People v. Berberena

639 N.E.2d 599, 203 Ill. Dec. 279, 265 Ill. App. 3d 1033, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 1145
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 12, 1994
Docket1-92-3732, 1-92-4365 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 639 N.E.2d 599 (People v. Berberena) 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. Berberena, 639 N.E.2d 599, 203 Ill. Dec. 279, 265 Ill. App. 3d 1033, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 1145 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

JUSTICE COUSINS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a joint trial before separate juries, Daniel Berberena (Berberena) and Luis "Orlando” Santiago (Santiago) were convicted of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1 (West 1992)). The trial court sentenced Berberena to 60 years’ imprisonment and Santiago to 50 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendants argue that: (1) the trial court erroneously admitted a "gang roster” which listed the names of certain Latin King members, including defendants, who were allegedly present at a meeting which preceded the crime; (2) the evidence was insufficient to convict Santiago; (3) the trial court erred in denying defendants’ motion for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence; (4) the trial court erroneously precluded defendants from impeaching a State witness with a police report; (5) the trial court erred in refusing to allow defendants to impeach another State witness with a prior juvenile conviction; and (6) the trial court erroneously allowed the State’s expert witness to testify that although gun residue tests performed on Berberena were inconclusive under Chicago police department standards, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) standards indicated that Berberena had fired a gun the day of the murder.

BACKGROUND

The State presented the testimony of two eyewitnesses to the murder: Johnathan Hinton (Hinton) and Christopher Smallwood (Smallwood). Hinton and Smallwood were members of the street gang known as the "Insane Deuces”; Scott Arnoni (Arnoni), the victim, was a former member of the same gang. Hinton and Smallwood testified that on February 3, 1991, at about 7:15 p.m., they were walking east with Arnoni through the alley behind the 2100 block of West Barry. As the three walked through the alley, they heard a car approaching from behind them, and they separated to allow it to pass. Hinton and Smallwood moved to the left side of the alley, so that they were on the driver’s side of the car, and Arnoni moved to the right so that he was on the passenger side.

The vehicle, a brown Cadillac, approached slowly with its windows open. Hinton and Smallwood looked inside the car and observed the defendants: Santiago was driving and Berberena was sitting in the front passenger seat. Hinton and Smallwood recognized Berberena and Santiago from the neighborhood, and they knew them to be members of the Latin Kings. Smallwood also recognized Antonio Santos as one of the passengers in the back seat. At that point, Berberena yelled "King Love,” extended his hand out the passenger side window, and fired four to five shots at Arnoni.

Hinton and Smallwood fled; Hinton ran through a gangway and Smallwood ran through the alley. The two then met up again and returned to the alley, where they found Arnoni bleeding and throwing up blood. They alerted the neighbors, and an ambulance and police cars arrived shortly thereafter. Arnoni, who was unconscious, was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital, where he died the following morning.

Both Hinton and Smallwood testified that they initially spoke with uniformed officers at the scene of the crime but they did not give them any information other than their names and addresses. Later, they spoke with gang crimes officers whom they knew from the street and with whom they were more comfortable. Hinton and Smallwood told these officers that Berberena was the shooter and Santiago was the driver; they also gave the officers a description of defendants and the brown Cadillac. Later, Hinton and Smallwood went to the police station and examined books of photographs from which they were able to identify Berberena and Santiago. Both Hinton and Smallwood also identified Berberena and Santiago in separate lineups. Finally, in court, Hinton and Smallwood identified Berberena as the shooter and Santiago as the driver.

On cross-examination, Hinton stated that he spoke with Officer Ortiz but denied telling him that he could not recognize the four persons who were in the brown Cadillac. He denied telling Officer Ortiz that the offenders were four unknown Latin males in their 20’s. He stated that he told Officer Ortiz that Berberena was the shooter and Orlando was the driver. Hinton also denied telling Donnie Davis, another member of the Deuces, that he never saw who was in the car on the night of the shooting. On cross-examination, Smallwood stated that he did not recall speaking to Officer Ortiz.

Next, the State called gang crimes detective Edward Wiora, who testified that on the night of February 3, 1991, at about 7:30, he was working with his partner, Joe Rodriguez, when he received a call regarding a shooting which had occurred at 2126 West Barry. At the scene, he spoke with Hinton and Smallwood, who described the offenders as four male Hispanics some of whom they knew: they identified the shooter as Daniel Berberena and the driver as Orlando. Smallwood also identified a light-skinned Puerto Rican in the back, but at the time he did not know his name. Next, the officers, along with Hinton and Smallwood, toured the area in Wiora’s vehicle while searching for the offenders. After their efforts proved unsuccessful, the officers brought Hinton and Smallwood to the station at Belmont and Western to view books of photographs; Hinton and Smallwood independently picked out Berberena and Santiago.

Wiora and three other detectives then left the police station and drove around the area of the Lathrop Homes, looking for Berberena and Santiago. They located Berberena, placed him under arrest, and brought him back to the station where both Hinton and Smallwood identified him as the shooter.

The following morning, Detective Wayne Johnson was assigned to the Arnoni murder investigation and he was told that three other offenders were still being sought. He spent the next few hours looking for the offenders, and when he returned to Area Six he discovered that Orlando Santiago had surrendered with his attorney and was in custody. Santiago’s girlfriend, Marisol Martinez, was also at the police station. Detective Johnson spoke with Martinez and asked her if she knew Santiago’s whereabouts the previous evening, if she knew Berberena, Antonio Santos, Laureano Santiago or of a brown Cadillac belonging to any of those men. After Johnson asked Martinez these questions, she left the room and went to talk to Santiago. Johnson then observed Martinez make several phone calls on different pay phones at Area Six. After Johnson alerted the gang crimes officers that Martinez was acting suspicious, a surveillance team consisting of Detective Wiora and several other gang crimes officers was set up.

Wiora observed Martinez leave Area Six and go across the street to a restaurant where she made two phone calls. About 30 minutes later, Martinez got into a cab, and Wiora and his partners followed the cab in separate cars. Eventually Martinez got out of the cab at Hoyne and Norwood, where she went into a building. Wiora saw the brown Cadillac parked on the street, ran the license plates and was informed that the car belonged to Antonio Santos. Wiora was advised by other officers in the surveillance team that two people were hiding at the rear of the building which Martinez had just entered. Martinez came out of the building, got into Santos’ Cadillac and pulled into the alley.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
639 N.E.2d 599, 203 Ill. Dec. 279, 265 Ill. App. 3d 1033, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 1145, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-berberena-illappct-1994.