Court Opinion

ID: 9542478
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:34:50.733372+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:08:03.161083
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE FREEMAN, specially concurring: In its opinion, the majority holds that the 15-year-old defendant was unlawfully seized during his questioning at the police station in violation of his rights under the fourth amendment. The majority further holds that the handwritten statement made by defendant at the police station was involuntary under the fifth amendment and should therefore be suppressed. I am in agreement with both of these holdings of the majority, as well as with its remand of this cause to the circuit court for a new trial. I write separately, however, because I part company with the majority with respect to its holding earlier in its opinion that defendant’s decision to accompany the Chicago police detectives to the police station was “voluntary and not the result of coercion.” 229 Ill. 2d at 352. The majority holds that defendant was not unlawfully seized when he accompanied Detectives Bautista and Keene from his apartment to the police station for questioning in the murder of Hector Andrade. Although the majority states that it is appropriately modifying the reasonable person standard to inquire whether, under the facts presented, a reasonable juvenile would have believed that his freedom of movement was restricted by the detectives (229 Ill. 2d at 346), it appears that it is nevertheless applying the test of a reasonable adult— rather than that of a reasonable juvenile — in determining that defendant believed that he was free to terminate the encounter with the officers. A seizure occurs within the meaning of the fourth amendment when, “in view of all of the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave.” United States v. Mendenhall, 446 U.S. 544, 554, 64 L. Ed. 2d 497, 509, 100 S. Ct. 1870, 1877 (1980). As the majority notes, this court has previously set forth several pertinent factors that may be considered when determining whether a reasonable person would have felt free to leave the presence of police officers, including: the intent of the officer; the understanding of the defendant; whether the defendant was told he was free to leave or that he was under arrest; whether the defendant would have been restrained if he attempted to leave; the length of the interrogation; and whether Miranda warnings were given. People v. Melock, 149 Ill. 2d 423, 437-39 (1992). In addition, courts have also looked to whether the defendant was told he could refuse to accompany the police; the number of police officers who sought the defendant; whether the defendant was transported to the station in a police car or arranged his own transportation; whether the defendant was placed in an interview room as opposed to a common area; and the method of interrogation. People v. Armstrong, 318 Ill. App. 3d 607, 613 (2000); People v. Williams, 303 Ill. App. 3d 33, 40 (1999); In re J.W., 274 Ill. App. 3d 951, 960 (1995); People v. Vega, 203 Ill. App. 3d 33, 41-42 (1990). When the defendant is a juvenile — as in the matter before us — we modify the reasonable person inquiry to ask what a reasonable juvenile would have believed in defendant’s position. People v. Braggs, 209 Ill. 2d 492, 509-11 (2003). In Braggs, we held that this approach is animated by the firmly established legal principle that, in general, juvenile defendants are more susceptible to police coercion than adults and are likewise more susceptible to the impression that they are, in fact, in custody and unable to leave the presence of the officers. Braggs, 209 Ill. 2d at 508-09. The fact that a defendant is a juvenile has also led courts to consider the defendant’s experience with the criminal justice system and his educational background in determining whether a reasonable juvenile would have felt free to leave. Armstrong, 318 Ill. App. 3d at 615; Vega, 203 Ill. App. 3d at 43. Defendant asserts that he was placed under arrest— and therefore seized within the meaning of the fourth amendment — at the time that he was escorted by Detectives Bautista and Keane from his apartment to the police station, as a reasonable juvenile in his position would have perceived that he was unable to terminate the encounter with the officers and leave their presence. Defendant further contends that this seizure was illegal because, by the very admission of the State, the officers had no probable cause upon which to make an arrest of defendant at that time. I agree. The test to be applied here is one of ordinary common sense: would a reasonable juvenile in defendant’s position — with no prior contact with the legal system— have felt free to simply end the encounter with the officers when they came to his apartment? Would a reasonable juvenile placed within such a situation believe that he — rather than the detectives — was in control of the situation to the extent he was free to leave? The majority holds that he would have, but I cannot agree with this conclusion based upon the following facts. First, defendant was not questioned briefly when he was found in his home by Detectives Bautista and Keane, even though both detectives testified that they considered defendant to be simply a “witness” in the investigation, and even though the record reveals that only defendant and Jose Leal were brought to the police station for questioning while other witnesses in the case were questioned outside of the station. By Bautista’s own testimony he told defendant “that his name had been mentioned by other people that we had talked to; that we needed to — or wanted to ask him some questions. I told him that I would prefer to ask him the questions at the Area 4 detective division, if he would come along with us.” Bautista indicated a strong desire to “have the interview be conducted at Area 4” and admitted that he neither offered defendant the alternative of traveling to the police station by his own means nor told defendant that he could refuse to accompany the officers. The specter of having two detectives arrive at one’s dwelling admittedly intent on transporting that person to a police station in a squad car for questioning without offering an alternate means of transportation or acknowledging that the person need not comply is inherently intimidating to a juvenile who had no previous experience with the police, and who, common sense dictates, may be more susceptible to complying with requests made by authority figures such as police officers. Further, by Bautista’s own testimony, when defendant left his apartment to go with the officers, “Detective Keane led the way down the stairs. The defendant was behind him, and I was behind the defendant.” It is reasonable to believe a juvenile surrounded by officers from front and back would not feel in control and would not believe that he could simply end the encounter and refuse to accompany the detectives. Defendant was then seated alone in the back of the detective’s unmarked squad car, and, according to Bautista, no conversation ensued between the time they left defendant’s apartment and the time they arrived at the police station. Although defendant was not handcuffed, the totality of the circumstances made it unlikely that he would have felt free to leave the officers and return home. It is my view that where a juvenile is involved, a court must be extra-vigilant in examining whether or not that juvenile would reasonably perceive that he or she would feel free to leave the presence of the officers, terminate the encounter and go about his or her business. My review of the facts presented in this case leads to the conclusion that the situation in which defendant found himself was physically and socially intimidating to a minor with no prior experience with the legal system. “[W]hen, as here, a mere child — an easy victim of the law — is before us, special care in scrutinizing the record must be used. Age 15 is a tender and difficult age for a boy of any race. He cannot be judged by the more exacting standards of maturity.” Haley v. Ohio, 332 U.S. 596, 599, 92 L. Ed. 224, 228, 68 S. Ct. 302, 304 (1948). Finally, I observe that our laws presume in a number of instances that minors lack the necessary judgment and maturity to participate in certain activities. For example, the law provides that a minor cannot enter into a contract that can legally be enforced against him (e.g., Severs v. Country Mutual Insurance Co., 89 Ill. 2d 515, 520 (1982)); restricts a minor’s ability to drive (625 ILCS 5/6 — 103 (West 2006)); does not allow a minor to vote (10 ILCS 5/4 — 2 (West 2006)); and prohibits a minor’s consumption of alcoholic beverages (235 ILCS 5/6— 16(a) (i) (West 2006)). This raises the question as to why society is skeptical of a minor’s judgment in certain contexts, and yet is readily willing to believe that a minor with no prior experience with the legal system is capable of making mature, rational and knowing decisions in the course of criminal proceedings, such as deciding to “voluntarily” accompany officers to the police station for questioning in a murder investigation. For the foregoing reasons, I specially concur in the majority opinion. JUSTICE BURKE joins in this special concurrence.