People v. Bowman

592 N.E.2d 240, 227 Ill. App. 3d 607, 169 Ill. Dec. 753, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 409
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 20, 1992
Docket1-89-3136
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 592 N.E.2d 240 (People v. Bowman) 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. Bowman, 592 N.E.2d 240, 227 Ill. App. 3d 607, 169 Ill. Dec. 753, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 409 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE EGAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Levester Bowman, was convicted of delivery of a controlled substance, phencyclidine (POP), and was sentenced to a three-year term to be followed by two years of supervision. He contends that he was denied effective assistance of counsel; that he did not knowingly waive his right to a jury trial; and that various trial errors occurred. He does not contend that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Chicago police officer Sandra Cunningham was assigned to the Street Narcotics Impact Program. Her duties involved purchasing narcotics in an undercover capacity and acting as a surveillance officer when other officers were making a narcotics buy. Under the general procedure, when a buy was made one officer would make the buy and others would hide out and watch.

Cunningham testified that on January 11, 1989, she met with Officers Struska, Littleton, and Ryan and Sergeant Malloy. After their meeting she drove in her undercover vehicle to 5925 South Wentworth in Chicago. Before she drove to that location, she checked her car for contraband, as she routinely did, and found nothing. Upon arriving at 5925 South Wentworth, she saw the defendant standing around the El tracks, and she put her fingers to her mouth as if she were smoking a cigarette. She knew the defendant; she had made a purchase of PCP from him in June 1988 at the same location. The defendant then approached the car on the passenger side.

She asked the defendant if he had any “Sherm Sticks,” which is the slang term for cigarettes which have been dipped into PCP. The defendant asked her how many packages she needed, and when she said, “One,” he pulled out one package from a vinyl bag he was carrying. She then told the defendant to put the package on the seat; she could smell the PCP, and she did not want to get the substance on her hands. The defendant put the package on the passenger seat, and Cunningham gave him $10 which was marked with Cunningham’s first initial. The defendant said he would be around later that day, and Cunningham then drove to a prearranged location at 57th and Wentworth to meet with the surveillance officers. She told the other officers about the purchase, showed them the “Sherm Stick” and had the package inventoried and sent to the Chicago police department crime laboratory to be analyzed. She did not arrest the defendant. She made an in-court identification of the defendant, and described him as having “Jheri” curls at the time of the sale. Shortly after the purchase of PCP from the defendant in June 1988, Cunningham learned the defendant’s name, address and date of birth and saw a photograph of him.

It was stipulated that the chemical analysis of the “Sherm Stick” disclosed PCP. The defense called Officer Gary Struska, who was one of the surveillance officers. He testified that he and his partner, Kevin Ryan, were at 59th and Wentworth at approximately 1 p.m. They were watching the corner of 59th and Wentworth from an overpass on 59th Street in an unmarked squad car. From their position, Struska saw the defendant standing by the tracks and observed that there were a bunch of other people on the corner. Struska and his partner were double-parked for approximately 15 minutes when they observed Cunningham pull up 200 feet away. The defendant approached Cunningham’s car at 5925 Wentworth from the passenger side. The defendant had a short conversation with her, reached inside the car and then walked away. The transaction took less than one minute. Struska and Ryan then drove to the prearranged location to meet the other officers at 57th and Wentworth. After Cunningham showed Struska the package she bought from the defendant, which he determined was adulterated PGP, they went to the station to do the paperwork. The prearranged location at the intersection of 57th and Wentworth is two blocks from the site of the alleged buy and may be observed from the buy site.

After Struska testified, the defendant’s attorney informed the judge that he wanted the opportunity to present some witnesses to testify that the defendant was not at 59th and Wentworth at the time Cunningham had testified he was. The judge informed the defendant of his absolute right to testify or not, and the hearing was continued to the following day in order to allow the defendant to bring in his witness. When the defendant’s alibi witness, Andre King, failed to show up the following day, the defendant testified.

The defendant said that on January 11, 1989, at 1 p.m. he was in a car on his way to work. He was employed at the McDonald’s in Des Plaines, and his boss, Andre King, picked him up at the Amoco gas station on 59th and Wentworth to drive him to work. King routinely gave the defendant rides to and from work. He said that he had never seen the package containing the “Sherm Stick” before and did not know what a “Sherm Stick” was. He said he had never seen Officer Cunningham before. He was not arrested on January 11, 1989, but he did receive a letter in the mail telling him to report to the presiding judge of the criminal court. He was never placed in a lineup, and he denied having ever delivered a controlled substance to any police officer.

On cross-examination he denied starting work at 5 p.m. on January 11, 1989, even though that was the time he was supposed to start. He admitted being aware of the fact that his employment records showed that he punched in at 5 p.m., but he said he punched in early that day. He said that sometimes he would go to work early and then ask to punch in early so that he could make extra money.

Following the defendant’s testimony, Andre King was still absent. The defendant asked for a continuance, which the judge agreed to give, but the defendant then rested his case. He was found guilty, and his motion for a new trial was denied.

The defendant first contends that he did not knowingly waive his right to a jury trial because there was no attempt made by the judge to explain the difference between a jury trial and a bench trial. The determination of whether a defendant has knowingly waived his right to a jury trial cannot rest on any precise formula and necessarily turns on the facts and circumstances of each case. (People v. Frey (1984), 103 Ill. 2d 327, 469 N.E.2d 195.) Recognizing that a defendant typically speaks and acts through his attorney, reviewing courts have accepted the validity of jury waivers made by defense counsel in the presence of the defendant where the defendant gave no indication of any objection to the trial judge hearing the case. (People v. Murrell (1975), 60 Ill. 2d 287, 326 N.E.2d 762; People v. Sailor (1969), 43 Ill. 2d 256, 253 N.E.2d 397.) In Murrell and Sailor, the defense attorney’s single statement that the defendant was waiving a jury was held to constitute a valid waiver since the defendant was present and failed to object.

In the case before us, the trial judge determined that the defendant had waived his right to a jury trial based upon the following exchange:

“[JUDGE]: Mr. Bowman, this comes on call for trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
592 N.E.2d 240, 227 Ill. App. 3d 607, 169 Ill. Dec. 753, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bowman-illappct-1992.