Court Opinion

ID: 9740121
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:28:35.831392+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:13.041733
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE CLARK, dissenting: While I agree that the evidence below adequately supported the jury’s verdict, I cannot agree with the majority’s affirmance of the defendant’s sentence and conviction. The trial of a close case, pivoting on the credibility of the accused, was marred by several serious evidentiary errors and an erroneous instruction to the jury. These errors, taken in combination, contributed to the defendant’s conviction and cannot be considered harmless. I therefore respectfully dissent. As a careful reading of the majority opinion makes clear, the evidence of the defendant’s guilt was not overwhelming. The defendant’s testimonial version of events — that he surrendered to the officer, that the officer beat him, and that he shot the officer during the course of an attempt to defend himself — was not entirely inconsistent with the evidence adduced at trial. It was corroborated by the fact that he had thrown away the gym bag with the gun in it before he was arrested and by some of the testimony given by Pedro Palacios (e.g., by the testimony that the defendant appeared at Palacios’ house with his face bloody and swollen). A serious weakness in the State’s case was the lack of evidence that the defendant had in fact committed the crime for which the officer was allegedly attempting to arrest him, and which is supposed to have motivated the defendant’s flight and resistance to arrest. This evidence would have borne upon motive and upon the defense of justification. As can be seen from the sentencing hearing, the lack of evidence on this point was no accident — it stemmed from the prior victim’s initial refusal to cooperate with the police and several inconsistencies in his story. It is unfortunate that the State attempted to remedy this weakness by reading the arrest warrant to the jury and introducing an instruction which told the jury, incorrectly, that the defense of justification is not available to a defendant who escapes after being “charged with” a crime. Since the jury might have inferred a violent character from the contents of the arrest warrant or thought that the fact of the arrest warrant meant that the defendant could not raise the defense of justification, these errors were not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. ADMISSION OF EVIDENCE OF THE FELONY ARREST WARRANT The general rule in Illinois is that the fact that warrants have been issued for the defendant for previous crimes is admissible where relevant to show the defendant’s motive for committing the crime charged but only if “the defendant knew about the warrant or knew that the officers were attempting to arrest him.” (People v. Wilson (1987), 116 Ill. 2d 29, 52.) Even if the fact that the warrants were issued is admitted for this purpose, “proof of the details of such crimes is improper.” People v. Durkin (1928), 330 Ill. 394, 404. There is no showing in the record that the defendant knew about this warrant or knew that the officers were attempting to arrest him for the prior crime charged. The defendant himself testified that he fled from the police car because he had possession of an illegal gun. Without a showing that the defendant was aware of the warrant, the warrant itself does not prove anything about the defendant’s state of mind. Moreover, the warrant itself was only an accusation; it was not relevant to prove that the defendant had committed the prior crime. The State did not attempt to prove, other than by the admission of the warrant, that the defendant actually had committed the prior crime, and that the prior crime, rather than the warrant, was his motive for fleeing the officers and killing one of them. Thus cases which the majority cites, such as People v. Stewart (1984), 105 Ill. 2d 22, are not pertinent — these cases all deal with proof of prior crimes, not proof that the defendant was aware that he was being sought in connection with these crimes. Even assuming the warrant was admissible, it was also error to read the entire warrant to the jury, including the statement in the warrant that the defendant committed aggravated battery, a felony, “by shooting *** Frederick Ferguson in the leg while using a deadly weapon, to-wit, a shotgun.” These were details of the crime that were highly prejudicial to the defendant since they tended to suggest a propensity to engage in violence. The majority opinion argues that these details were relevant because they showed the depth of the defendant’s motive to escape and rebutted his contention that he was not the initial aggressor. Again, however, the majority opinion confuses the relevance of an accusation of a prior crime with relevance of a prior crime. Had the State introduced competent evidence to prove that the defendant had shot Frederick Ferguson, such evidence would have tended to prove that the defendant, having committed the crime, had a strong motive to resist arrest. However, in the absence of such evidence, the details included in the warrant itself could not provide evidence of motive without a showing that the defendant was aware of what the warrant contained. USE OF A NON-IPI INSTRUCTION While the defendant cites as error the use of three instructions, all relating to the defense of justification, I believe that the only instruction which is truly important is People’s instruction No. 18A, which stated: “A person is not justified in the use of force if he is escaping after he has been charged with the commission of a forcible felony.” (Emphasis added.) This instruction varied from the Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction (IPI) which states that “[a] person is not justified in the use of force if he is ((attempting to commit) (committing) (escaping after the commission of)) a forcible felony.” (Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 24 — 25.10 (2d ed. 1981).) The IPI instruction tracks the language of the statute which provides that the defense of justification is not available to a person who “[i]s attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of, a forcible felony.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 7 — 4.) Under Supreme Court Rule 451, non-IPI instructions are not to be used unless they accurately state the law. (See People v. Haywood (1980), 82 Ill. 2d 540 (reversing where correct IPI instruction and incorrect non-IPI instruction were both given).) The difference between the two instructions is significant in this case, precisely because the State did not introduce any evidence that the defendant had committed a prior forcible felony, only that he had been charged with the commission of a prior forcible felony. Thus it is arguable that IPI Criminal 2d No. 24 — 25.10 should not have been given at all, let alone in the incorrect variant actually introduced. The error reinforced the erroneous admission of the arrest warrant. I am unable to understand the majority’s reasoning on this point. At one point the majority appears to be arguing that there was evidence of a prior forcible felony. (“In this case, defendant immediately left the area after the commission of aggravated battery against Frederick Ferguson, a forcible felony for which there was an eventual arrest warrant.” (126 Ill. 2d at 464.)) But, aside from the arrest warrant, a mere accusation, no evidence of a prior forcible felony was actually introduced at trial. At another point, the majority appears to argue that section 7 — 4 only requires proof that the defendant has been charged with a felony because being charged with commission of a crime is an element of escape. (126 Ill. 2d at 465.) This is wrong on two counts. First, section 7 — 4 requires both escape and actual commission of a crime, these requirements being stated in the conjunctive. Second, commission of a crime or a charge that the defendant committed a crime is only an element of felony escape, which is escape “from any penal institution or from the custody of an employee of that institution” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 31 — 6(a)). If the defendant committed escape at all, it was misdemeanor escape, which is defined as an intentional escape from the “lawful custody of a peace officer” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 81 — 6(c)). Because I disagree that this instruction should have been given at all, let alone in an incorrect form, I would not reach the defendant’s argument that IPI Criminal 2d No. 24 — 25.10 should not have been given anyway because it applies only where escape occurs immediately after the commission of a forcible felony. ADMISSION OF EVIDENCE OF TWO ENTIRE PRIOR TAPED STATEMENTS OF PEDRO PALACIOS On this issue I believe the majority opinion misses the point. Under section 115 — 10.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 115 — 10.1), evidence of a prior inconsistent tape-recorded statement may be admitted as substantive evidence under certain conditions. The defendant concedes that certain parts of the prior tape-recorded statements of Pedro Palacios were inconsistent with his trial testimony (e.g., whether the defendant had told him that he threw the gym bag away after his encounter with the officer (prior statement) or before (trial testimony)) but argues that only those inconsistent portions, and not the entire tapes, should be played to the jury. At the trial below, the State argued, and the trial court agreed, that all of the tapes could be played because, in their entirety, they tended to rebut Palacios’ explanation that the inconsistencies were due to nervousness, confusion, and suggestive questioning by the interrogating officer. The trial court placed particular emphasis on the value to the jury of hearing Palacios’ tone of voice. The majority opinion does not accurately state the issue, saying that the defendant “specifically argues that Pedro’s statements did not contain enough inconsistencies to be admitted into evidence as substantive evidence.” (126 Ill. 2d at 456.) The opinion goes on to reject the view that the statute requires some minimal number of inconsistencies in a taped statement before it can be admitted. But this is not what the defendant is arguing; it is his argument that only the inconsistent statements should be played and the consistent portions redacted. The State argues, by analogy with the rule that a witness may be given the opportunity to show the circumstances under which an inconsistent statement was made, that it should be able to use the tape to rebut the witness’ explanation of the circumstances surrounding the inconsistencies. This is a novel question, and one which, so far as I can discover, is one of first impression. The State appears to be arguing for the admission of the inconsistent portions as substantive evidence per the statute, and the consistent portions as reflecting on the witness’ credibility. One problem with this argument is that the jury was not instructed to divide the statements in this fashion; it could have considered the consistent portions also as substantive evidence. Another problem is that the statute itself does not provide for the admission of taped statements to impeach credibility, rebut an attack on credibility, or, as in this case, refute an attempt by the witness to rehabilitate his credibility. I believe that in the absence of precedent, these portions should not have been admitted. Since they may have affected the jury’s consideration of Palacios’ explanation of the inconsistencies, and since Palacios’ testimony was in general not favorable to the defendant, this error was prejudicial. EVIDENCE OF VICTIM IMPACT The general rule is that testimony that the deceased left behind a spouse or children is not admissible at trial because it has no bearing on the guilt or innocence of the accused. (People v. Bernette (1964), 30 Ill. 2d 359.) On the other hand, incidental references to the victim’s family are permissible where relevant for some other purpose. I would agree with the majority that most of the testimony by the victim’s wife was relevant as bearing on the victim’s state of mind on the day in question; particularly in light of the defendant’s claim that the victim was the aggressor and had been drinking. Evidence that the couple was not suffering from marital problems and that the officer was in good health was relevant to rebut the inference that he was drunk and aggressive. On the other hand, testimony that they had been married 12 years and had an unspecified number of children was probably not relevant for this purpose. I would agree these references, standing alone, would not mandate reversal. The reference to the length of the marriage was not objected to. And while the reference to children was objected to, it was certainly “inadvertant, incidental, and innocuous” — volunteered by the witness, and unprompted by any specific question. However, in combination with the other errors enumerated above, the admission of the length of the couple’s marriage deprived the defendant of a fair trial. I therefore believe that the defendant’s conviction and sentence should be reversed, and the cause remanded for a new trial. While I would therefore not reach the issue of whether the defendant’s death sentence was excessive, I agree with the majority that this case is distinguishable from People v. Carlson (1980), 79 Ill. 2d 564, because this defendant, unlike the defendant in Carlson, did not act under the influence of extreme emotional or mental disturbance and had some, although not an extensive, prior criminal history. On the other hand, the majority’s assertions that the defendant’s youth should be discounted because of his “lifestyle” and his prior use of his age as a “method of avoiding the consequences of his criminal activity” are unnecessary. The majority’s opinion illustrates the adage that hard cases make bad law. While any killing is terrible, the death of a police officer in the line of duty naturally evokes strong feelings among all members of the law enforcement community — judges included. Under these circumstances, any tendency to bend the rules of evidence in favor of a conviction, however natural, can and must be resisted. I therefore respectfully dissent. JUSTICE STAMOS joins in this dissent.