People v. Bates

578 N.E.2d 240, 218 Ill. App. 3d 288, 161 Ill. Dec. 113, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1343
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 7, 1991
Docket1-88-2377
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 578 N.E.2d 240 (People v. Bates) 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. Bates, 578 N.E.2d 240, 218 Ill. App. 3d 288, 161 Ill. Dec. 113, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1343 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE RIZZI

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant David Bates and his codefendant Gregory Banks were charged with the murder and armed robbery of Leon Barkan, and the attempted murder and aggravated battery of Jeltro Givens. Both defendants filed pretrial motions to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The court denied both defendants’ motions. Banks was tried by a jury and found guilty of the murder and armed robbery of Barkan and the aggravated battery of Givens. The court sentenced him to concurrent terms of 50 years on the murder conviction, 30 years on the armed robbery conviction, and 10 years on the aggravated battery conviction. Banks’ conviction was subsequently reversed on appeal and the cause remanded for a new trial because this court found that his confession was procured through police brutality and racial intimidation. (People v. Banks (1989), 192 Ill. App. 3d 986, 549 N.E.2d 700.) In a contemporaneous, but separate, bench trial, the court found Bates guilty of the murder and armed robbery of Leon Barkan and the attempted murder and aggravated battery of Jeltro Givens. He was subsequently sentenced to serve concurrent sentences of 20 years on the murder charge, 10 years on the attempted murder charge and 10 years on the armed robbery charge. On appeal, defendant Bates argues that the trial court erred in denying his motions to quash arrest and suppress statements. We remand with directions.

At the hearing on defendant’s motions, the following evidence was presented. Chicago police detective Edmund Leracz testified that on October 29, 1983, he received an assignment from Sergeant John Byrne to go to 9614 South Wentworth to arrest defendant. Leracz did not review the police reports in the case and was not familiar with the police investigation. At approximately 8 a.m. that morning, Chicago police detectives Leracz, Bird and Lacy went to defendant’s home. When the officers arrived they knocked, asked for defendant and were admitted by a woman and directed to the basement of the home, where defendant was sleeping. Leracz testified that he told defendant that he was under arrest and that he would have to come with them. After defendant was dressed, the officers took him to Area Two police headquarters. Leracz did not read defendant his rights.

Detective Leonard Bajenski testified that he interviewed defendant at approximately 11 a.m. on October 29, 1983. While defendant was handcuffed to a ring on the wall of the detention cell, Bajenski read him his Miranda rights and questioned him for approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Bajenski did not interview defendant again during his detention, and he testified that he did not strike or observe any other officer strike defendant.

Detectives Bryne and Grunhard testified that they did not participate in the interrogation of defendant. In fact, according to the police testimony, no one talked with defendant again until 12 a.m. the following day. Detective Robert Dwyer testified that at approximately 12:15 a.m. on October 30, 1983, he spoke with defendant in an interview room at Area Two headquarters. He testified that he read defendant his Miranda rights and that defendant indicated that he understood them. According to Dwyer, the conversation lasted approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Later, at around 2:15 a.m., Dwyer interviewed defendant along with Assistant State’s Attorney Bas-tounes. Bastounes read defendant his Miranda rights again, and defendant gave a. court-reported statement to Bastounes and Dwyer at approximately 3:40 a.m. Dwyer testified he never struck or observed anyone else strike, threaten or make promises to defendant. Assistant State’s Attorney Bastounes’ testimony essentially corroborated Dwyer’s.

Defendant, age 19 at the time of his arrest, testified that on the morning of his arrest he was asleep in his bedroom, located in the basement of his family’s home, when police officers entered his room, woke him up and handcuffed him. When they reached police headquarters, defendant was placed in a small interrogation room where he was handcuffed to the wall or with his hands behind his back while interrogated on and off over a period of two days. Defendant testified that during this time period the police failed to advise him of his constitutional rights. He further testified that he was repeatedly interrogated by Sergeant Byrne and Detective Grunhard. Defendant testified that these two police officers interrogated and tortured him four or five separate times during the day of October 29. He testified that they punched him in the stomach with closed fists and slapped him in the face. Defendant testified that this treatment continued until he hollered or pretended to lose consciousness.

Defendant testified that Bryne and Grunhard also placed a plastic bag over his head and pulled it until the air was cut off and he nearly passed out. He testified that at one point, one officer punched him in the stomach while the other held a bag over his head. He further testified that the officers told him, “[t]hat’s okay, we’ll take care of you on the graveyard shift. We’re gonna take you outside in the forest or somewhere over there where we can do what we want to. You’ll say something then.” Defendant testified that following another torture session involving the plastic bag and punches to his stomach, another officer told him that if he cooperated, he would get probation or be let loose. He further testified that the officers notified him that if he did not give a statement, Byrne and Grunhard were going to take him out to the forest. Defendant then agreed to give a statement and was taken to another room where he made a court-reported admission.

Clarence Burch testified that on October 30, 1983, he was defendant’s attorney. He testified that on that date, he went to Area Two headquarters to see defendant. Defendant told Burch that he gave the police a statement because the police had put a plastic bag over his head and tightened it around his neck. According to Mr. Burch, defendant showed him a small abrasion on his neck and told him that he had contusions on his chest and stomach.

A stipulation was entered that Lee Holmes would testify that on September 10, 1982, he was interrogated at Area Two by four detectives, including Bryne and Dignan. Mr. Holmes would testify that he was beaten with a flashlight and tortured with a plastic bag held over his head. Mr. Holmes received medical treatment for his injuries and filed a complaint with the Office of Professional Standards against Byrne and Dignan. Following the hearing, the court denied defendant’s motions to quash arrest and suppress statements. Defendant’s statement was subsequently admitted into evidence at trial.

On appeal, defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, so we will not set out the underlying facts of this case. Following the court’s finding of guilt and sentence, this appeal followed.

Defendant’s sole contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash arrest and suppress statements. Defendant first argues that the trial court should have granted his motion to quash arrest because the police did not have probable cause to arrest him.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
578 N.E.2d 240, 218 Ill. App. 3d 288, 161 Ill. Dec. 113, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1343, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bates-illappct-1991.