People v. Ayoubi

2020 IL App (1st) 180518
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 9, 2021
Docket1-18-0518
StatusPublished

This text of 2020 IL App (1st) 180518 (People v. Ayoubi) 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. Ayoubi, 2020 IL App (1st) 180518 (Ill. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

2020 IL App (1st) 180518

No. 1-18-0518

Opinion filed September 29, 2020.

Second Division

______________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIRST DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County. ) v. ) No. 13 CR 0015301 ) FIRAS AYOUBI, ) The Honorable ) Garritt E. Howard and Jeffrey Defendant-Appellant. ) Warnick, ) Judges Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE LAVIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Fitzgerald Smith and Justice Pucinski concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 Following a jury trial, defendant Firas Ayoubi was found guilty of aggravated criminal

sexual assault predicated on kidnapping and was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment. On

appeal, he challenges eyewitness identifications, the sufficiency of the evidence, the propriety of

the jury instructions, the prosecutor’s closing arguments, and the admission of historical cell site

data. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court’s judgment. No. 1-18-0518

¶2 I. Background

¶3 A. Pretrial Proceedings

¶4 Defendant was indicted with several charges pertaining to an assault against Y.L. shortly

after 8 a.m. on December 4, 2012, at Palm Beach Tan (5653 West Touhy Avenue). One count

alleged that defendant “committed the offense of aggravated criminal sexual assault in that he,

knowingly committed an act of sexual penetration upon [Y.L], to wit: [defendant] placed his

penis in [Y.L.’s] mouth, and the criminal sexual assault was perpetrated during the course of the

commission of any other felony, to wit, kidnapping, by [defendant].” Another count alleged that

defendant committed kidnapping when he “knowingly by force or threat of imminent force

carried [Y.L.] from one place to another with intent secretly to confine [Y.L.] against her will.”

See 720 ILCS 5/10-1(a)(2) (West 2012). Before trial, defendant moved to suppress photo array

and physical lineup identifications, arguing they were unduly suggestive.

¶5 At a hearing on the motion, Sergeant Alexopoulos testified that he met with witness

Joseph Reilley in the parking lot of Palm Beach Tan shortly after the incident. Reilley described

the offender as a dark-haired Caucasian or Hispanic man, with a light complexion, between 20

and 30 years of age. Reilley added that the offender, who was about 5’8” tall, wore layers of

clothing under a dark-colored hoodie and wore a bandana which partially covered his thin face.

Reilley said the man appeared to be dirty. Additionally, Y.L., who had gone to the hospital,

returned to Palm Beach Tan and described the offender as a Hispanic man between 18 years of

age and his early twenties. Y.L. told Sergeant Alexopoulos the offender was very thin and tall,

had dark hair and dark eyes, and wore a green hoodie with white lettering. He also wore black

pants, black cotton gloves, and a black cotton mask, which covered the bottom half of his face.

-2- No. 1-18-0518

¶6 Sergeant Alexopoulos testified that he created a photo array that included defendant as a

suspect. He chose other individuals with short, cropped hairstyles similar to the hairstyle worn in

defendant’s photograph, although neither witness had described the offender’s hairstyle.

Conversely, Sergeant Alexopoulos did not choose fillers based on their weight. The next day, he

read Y.L. a preprinted form stating that she was not required to make an identification from the

photo array and should not assume that the suspect was included. Y.L. signed the form and then

identified defendant from the photo array based on his eyes, eyebrows, “lower hairline” and

nose. Defendant was then arrested.

¶7 On December 6, 2012, Sergeant Alexopoulos, with assistance from other officers,

constructed a physical lineup. When choosing fillers, they tried to match “the physical

description of the defendant” as close as possible. Sergeant Alexopoulos also explained,

however, that because defendant was physically present when the lineup was constructed, the

police officers found fillers who they believed looked like defendant, rather than going off of a

description. The police tried to match defendant’s hairline, height, and weight as he appeared

that day to the best of their ability but did not weigh defendant before the lineup. While

defendant’s driver’s license showed he weighed 136 pounds, the lineup sheet showed three fillers

were heavier and one filler weighed 185 pounds. No one in the lineup, including defendant, had

a short, cropped-style haircut and one man was balding on top. All fillers had dark hair.

¶8 Each line up participant wore the same black shirt bearing the number of his place in the

lineup. Additionally, the police gave defendant clothes and black boots so he and the other lineup

participants would be similarly dressed. No one wore a mask. Furthermore, Sergeant

Alexopoulos orally instructed Y.L. and Reilley that the perpetrator may not be in the lineup, and

the two witnesses viewed the lineup separately before identifying defendant.

-3- No. 1-18-0518

¶9 The trial court denied defendant’s motion to suppress, finding that all participants but one

appeared to be of a similar weight. Additionally, all participants appeared to be of a similar age

and had similar hair and complexions. The photo array was “very fair.” As for the physical

lineup, the men were similarly dressed, and all fillers were good except one. Two were

“remarkably good.” The court found the lineup was fair as a whole and stated, “you can’t get

clones for the defendant.” 1

¶ 10 B. Trial

¶ 11 At trial, Y.L. testified that after opening Palm Beach Tan at 8 a.m. on the day in question,

she went to the back of the salon to apply makeup and fold towels. Upon hearing the door chime,

she saw the back of someone entering the conference room. Because a meeting was scheduled

for 11 a.m., she believed it was the district manager and continued to fold towels. She then saw

defendant quickly approaching with his hand “ready to grab [her].” Despite his face being

covered from the bridge of his nose down, Y.L. could see defendant’s eyes, eyebrows, hairline,

bridge of his nose and some of his ears. He wore a light grass-green hoodie with white lettering;

a pair of black, fleece-like pants; and thin black cotton gloves. His hood was pulled over his

head, and he was approximately 5’10” tall.

¶ 12 Defendant grabbed Y.L. by her hair and forced her into the laundry room at the back of

the salon, shutting the door behind him. With one hand on her hair and one arm across her chest,

he walked her toward the laundry machine. He turned her around so that they were face to face.

Y.L. focused on defendant’s facial features to ascertain his intentions and to remember his

appearance. According to Y.L., she observed slightly large eyes that were “low and droopy” and

ears that were slightly pointy. His hair was dark brown and cut straight across. Additionally, his

1 Although Judge Garritt E. Howard presided over the motion to suppress hearing, Judge Jeffrey Warnick presided over the trial.

-4- No. 1-18-0518

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2020 IL App (1st) 180518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ayoubi-illappct-2021.