Court Opinion

ID: 9915878
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-08 21:03:13.611822+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:21:21.416888
License: Public Domain

2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U
                                         No. 2-23-0366
                                   Order filed January 8, 2024

      NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23(b) and is not precedent
      except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
______________________________________________________________________________

                                              IN THE

                              APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

                              SECOND DISTRICT
______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE                ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
OF ILLINOIS,                           ) of Kane County.
                                       )
      Plaintiff-Appellee,              )
                                       )
v.                                     ) No. 23-CF-2071
                                       )
KEVIN HILTON,                          ) Honorable
                                       ) Salvatore LoPiccolo Jr.,
      Defendant-Appellant.             ) Judge, Presiding.
______________________________________________________________________________

       JUSTICE SCHOSTOK delivered the judgment of the court.
       Justices Hutchinson and Kennedy concurred in the judgment.

                                              ORDER

¶1     Held: The trial court did not abuse its discretion in granting the State’s petition for pretrial
             detention.

¶2     On September 27, 2023, the defendant, Kevin Hilton, was charged with three counts of

stalking (720 ILCS 5/12-7.3(a)(1), 7.3(a)(2), 7.3(a-3)(1) (West 2022)), a felony, and two counts of

harassment by telephone (id. § 26.5-2(a)(2)). The circuit court of Kane County granted the State’s

verified petition to deny the defendant’s pretrial release pursuant to section 110-6.1 of the Code of

Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (725 ILCS 5/110-6.1 (West 2022)). The defendant appeals.

We affirm.
2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

¶3                                       I. BACKGROUND

¶4     This appeal is brought pursuant to Public Act 101-652, § 10-255 (eff. Jan. 1, 2023),

commonly known as the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act (Act). 1

See Pub. Act 102-1104, § 70 (eff. Jan. 1, 2023) (amending various provisions of the Act); Rowe v.

Raoul, 2023 IL 129248, ¶ 52 (lifting stay and setting effective date of Act as September 18, 2023).

The Act abolished traditional monetary bail in favor of pretrial release on personal recognizance

or with conditions of release. 725 ILCS 5/110-1.5, 110-2(a) (West 2022).

¶5     In Illinois, all persons charged with an offense are eligible for pretrial release. Id. §§ 110-

2(a), 110-6.1(e). Pretrial release is governed by article 110 of the Code as amended by the Act.

Id. § 110-1 et seq. Under the Code, as amended, a defendant’s pretrial release may only be denied

in certain statutorily limited situations. Id. §§ 110-2(a), 110-6.1(e).

¶6     Upon filing a verified petition requesting denial of pretrial release, the State has the burden

to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that: (1) the proof is evident or the presumption great

that the defendant has committed a qualifying offense (id. § 110-6.1(e)(1)); (2) the defendant’s

pretrial release poses a real and present threat to the safety of any person or persons or the

community (id. § 110-6.1(e)(2)); and (3) no condition or combination of conditions can mitigate

the real and present threat to the safety of any person or the community or prevent the defendant’s

willful flight from prosecution (id. § 110-6.1(e)(3)).

       1
           The Act has been referred to as the “SAFE-T Act” or the “Pretrial Fairness Act.” Neither

of those names is official, as neither appears in the Illinois Compiled Statute or the public act.

Rowe v. Raoul, 2023 IL 129248, ¶ 4 n.1.

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2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

¶7     In his appeal, the defendant argues that the State did not show, by clear and convincing

evidence, that any of these three requirements was met. “Evidence is clear and convincing if it

leaves no reasonable doubt in the mind of the trier of fact as to the truth of the proposition in

question.” Chaudhary v. Department of Human Services, 2023 IL 127712, ¶ 74.

¶8     The defendant first argues that the State did not present clear and convincing evidence that

he committed the charged offenses. At the detention hearing, the State argued that pretrial

detention was warranted because there were three similar cases pending against the defendant that

involved stalking and harassment of the same victim. Despite no contact orders in the other cases,

the defendant continued to contact the victim and the communications were becoming more

alarming. The State argued that there were no conditions that could mitigate the threat the

defendant posed to someone’s safety.

¶9     In support, the State presented a police department synopsis sheet signed by the police

officer who authored it. The report indicated that the victim had received threatening messages

from the defendant. The messages were sent to her cell phone number, but she initially did not

receive the messages because she had the defendant’s number blocked. However, the messages

were forwarded to an “imessage” application on her computer. On August 21, 2023, she turned

on her computer for the first time in a long time, saw the messages, and contacted the police. On

August 26, 2023, the police officer went to the victim’s home and viewed all the messages. There

were a “massive amount of text messages” dating back to July 29, 2023. The officer received a

search warrant to trace the source of the messages sent to the victim.

¶ 10   The report further indicated that, after the officer started his investigation on August 26,

the defendant continued to send messages to the victim threatening to kill her and her family and

stating that he would hire someone to shoot her in the head. The defendant also sent several photos

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2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

of himself to the victim, which the officer viewed. Although the results of the search warrant were

still pending, the officer believed there was clear and convincing evidence the subject messages

were coming from the defendant. Specifically, the messages had the same modus operandi as

other messages that resulted in previous arrests of the defendant. The officer noted that the

defendant had been arrested on three previous dates and had three cases pending for stalking and

harassment of the same victim as in the present case. Despite his previous arrests, the defendant

continued to stalk the victim and was threatening to kill the victim and her family. The threatening

nature of the defendant’s messages had been escalating over time. Further, despite prior no contact

orders, the defendant continued to harass and stalk the victim, thus demonstrating that he had no

regard for conditions of release.

¶ 11    In this case, the qualifying offense is stalking (725 ILCS 5/110-6.1(a)(2) (West 2022)). To

ultimately prove the offense of stalking under section 12-7.3(a) at trial, the State must show that

the defendant “knowingly engage[d] in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, and he or

she [knew] or should [have known] that this course of conduct would cause a reasonable person

to: (1) fear for his or her safety or the safety of a third person; or (2) suffer *** emotional distress.”

720 ILCS 5/12-7.3(a)(1), 7.3(a)(2) (West 2022). To prove stalking under section 12-7.3(a-3)(1),

the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant “knowingly and without lawful

justification, on at least 2 separate occasions” followed or placed another person “under

surveillance” and “at any time transmit[ted] a threat of immediate or future bodily harm, sexual

assault, confinement or restraint and the threat is directed towards that person.” 720 ILCS 5/12-

7.3(a-3)(1) (West 2022). Based on the police report synopsis, that the defendant sent messages

threatening to kill the victim and her family and hire someone to shoot her in the head, the State

presented clear and convincing evidence that that the defendant committed the charged qualifying

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2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

offenses. The defendant argues that the synopsis alone was insufficient to establish clear and

convincing evidence. This argument is without merit. Section 110-6.1(f)(2) of the Code (725

ILCS 5/110-6.1(f)(2) (West 2022)) permits the parties to a detention hearing to present evidence

by way of proffer based on reliable information. The police synopsis detailed an investigation

where the officer spoke with the victim and viewed the communications. The synopsis also

detailed the defendant’s previous cases involving the same victim. The trial court could thus

reasonably conclude that the State presented clear and convincing evidence.

¶ 12    The defendant next argues that the State failed to meet its burden of proving by clear and

convincing evidence that he poses a real and present threat to the safety of the victim. He argues

that the evidence only shows that he sent text messages and there was no evidence of intent to

actually carry out his threats or do anything other than send text messages.              In making a

determination of a defendant’s dangerousness, a trial court may consider, among other things:

(1) the nature and circumstances of any charged offense, including whether it is a crime of violence

or a sex crime, or involved a weapon; (2) the defendant’s characteristics and history, including any

criminal history indicative of violent, abusive, or assaultive behavior, and any psychological

history indicative of a violent, abusive, or assaultive nature, and the lack of any such history; (3) the

identity of the person believed to be at risk from the defendant and the nature of the threat;

(4) statements by the defendant and the circumstances of such statements; (5) the age and physical

condition of the defendant; (6) the age and physical condition of any victim or complaining

witness; (7) the defendant’s access to any weapon; (8) whether the defendant was on probation,

parole, or the like at the time of the charged offense or any other arrest or offense; and (9) any

other factors that have a reasonable bearing on the defendant’s propensity for violent, abusive, or

assaultive behavior, or the lack of such behavior. Id. § 110-6.1(g).

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2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

¶ 13   Factual findings, such as a trial court’s determination that a defendant posed a real and

present threat to the safety of any person, are generally reviewed deferentially and will not be

reversed unless they are against the manifest weight of the evidence. 2 See Indeck Energy Services,

Inc. v. DePodesta, 2021 IL 125733, ¶ 56. A finding is not against the manifest weight of the

evidence unless the “opposite conclusion is clearly evident.” Id.

¶ 14   In the present case, the opposite conclusion is not clearly evident. The evidence provided

by the State indicated that there were three other pending cases involving the defendant and the

same victim. Despite previous no contact orders, the defendant continued to send communications

to the victim. The defendant’s most recent communications included a threat to kill the victim and

her family. Based on this evidence, the trial court’s determination that the defendant posed a real

and present threat to someone’s safety was not against the manifest weight of the evidence.

¶ 15   The defendant’s final argument on appeal is that the State failed to prove that no conditions

or combination of conditions could have mitigated the risk of further violence and the trial court

failed to adequately consider alternatives to pretrial detention. Under section 110-6.1(g)(3) of the

Code, an order for pretrial detention must be based on, among other things, clear and convincing

evidence that “no condition or combination of conditions” of pretrial release can mitigate the real

and present threat to safety posed by the defendant. Id. § 110-6.1(g). If the trial court finds that

the State proved a valid threat to someone’s safety or the community’s safety, it must then

       2
           Although there may be instances in which a trial court’s factual findings are reviewed de

novo because of the nature of the evidence presented (see Addison Insurance Co. v. Fay, 232 Ill.

2d 446, 453 (2009); but see Evans v. Cook County State’s Attorney, 2021 IL 125513, ¶ 38), neither

party contends that is the case here.

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2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

determine what pretrial release conditions, “if any, will reasonably ensure the appearance of a

defendant as required or the safety of any other person or the community ***.” Id. § 110-5(a). In

making this determination, the trial court should consider: (1) the nature and circumstances of the

offense charged; (2) the weight of the evidence against the defendant; (3) the history and

characteristics of the defendant; (4) the nature and seriousness of the specific, real, and present

threat to any person that would be posed by the defendant’s release; and (5) the risk that the

defendant will obstruct or attempt to obstruct the criminal justice process. Id. No single factor is

dispositive. Id. As with the finding of dangerousness, we review the trial court’s finding,

regarding whether the imposition of conditions on a defendant’s pretrial release would mitigate

the safety risk posed by the defendant, under the manifest weight of the evidence standard. Indeck

Energy Services, 2021 IL 125733, ¶ 56.

¶ 16   Here, the trial court expressly considered the nature of the charged offenses, the

defendant’s pending cases also involving the same victim, and that prior conditions had been

imposed on the defendant but he continued to send the victim emotionally disturbing and

threatening communications. The defendant argues that the trial court erred because, at the

detention hearing, the defendant stated that he had plans to begin inpatient medical treatment to

address his mental health issues and the trial court could have imposed such a condition as an

alternative to detention. However, even in light of this proffer, we cannot conclude, based on the

continued and escalating harassment of the victim, that the trial court’s determination that no

pretrial release conditions could adequately protect the victim’s safety was against the manifest

weight of the evidence. Id.

¶ 17   For all of these reasons, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by granting the State’s

motion for pretrial detention. The judgment of the circuit court of Kane County is affirmed.

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2024 IL App (2d) 230366-U

¶ 18   Affirmed.

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