Court Opinion

ID: 9859621
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 22:12:05.097065+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T10:58:07.228271
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE BURKE, specially concurring: I concur in affirming defendant’s conviction and sentence. I write separately to comment on the majority’s statement of the applicable standard of review regarding the motion to suppress defendant’s statements. After substantial discussion, the majority, citing Addison Insurance Co. v. Fay, 232 Ill. 2d 446 (2009), ultimately concludes that the trial court’s factual findings are subject to de novo review because defendant’s interrogation was videotaped, the trial court viewed the videotape during the hearing, and the same videotape was available for appellate review. In Addison, testimony was submitted by admitting discovery depositions into evidence. The court held that a deferential standard of review was not warranted, because the trial court heard no live testimony and based its factual determinations on the exact record that was presented to the reviewing court. Addison, 232 Ill. 2d at 453. As the majority notes, the trial court in the present case reviewed the videotape. However, unlike in Addison, the trial court also heard testimony from several witnesses concerning the interrogation depicted on the tape, as well as evidence of the occurrences that took place before and after that interrogation. The trial court was free to base its factual findings on the totality of the evidence presented. And, as always, this court is free to review the tape and determine that the trial court’s factual findings are against the manifest weight of the evidence. In People v. Calhoun, 382 Ill. App. 3d 1140, 1145 (2008), the trial court found that the State had failed to prove that the defendant affirmatively acknowledged that he understood his Miranda warnings. During the hearing on the motion to suppress the defendant’s statements, the trial court heard the testimony of the detectives who interviewed the defendant, and it indicated that it also viewed the DVD recording of the defendant’s interview sometime before the hearing. On review, the appellate court viewed the same DVD as the trial court and applied a deferential standard of review to determine whether the trial court’s finding that there was no indication that the defendant understood his Miranda warnings was against the manifest weight of the evidence. Calhoun, 382 Ill. App. 3d at 1145. The present case is factually similar to Calhoun, and I would apply the same standard of review. When a trial court bases its factual determinations on both substantive testimony and documentary evidence, a deferential standard of review is appropriate. See Comedy Cottage, Inc. v. Berk, 145 Ill. App. 3d 355, 359 (1986) (de novo review inappropriate where the trial court not only reviewed transcripts but also heard testimony by the parties prior to making its findings).