People v. Barfield

543 N.E.2d 812, 187 Ill. App. 3d 190
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided September 13, 1989·No. 1-86-2420·Published·Cited by 28 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE WHITE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant, Maurice Barfield, was found guilty of the murder and the attempted armed robbery of Maurice Davis. Defendant was sentenced to 66 years’ imprisonment for the murder, and 15 years’ imprisonment for the attempted armed robbery, the sentences to run concurrently. Defendant filed a timely appeal and he argues that: (1) he was denied effective representation of counsel; (2) the trial court erred in sentencing him to an extended term of imprisonment for murder; (3) his sentence should be reduced in light of the shorter sentences imposed on his codefendants, Anthony Castile and Lament Lowe; and (4) the trial court failed to order a presentence investigation report as required by statute. For the reasons stated below, we affirm defendant’s conviction and sentence.

A summary of the evidence adduced at trial follows.

Margaret Ann Davis, Maurice Davis’ mother, testified that her son was alive on the afternoon of January 30, 1985. She identified his body at the Cook County morgue on January 31,1985.

Dr. Edmond Donoghue is a forensic pathologist employed by the office of medical examiner of Cook County. On January 31, 1985, he examined the body of Maurice Davis. He observed a gunshot entry wound on the right side of the head, above and in front of the right ear. He also observed a gunshot entry wound on the left side of the head, above and in front of the left ear. He removed skin tissues from both entry wounds and examined the tissues under a microscope. The tissues from the left side entry wound revealed the presence of gunpowder residue. He did not observe any gunpowder residue in the tissues taken from the right side entry wound. Dr. Donoghue testified that in his opinion, Maurice Davis died of multiple gunshot wounds.

On cross-examination, Dr. Donoghue testified that he did not observe any other lacerations, bruises, injuries or evidence of recent trauma on the body.

Ricky Tate testified that, on January 30, 1985, he went to the High Roller Car Wash at 3419 W. Madison in Chicago to apply for a job. Defendant entered the car wash and asked him some questions. Defendant then went to the door of the car wash and talked with Lamont Lowe and Anthony Castile. Maurice Davis was also standing by the door. Defendant then walked over to the stairs in the car wash and talked with Wilson Shepard, the car wash manager. Defendant picked up his belongings by the stairs and returned to the door. Defendant then told Maurice Davis that he was disrespectful. Davis replied that he respected defendant and asked him not to shoot. At this point, Castile was holding Davis by the left leg, Lowe was holding him by the arm, and defendant was holding his shirt. Davis fell down in a sitting position. Defendant stood over Davis with his arms in front of him and pointed toward the ground, and the gun went off. Defendant then stuck his arm in his jacket and ran out of the car wash. Lowe and Castile went through Davis’ pockets and then ran out.

Ricky Tate testified that he drank some beer at approximately 3 p.m. on the afternoon of the incident. He was interviewed by the police after the incident. He told the police what had happened but said that he could not identify the offenders. He did not tell the police that he had seen the offenders nor did he describe the offenders.

On cross-examination, Ricky Tate testified that Janette Conway and Wilson Shepard were upstairs at the time of the shooting. The only other persons on the ground floor of the car wash were defendant, Lowe, Castile, Maurice Davis, and David McDonald. Mr. McDonald was approximately 35 feet away from the area of the shooting.

Janette Conway testified that she was working at the car wash on January 30, 1985. She was talking with Wilson Shepard when defendant, Lowe and Castile entered the car wash. She had known defendant, Lowe and Castile for some time prior to the shooting. Maurice Davis then entered the car wash and attempted to sell some merchandise to Shepard and Conway. Conway then testified that Lowe grabbed Davis by the neck while Castile started going through his pockets. Davis tried to get away, but, instead, fell down. Defendant then pointed a gun at Davis’ head, shot him twice, and ran out through the garage door of the car wash. Lowe and Castile searched Davis’ pockets and then went out through the side door of the car wash.

Later that evening, Janette Conway was interviewed by the police at the car wash. She told the police that defendant shot Davis. She was then taken to the police station where she told the police that defendant’s companions were Lamont Lowe and Dirty Red, Anthony Castile.

Janette Conway testified that she was on the ground floor of the car wash at the time of the shooting. She followed Wilson Shepard upstairs after the shooting. Ricky Tate followed her upstairs.

Wilson Shepard testified that on January 30, 1985, he was talking with Janette Conway when defendant, Anthony Castile, Lamont Lowe and Twat entered the car wash. Like Ms. Conway, he had known defendant, Castile and Lowe for some time prior to the incident. Maurice Davis then entered the car wash and asked of Conway or Shepard whether either of them wanted to buy some merchandise. When they said no, Davis went to the door at the front of the car wash. Mr. Shepard testified that he then heard Lamont Lowe say, “Come on, Maurice,” and Twat say, “I’m going to do that thing and I’m fixing to do it right now.” Twat walked to the front door while reaching for his right back pocket. Defendant staggered over to the shoeshine stand and got his jacket. Defendant then followed Lowe to the front door. Anthony Castile had walked up to the front door several minutes earlier. Mr. Shepard then heard a rumble, turned, heard some shots, ran upstairs, and called the police.

On cross-examination, Mr. Shepard testified that defendant was staggering earlier in the evening. Defendant had either been drinking or smoking. Approximately 10 minutes before the shooting, defendant approached him and said “Bigman, he said, I just don’t know, he said, I’m so__high it feels like I’m floating in the air.” Defendant then went to the juke box and lifted his arms like he was floating in the air.

Police officer Robert Grapenthien testified that on January 30, 1985, he responded to a call that a man had been shot at the car wash. He spoke to Janette Conway at the car wash. She identified defendant as the offender. He then proceeded to defendant’s apartment at 3407 Monroe Street in Chicago. He located defendant in a bedroom in the apartment and placed him under arrest. Officer Tondryk recovered a gun on the floor of the bedroom.

Officer Grapenthien further testified that defendant made the following statement. Defendant said that Maurice Davis had robbed them earlier that week and that they were going to rob him. Defendant had a gun. Castile, Lowe and Antoinne Stensón, known as Twat, grabbed Davis and hit him. Davis started fighting and they knocked him to the ground. Castile, Lowe and Stenson yelled out “shoot him” and defendant fired twice at Davis.

On cross-examination, Officer Grapenthien testified that his police report does not indicate that defendant told him that Davis had robbed him.

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People v. Barfield, 543 N.E.2d 812, 187 Ill. App. 3d 190 (Ill. Ct. App. 1989).

543 N.E.2d 812 (People v. Barfield) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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