Court Opinion

ID: 9745260
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:44:08.993756+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:58.240936
License: Public Domain

PRESIDING JUSTICE ROMITI, dissenting: Because I believe that the prosecution’s introduction and use of a codefendant’s statement deprived defendant of a fair trial I would reverse defendant’s conviction and remand for a new trial. As the majority correctly notes, in Bruton v. United States (1968), 391 U.S. 123, 20 L. Ed. 2d 476, 88 S. Ct. 1620, it was held that the use of a codefendant’s out-of-court statements implicating the defendant violated the defendant’s right of cross-examination as guaranteed by the confrontation clause of the sixth amendment. The Bruton court held that this was reversible error despite what they described as “clear” instructions to the jury to disregard the statements insofar as the defendant was concerned. The court held that despite these instructions there was a substantial risk that the jury utilized these statements in determining the defendant’s guilt, stating that: “*** y^ere are some contexts in which the risk that the jury will not, or cannot, follow instructions is so great, and the consequences of failure so vital to the defendant, that the practical and human limitations of the jury system cannot be ignored. [Citations.] Such a context is presented here, where the powerfully incriminating extrajudicial statements of a codefendant, who stands accused side-by-side with the defendant, are deliberately spread before the jury in a joint trial.” Bruton v. United States (1968), 391 U.S. 123, 135-36, 20 L. Ed. 2d 476, 485, 88 S. Ct. 1620, 1627-28. The majority contends, however, that under Nelson v. O’Neil (1971), 402 U.S. 622, 29 L. Ed. 2d 222, 91 S. Ct. 1723, no reversible error occurred because the codefendant took the stand. The Nelson court construed Bruton as holding that the right of confrontation is violated by the introduction of a codefendant’s inculpatory hearsay statement only where the codefendant is unavailable at trial for full and effective cross-examination. In Nelson the codefendant testified at trial, denying having made the statements attributed to him and testifying at length and favorably to the defendant. Indeed, the codefendant’s testimony substantially corroborated the defendant’s exculpatory account. In this cause the codefendant, Booker Haynie, did take the stand and either denied making or denied any recollection of making the inculpatory statements attributed to him. However his account of the occurrence effectively precluded any meaningful cross-examination. He professed to have been in a drunken stupor throughout most of the occurrence. The few details he did recall were inculpatory for the defendant: thus he named defendant as being in the car that was linked to the offenses at issue. Moreover the witness, by the trial court’s own evaluation, was apparently intoxicated during his testimony. Under these circumstances it cannot reasonably be said that the prejudice arising from the introduction of the statement was alleviated by the opportunity to cross-examine an inebriated witness who claimed not to recall most of the occurrences at issue. I would also note that contrary to the majority’s assertion the defendant, in seeking a severance prior to trial, did much more than merely state the codefendants were hostile or merely speculate that statements made by Haynie might prejudice him. The trial court was informed that at the preliminary hearing it had been disclosed that both codefendants made statements to the police indicating that defendant had shot at Officer Zielke and had committed the armed robbery. The prosecution would only represent to the court that they would not use those statements in their case-in-chief yet despite this the court held that no severance was required. In opening argument to the jury Haynie’s lawyer stated that Haynie would testify that he was drunk and asleep in the back seat of the car and only awoke and ran with the defendants when the car came to a screeching halt and he was told to run. On the basis of these representations the defendant renewed his motion for a severance (after the testimony of the first State witness). Defendant’s counsel informed the court that the prosecution would use the statements of Haynie in rebuttal and the prosecution in response specifically refused to rule out this possibility. The court still refused to grant the severance motion. As we stated in People v. Clark (1959), 17 Ill. 2d 486, 490, 162 N.E.2d 413, 416: “*** where the circumstances are such that a defendant will be deprived of a fair trial if jointly tried, a severance must be granted. [Citations.] *** [W]e have repeatedly held that when a motion for separate trial is based on the fact that a codefendant’s confession implicates the moving defendant, a severance should be granted unless the prosecution declares that the admissions or confessions will not be offered in evidence at time of trial, or if offered, that there will be eliminated therefrom any and all reference to the party applying for a severance.” In this cause no severance was granted. Nor was the prosecution required to forswear all use of the statements or at least all references to the defendant. The result was that the statements were introduced to the prejudice of the defendant in a case where the prosecution otherwise would have had to rely almost exclusively on an identification of the defendant made by a police officer who had viewed the defendant only briefly, at night and while under fire. And although the statements were introduced under the guise of impeachment, their devastating impact on the defendant and the extensive manner in which the prosecution utilized them both in cross-examination of Haynie and on rebuttal indicates that the prosecution was improperly attempting to make substantive use of this evidence against the defendant. (People v. Rudolph (1977), 50 Ill. App. 3d 559, 365 N.E.2d 930.) Under these circumstances I would also hold that the denial of defendant’s severance motion was an abuse of discretion and constituted reversible error.