People v. Blakney

853 N.E.2d 885, 366 Ill. App. 3d 925, 304 Ill. Dec. 808, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 664
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 2, 2006·No. 1-04-3669·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE ERICKSON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant Dontell Blakney was convicted of multiple counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a public housing agency and possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. Defendant appeals, contending that (1) his conviction should be reduced to simple possession because the evidence at trial was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to deliver the controlled substance, (2) his conviction should be reversed and remanded because the record does not reflect that he knowingly and intelligently waived his right of confrontation before his attorney entered into a stipulation regarding the chain of custody and the chemical composition of the recovered substances, (3) his conviction on count III (possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver) should be vacated because the trial court merged count III into count II (possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a public housing agency) and his mittimus should be amended to reflect this correction, (4) his mittimus should be amended to reflect the correct names of the offenses of which he was convicted, (5) his mittimus should be amended to reflect the correct time served in pretrial custody, (6) he is entitled to a $5 credit against the $3,000 “fine” assessed to him for each day he was in custody prior to sentencing, (7) his penalty of $20 for the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Fund should be vacated because the fee was erroneously assessed to him, and (8) his due process rights were violated when the trial court assessed a $5 fee for the Spinal Cord Injury Paralysis Cure Research Trust Fund (Spinal Cord Fund).

BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged by indictment with: (1) possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2), 407(b)(1) (West 2004)); (2) possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a public housing agency (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2), 407(b)(1) (West 2004)); (3) possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 2004)); and (4) possession of cannabis with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 550/5(f) (West 2004)).

Chicago police officer Anthony Driver was the sole prosecution witness at defendant’s trial. Driver testified that on May 14, 2004, at approximately 6:50 p.m., he and other police officers were executing a search warrant at 747 East 130th Place in Chicago. After Driver announced his office and demanded entry, defendant shut the screen door. Upon gaining entry, Driver saw defendant halfway in the closet of the first floor. The police detained defendant and a woman, who was later arrested and charged separately, and began to search the premises. In the closet where defendant was standing, Driver found one plastic bag containing 35 smaller plastic bags of a white, rock-like substance suspected to be cocaine and three large “freezer” bags of suspected cannabis in the sleeve of a male jacket. He also found another plastic bag containing approximately 100 smaller empty plastic bags. In addition, Driver found 12 more plastic bags containing suspected cannabis from a male jacket sleeve in a bedroom on the second floor. Elsewhere in the apartment, Driver recovered an electronic scale. Finally, the police recovered a letter addressed to defendant at 747 East 130th Place, the address of the apartment. At the police station, Driver sealed the items in a heat-sealed bag, labeled it with a specific inventory number, and deposited it in the safe at the police station.

The parties then stipulated to the chain of custody and the chemical composition of the recovered contraband. They stipulated that a forensic chemist would testify that she received the inventoried items in a heat-sealed condition labeled with a specific inventory number from the Chicago police department and that the envelope contained 15 items of suspected cannabis and 35 items of suspected cocaine. The parties stipulated that 8 of the 15 items of suspected cannabis tested positive for the presence of 2,128.1 grams of cannabis and that the total estimated weight of the 15 items was 2,506.3 grams. They also stipulated that 8 of the 35 items of suspected cocaine tested positive for the presence of 1.1 grams of cocaine and that the total estimated weight of the 35 items was 4.8 grams.

Following the stipulations, the State rested. After defendant’s motion for a directed verdict was denied, he rested without presenting any evidence. The trial court found defendant guilty on counts II (possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a public housing agency), III (possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver), and IV (possession of cannabis with intent to deliver).

At sentencing, the trial court merged count III into count II. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied. The trial court sentenced defendant as a Class X offender to 7 years’ imprisonment and gave him credit for 199 days for time served prior to sentencing. The trial court also ordered defendant to pay a $3,000 controlled substance assessment, $20 to the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Fund, $100 to the trauma fund, and $5 to the Spinal Cord Fund. Defendant now appeals.

ANALYSIS

Defendant first contends that this court should reverse his conviction and remand for resentencing on the lesser-included offense of possession of a controlled substance because the State failed to prove that he intended to deliver the 4.8 grams of cocaine he possessed.

When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, the relevant question for the reviewing court is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Tenney, 205 Ill. 2d 411, 427, 793 N.E.2d 571 (2002). In order to convict a defendant of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, the State must prove the defendant (1) had knowledge of the presence of the narcotics, (2) had possession or control of the narcotics, and (3) intended to deliver the narcotics. 720 ILCS 570/401(West 2004); People v. Robinson, 167 Ill. 2d 397, 407, 657 N.E.2d 1020 (1995).

The elements of intent to deliver are generally proved by circumstantial evidence. People v. Beverly, 278 Ill. App. 3d 794, 799, 663 N.E.2d 1061 (1996). Accordingly, “this issue involves the examination of the nature and quantity of circumstantial evidence necessary to support an inference of intent to deliver.” Robinson, 167 Ill. 2d at 408.

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People v. Blakney, 853 N.E.2d 885, 366 Ill. App. 3d 925, 304 Ill. Dec. 808, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 664 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

853 N.E.2d 885 (People v. Blakney) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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