Court Opinion

ID: 9714443
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:37:36.940632+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:26.078596
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE WELCH, concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur in all aspects of the majority’s opinion except its finding that defendant was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of possession with intent to deliver. The majority finds that there is insufficient evidence to prove that defendant had the requisite intent to deliver the 4.07 grams of crack cocaine which he possessed. I cannot agree. The evidence indicates that 4.07 grams of crack cocaine constitute approximately 40 doses, which is a larger amount of the drug than would normally be possessed by a drug addict for personal consumption. This amount is sufficient to provide an individual user with four to five weeks’ worth of the drug. Each dose of the drug sells for $20. At the time of his arrest, defendant was in possession of $860 in $20 bills. He explained that he carried these $20 bills for convenience because vendors did not like to change larger bills. He also testified that the $20 bills were income from a cleaning service which he and his wife operated in northern Illinois. The jury apparently did not find this to be credible and neither do I. As the majority points out, it is the province of the jury to weigh witness credibility and to resolve conflicts or inconsistencies in the testimony (People v. Phillips (1989), 127 Ill. 2d 499, 514, 538 N.E.2d 500, 503), and we will not reverse a conviction unless the evidence is so improbable as to warrant a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt. (People v. Eyler (1989), 133 Ill. 2d 173, 191, 549 N.E.2d 268, 276.) An inference that the $20 bills came from the sale of doses of crack cocaine is quite reasonable in light of the testimony at trial that a single dose of the drug sells for $20. After viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as we are bound to do, I cannot agree with the majority that no rational trier of fact could have found the elements of this crime beyond a reasonable doubt. (People v. Collins (1985), 106 Ill. 2d 237, 261, 478 N.E.2d 267, 277.) I would have affirmed the defendant’s conviction for unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.