People v. Allen

645 N.E.2d 263, 206 Ill. Dec. 258, 268 Ill. App. 3d 279, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 1399
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 10, 1994
Docket1-91-2621
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 645 N.E.2d 263 (People v. Allen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Allen, 645 N.E.2d 263, 206 Ill. Dec. 258, 268 Ill. App. 3d 279, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 1399 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

JUSTICE COUSINS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Robert Allen (Allen) was found guilty of two counts of armed robbery in a jury trial. Allen was sentenced to a term of 40 years, to be served consecutively to a 55-year sentence Allen had already received. Defendant appeals, alleging that (1) he was arrested in violation of his fourth amendment rights where the police conducted a search for weapons without probable cause; (2) the trial court abused its discretion in denying the defendant a continuance to locate an alibi witness; (3) defendant’s rights were violated when his jury read police reports not in evidence, even though defendant refused the judge’s offer of a mistrial; and (4) consecutive sentences were imposed without the necessary statutory finding that the defendant represented a danger to the public.

We affirm.

BACKGROUND

During the afternoon of April 8, 1990, two men robbed Robin’s Drugs. At 5 p.m. on April 18, 1990, Detective Patrick Brosnan observed a car traveling at a high rate of speed. Detective Brosnan followed the vehicle and observed its three occupants, including defendant as a passenger, stop at a liquor store and go inside. Detective Brosnan then ran the license plate through the patrol car’s computer and found that the vehicle had been reported stolen.

When the car’s three occupants returned to their vehicle from the liquor store, Detective Brosnan and his partner, Officer Sellers, approached the vehicle and removed the driver, Tony Anderson (Anderson). Detective Brosnan approached the passenger side of the vehicle and conducted a pat-down search of defendant as he sat in the back seat. As Detective Brosnan finished his pat-down he noticed a black jacket draped over defendant’s feet. Brosnan patted down the jacket and felt a revolver, following which defendant was placed under arrest.

Defendant denied ownership of the jacket and indicated that he did not know who its owner was. Defendant further claimed that he was unaware of the jacket’s presence in the back seat until it was discovered by Detective Brosnan.

On April 27, 1990, Anderson and Allen were identified by Lalit Chheda (Chheda) in a lineup as the perpetrators of the Robin’s Drugs robbery. Allen was charged with two counts of robbery.

Prior to Allen’s trial for the Robin’s Drugs robbery, there was a hearing on Allen’s motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. During the hearing, Allen continued to deny any possessory interest in the jacket or gun. The trial court held it was not an unreasonable intrusion to pat down the occupants of a stolen vehicle. Finding that Allen was in close proximity to the weapon, the court also found probable cause to arrest Allen, and the motion was denied.

At trial, Chheda testified that on April 8, 1990, he was working as manager at Robin’s Drugs when he observed defendant and Anderson enter the store and purchase a bottle of wine. Chheda related that as he put money from the purchase into his cash register, Anderson stepped behind the counter and pointed a gun at him while defendant stood at the door of the store. Anderson removed money from the register as defendant handcuffed Chheda behind his back. Chheda identified the gun found at Allen’s feet as resembling the gun used in the robbery. Chheda testified that on April 27, 1990, Chheda viewed Allen and Anderson in a six-man lineup and identified Allen and Anderson as the men who robbed the store.

Gaysene Henderson, a Robin’s Drugs employee, testified that on April 8, 1990, she observed two black males enter the store and proceed to the front. She confirmed the details of Chheda’s testimony but was unable to identify Allen as one of the robbers. Lamont Hall was a customer in the store. Mr. Hall testified that Allen was a participant in the robbery.

After the State rested, the court took a recess to allow defense counsel to locate an alibi witness. This witness had never been personally served, but a subpoena had been left in his mailbox and later the defense had contacted the witness by phone. Defense counsel had told the court the previous day that he expected the witness to be available that morning. However, after contacting the witness the previous evening, defense counsel had an understanding that the witness would be in court by 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. Upon hearing of the delay, the court completed jury instructions for the case, then took an early and extended lunch break until 2 p.m. to provide defense counsel enough time to procure his witness. Defense counsel was unable to locate or communicate with the witness during this period. Following lunch, defense counsel requested a continuance at 2:25 p.m. because he was still unable to produce his witness. The court denied the request, and the defense rested without presenting any evidence.

After the jury retired to deliberate, it was brought to the court’s attention that a folder containing police reports involving defendant and Anderson had been left on a table in the jury room. The reports had been looked at by some of the jurors.

The trial judge suggested that a mistrial be declared. Defense counsel requested the jurors be polled first. The court granted the request, and following the polling defense counsel requested time to confer with his client to consider the option of keeping the jury. After conferring with defendant, defense counsel indicated he would not request a mistrial; rather, defendant wished to keep the current jury members upon the condition that they be admonished by the court to consider only the evidence presented at trial.

After the trial judge’s admonishment, the jury continued deliberations and then returned verdicts finding defendant guilty of both counts of armed robbery. Defendant was sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment to be served consecutively to a previous 55-year sentence. Defendant now appeals.

OPINION

I

A trial court’s determination on a motion to suppress will not be overturned unless it is manifestly erroneous. (People v. Galvin (1989), 127 Ill. 2d 153, 162, 535 N.E.2d 837.) In the instant case, the trial court correctly found that the pat-down search of defendant is allowed under the fourth amendment as a reasonable precaution necessary for the protection of police officers. The instant case is very similar to People v. Santoro (1989), 192 Ill. App. 3d 895, 549 N.E.2d 708, and People v. Williams (1975), 28 Ill. App. 3d 189, 328 N.E.2d 89. Santoro and Williams both allowed a pat-down of car passengers under circumstances inherently more dangerous than a mere traffic stop. In Santoro, the police had a reasonable suspicion the car was stolen, and a possible weapon (later determined to be a toy gun) was seen under the passenger’s seat. In Williams, the police suspected the vehicle was stolen, and a flask of white powder was found upon a pat-down of the driver.

In the instant case, as in Williams, the trial court was not manifestly erroneous in finding that it was necessary to pat down passengers for the officer’s safety once probable cause existed to arrest the driver of the vehicle. Williams and Santoro stated the following:

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Bluebook (online)
645 N.E.2d 263, 206 Ill. Dec. 258, 268 Ill. App. 3d 279, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 1399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-allen-illappct-1994.