se motion based on ineffective assistance of counsel.