People v. Armstrong

614 N.E.2d 427, 244 Ill. App. 3d 545, 185 Ill. Dec. 293, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 511
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 13, 1993
Docket1-90-1924
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 614 N.E.2d 427 (People v. Armstrong) 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. Armstrong, 614 N.E.2d 427, 244 Ill. App. 3d 545, 185 Ill. Dec. 293, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 511 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

JUSTICE DiVITO

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant Roy Armstrong was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 25 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections. On appeal, defendant contends that (1) he was denied effective assistance of counsel; (2) his conviction should be reduced to second degree murder; and (3) he was denied a fair trial as a result of various instances of prosecutorial misconduct.

During trial, the following evidence was presented. On May 4, 1989, at approximately 10:30 a.m., the body of James Moore was found lying in the gangway of a coach house in defendant’s backyard at 6807 South Harper in Chicago. The Cook County medical examiner determined that the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest, which separated his ribs and pierced his heart and lung. A small stab wound on Moore’s back was also noted, but the medical examiner was unable to determine if that wound was caused by a knife or a sharp piece of glass.

Angelia Dunn, defendant’s cousin who lived in the apartment above defendant at 6807 South Harper, was sleeping on the morning of May 4, 1989, when she was awakened at approximately 10:30 a.m. by defendant’s voice coming from the backyard. She heard defendant say, “You gone [sic] quit messing with me. Quit messing with me, motherfucker. Quit it, leave me alone.” Dunn looked out her bedroom window and saw defendant and Moore facing each other in the backyard. She noticed that Moore was swinging a stick approximately three feet long at defendant, but was unable to see if defendant was holding anything. Moore then fell backwards down the stairs to the coach house, and defendant walked toward the front gate.

Dunn then left her apartment and ran downstairs, where she met defendant just outside his apartment. The door was already open, and he was on his way inside. She noticed that defendant’s clothes were bloody. The two went inside the apartment, where defendant changed clothes. While she was in the apartment, she noticed a bloody knife in the kitchen sink. Later that morning, defendant called her and told her that he was sorry that she had to see what happened, “[b]ut, I ke[pt] telling him to leave me alone. *** Maybe now he’ll just leave me alone.” Dunn informed defendant that she learned from the paramedics that Moore was dead.

At approximately 11:45 that morning, Chicago police detectives James Cassidy and Edward Schmidt arrived at the scene to investigate the death as a possible homicide. In their efforts to find witnesses to the stabbing and to acquire any information that would be helpful in the investigation, they tried to interview as many people as possible. Cassidy attempted to speak with defendant at that time, but was unable to do so because no one was home.

That afternoon, Detectives George Tracy and George Holmes took over the investigation and, at about 9 p.m., went to 6807 South Harper in order to “canvass the building to locate any witnesses.” After they rang the bell, Hershey Gilbert, defendant’s roommate, came down from the second-floor apartment and opened the outside door to the building. They told Gilbert why they were there and said that they would be up to speak with him in a few minutes, after they spoke to other residents in the building. After stopping at two other apartments, Tracy and Holmes arrived at defendant’s door on the second floor, where they heard a conversation on the other side of the door. They knocked on the door, and Gilbert opened it and let them in. The three men stood near the front door in the hallway. When the detectives asked if defendant was home, Gilbert said that he was not and that he had not seen him since early that morning. Tracy then noticed some movement from behind the bathroom door, and he walked over to the bathroom and looked inside, where he saw defendant standing fully clothed in an empty bathtub.

Defendant and Tracy walked to the kitchen, where Gilbert and Holmes were waiting. Tracy informed defendant that he was investigating the stabbing and defendant replied that he had heard about it. Holmes advised defendant of his Miranda rights and then asked for permission to look around the apartment. Defendant “readily agreed” and signed a consent to search form. Tracy and defendant then waited in the living room while Holmes searched the kitchen, where he found a bloody pair of shoes under the sink. When the detectives showed the shoes to defendant, he told them that he had a fight with Moore in the backyard and stabbed him with a stick. Defendant then took the detectives outside to show them what had happened.

In the backyard, defendant explained that Moore followed him from the alley through the back gate, picked up a rock, and threw it at him from approximately 10 feet away. Defendant told them that the rock struck him in the forehead, but no marks, scratches, or swelling was noticeable at that time. Defendant explained that he picked up a stick and stuck Moore in the ribs, breaking the stick to a point. After struggling for a few more seconds, Moore backed up and defendant “somehow” stabbed Moore with the stick. Defendant said that he then went upstairs and changed clothes.

Defendant then told the detectives that his bloody pants were in the kitchen garbage, and the three men went upstairs to retrieve them. The detectives then took defendant to the police station, where he was placed in an interview room. At 10:30 p.m., Holmes and Tracy entered the room, readvised him of his rights, and asked if he would answer a few questions. Defendant responded that he would. Defendant stated that he had known Moore for several years, but that they were merely acquaintances. Early that morning, he went to visit a friend at the New Grace Hotel at 67th and Stony Island. As he entered the building, he ran into Moore, who asked for a cigarette. When defendant said that he had none, Moore responded that he would get one from defendant’s sister. Defendant explained to him, however, that he had no sister.

A few minutes later, as defendant left his friend’s room, he saw Moore standing in the hallway, holding a wooden board in his hands like a baseball bat. Moore then struck defendant in the neck with his hand. As defendant left the hotel, Moore screamed that he would crack the board over defendant’s head. Defendant then went home, had a snack, and put some beer, liquor, and a pipe in a bag and returned to the New Grace Hotel in order to learn why Moore was angry. After dropping off the beer and liquor with a friend at the hotel, defendant began walking toward 69th and Stony Island with the pipe, but then threw it into an abandoned building. At 69th and Stony Island, defendant encountered his friend Butch, and the two men went into a liquor store on the corner. As they were leaving the store, Moore approached defendant and asked if he was looking for him. Defendant responded that he was and then struck Moore in the face, forcing him to the ground. While Moore was on the ground, defendant kicked him in the ribs. Defendant then walked through the alley to his backyard. Moore followed him into the backyard, where they began fighting. Defendant then stabbed Moore with a stick.

Tracy and Holmes then left the interview room and spoke with defendant’s mother, his cousin Angelia Dunn, and his cousin’s boyfriend. The detectives then resumed their questioning of defendant, asking him if he stabbed Moore with a knife.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Brannon
2021 IL App (1st) 180066-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2021)
People v. Clinton
2016 IL App (3d) 130737 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
People v. Rhonda F.
682 N.E.2d 225 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1997)
People v. Barlow
654 N.E.2d 223 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1995)
People v. Murdock
632 N.E.2d 313 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Luke
625 N.E.2d 352 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
People v. Washington
628 N.E.2d 351 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
614 N.E.2d 427, 244 Ill. App. 3d 545, 185 Ill. Dec. 293, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 511, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-armstrong-illappct-1993.