Opinion ID: 702336
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Ill Rev.Stat. ch. 37, par. 702-7 of the Juvenile Court Act provided:

Text: (3) If a petition alleges commission by a minor 13 years of age or over of an act which constitutes a crime under the laws of this State, and, on motion of the State's Attorney, a Juvenile Judge, designated by the Chief Judge of the Circuit to hear and determine such motions, after investigation and hearing but before commencement of the adjudicatory hearing, finds that it is not in the best interest of the minor or the public to proceed under this Act, the court may enter an order permitting prosecution under the criminal laws. 2 People v. Rodriguez, 134 Ill.App.3d 582, 89 Ill.Dec. 404, 480 N.E.2d 1147 (1 Dist.1985) 3 When one gang is in possession of a jersey from another gang, the gangs refer to it as flying somebody else's colors. Hernandez testified that the gangs consider this action an extreme insult and it is reason to kill the members of the other gang 4 Hernandez was charged with obstruction of justice because immediately after arrest he denied, to the police, that he was involved in the murders. Furthermore, when he was taken before the grand jury on February 8, 1982, some six months before Rodriguez's trial, he continued his denial and even testified falsely under oath when he stated that he and Rodriguez were at a friend's house at the time of the murders, and that they had never discussed killing Charles Palmer 5 There is no indication in the record that the police specifically asked her if Rodriguez was the murderer 6 Officer John McKenna testified that he showed Santana the Kool Gang photos because the murders occurred on the Kool Gang's turf. 7 Morris was never asked to identify Rodriguez before trial, but during cross-examination, Morris revealed that three weeks before the trial, he inadvertently saw a photograph of five Latino men resting on a desk in the State's Attorney's office. Morris testified that when he saw the picture of the five young men, he recognized, and was sure, in his own mind, that one of the young men in the photo was the young Latino man, who was about 5'6' tall, 135 lbs., with black hair parted in the middle, wearing a black leather jacket, and carrying a gun, he saw running from the scene of the murders. He further testified that he never informed anyone that he saw this photo on the desk or that he recognized one of the individuals in the photograph 8 After Morris had completed his testimony, the defense moved for a mistrial based on the suggestive nature of the in-court identification procedure. The judge denied the motion based on the fact that the defendant was seated at the defense table stating, [h]ow can that be suggestive when it's done before the jury and the jury can weigh their own conclusion to whether it was suggestive? ... Your motion will be denied at this time because I do not think of any better identification.... 9 See, supra, n. 7 10 We also note that even if Rodriguez had convinced us that cause and prejudice did exist, we would still refuse to grant relief based on the alleged Brady violation. Brady mandates that the prosecution present the defendant with all the exculpatory evidence in its possession, upon request from the defendant. 373 U.S. at 87-88, 83 S.Ct. at 1196-97. Because the witness's identification of Rodriguez was inculpatory evidence in that it was further evidence of the defendant's guilt, it is not covered by Brady. See also Jones, 15 F.3d at 676 (A successful Brady claim requires that the petitioner show that favorable evidence was suppressed by the prosecution and that the evidence was material to guilt or punishment.) (emphasis added) 11 Rodriguez relies on Moore v. Illinois, 434 U.S. 220, 98 S.Ct. 458, 54 L.Ed.2d 424 (1977) and Foster v. California, 394 U.S. 440, 89 S.Ct. 1127, 22 L.Ed.2d 402 (1969) to support his argument that the identification procedures used in this case violated his due process rights but the present case is readily distinguishable from both Foster and Moore. In Foster, when the witness identified the defendant in the first lineup, he said that he was not sure that he selected the correct person. Furthermore, the identification was made after the witness had seen a previous lineup and the defendant was the only person who participated in both lineups. 394 U.S. at 441-42, 89 S.Ct. at 1127-28. In Moore, the victim identified the defendant after she was told that she was going to view a suspect, after she was told his name, and after she heard him called as the suspect was led before the bench. Additionally, she heard the prosecutor describe the evidence he believed implicated the suspect. 434 U.S. at 322-23, 98 S.Ct. at 592-93 12 The prosecutor would have been well-advised to ask for a side-bar conference and request that the court withdraw its previous in limine order concerning the relocation, arguing that defense counsel opened the door when he stated that there was no evidence that Santana was afraid to identify Rodriguez and testify against him 13 In Wayte, the Court goes on to state that: This broad discretion rests largely on the recognition that the decision to prosecute is particularly ill-suited to judicial review. Such factors as the strength of the case, the prosecution's general deterrence value, the Government's enforcement priorities, and the case's relationship to the Government's overall enforcement plan are not readily susceptible to the kind of analysis the courts are competent to undertake.... Examining the basis of a prosecution delays the criminal proceeding, threatens to chill law enforcement by subjecting the prosecutor's motives and decisionmaking to outside inquiry, and may undermine prosecutorial effectiveness by revealing the Government's enforcement policy. 470 U.S. at 607, 105 S.Ct. at 1530. 14 Further, we note that there is no indication in the record that Hernandez had any prior criminal record, although we agree with the defense counsel's comment that there was sufficient evidence of Hernandez's culpability for the State to prosecute him for murder. However, the defendant might prefer a rule requiring all government witnesses to be pillars of their communities, ... [but] in this imperfect world, a litigant must often take the witness as he or she is, imperfections and all. We cannot expect that witnesses will possess the credibility of people of the cloth, such as rabbis, [ministers], priests, and nuns. United States v. Rose, 12 F.3d 1414, 1425 (7th Cir.1994).