People v. Braboy

911 N.E.2d 1189, 393 Ill. App. 3d 100, 331 Ill. Dec. 959, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 616
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 2, 2009
Docket1-07-0512
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 911 N.E.2d 1189 (People v. Braboy) 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. Braboy, 911 N.E.2d 1189, 393 Ill. App. 3d 100, 331 Ill. Dec. 959, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 616 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE FITZGERALD SMITH

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial, defendant Damien Braboy was convicted of first degree murder under an accountability theory and three counts of home invasion. The court sentenced defendant to 40 years’ imprisonment for the murder conviction and 30 years’ imprisonment each for the home invasion counts, ordering the home invasion sentences to run concurrently with one another, but consecutive to the sentence for murder, for an aggregate 70-year term. Defendant does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence. Defendant appeals, contending: (1) he was denied the effective assistance of trial counsel where counsel failed to request separate verdict forms for the various theories of first degree murder under which defendant was charged; (2) the trial court erred when addressing the venire; and (3) the trial court erred where it entered three convictions for a single act of home invasion. For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County, vacate two of the home invasion convictions, and correct the mittimus.

BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged with multiple counts of murder, home invasion, and armed robbery arising from the May 12, 2002, death of victim Leon Brewer. Defendant and two codefendants, Larry Williams and Hananiah Dukes, were charged by indictment with first degree murder based upon three theories: intentional or knowing, strong probability, and felony murder. They were also charged with the armed robbery of Francisco Camacho and multiple counts of home invasion pertaining to Camacho, Ulyses Brewer, and Robert Brewer. Williams’ case was nol-prossed. Defendant and Dukes were tried in a simultaneous but separate jury trial. 1

The following facts were adduced at trial. In 2002, Camacho lived in a bungalow at 6125 South Artesian Avenue. He rented rooms in the house to the victim, the victim’s wife Dorita, and their sons Ulyses and Robert. Camacho also sold marijuana.

At approximately 9 p.m. on May 12, 2002, 9-year-old Ulyses and 10-year-old Robert were home without their parents when a man appeared from the basement wearing all black and with a cloth covering his face. He commanded the boys to get on the floor. The boys complied. The boys could hear screaming coming from Camacho’s bedroom and voices demanding money.

Three masked men, all armed with guns, pushed Camacho to the floor. He felt a gun barrel on the back of his neck and one of the men demanded $10,000 and marijuana. Camacho recognized the voice as that of defendant, who was his girlfriend Joi’s brother, and with whom he had spoken earlier that day. Generally, Camacho only sold drugs to his friends. But, to appease Joi, he had sold a quarter pound of marijuana to defendant for a good price on three occasions during the previous week. Defendant attempted to purchase more marijuana on the morning of the shooting, but Camacho refused to continue giving him a discount on the price. Defendant became angry and left.

According to Ulyses, one of the masked men told him to lock the front door. He did. The man spoke directly to Ulyses and briefly lifted the cloth covering his face, allowing Ulyses to see his face. Camacho told the men, who were searching his bedroom, that the drugs were in the attic. Camacho denied having money in the house. The men blindfolded Camacho, tied his hands with tape, and led him, Ulyses, and Robert upstairs to the attic. The men found the marijuana in the attic, but continued demanding money. Ulyses saw the men hitting Camacho with their guns and hands. A voice Camacho did not recognize suggested that they hold Camacho until the following day and make him get money from the bank. Camacho heard defendant say, “let’s pop him right now.”

When the victim and Dorita entered the house, they could see the house had been ransacked. The victim told Dorita to stay by the door, and he walked toward the boys’ bedroom. Dorita heard people coming down from the attic and then saw the victim running toward her, chased by an armed, masked man. Dorita saw the man shoot the victim, and then he put the gun to her head. He fled when another man shouted from the back of the house. The victim died from the gunshot wound later that night.

Camacho jumped from the attic window and ran into the alley. From there, he observed three men emerge from the back of his house carrying his black bag containing marijuana.

The defense rested without presenting any evidence. At the jury instructions conference, defendant did not request the court give the jury separate verdict forms based on the different theories of murder. Following closing arguments, the court instructed the jury on first degree murder with the following instructions:

“A person commits the offense of first degree murder when he kills an individual if, in performing the acts which cause the death, he intends to kill or do great bodily harm to that individual;
or
he knows that such acts will cause death to that individual;
or
he knew that such acts create a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to that individual;
or
he is committing the offense of home invasion.”

See Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 7.01 (4th ed. 2000).

And:

“To sustain the charge of first degree murder, the State must prove the following propositions:
First: That the defendant, or one for whose conduct he is legally responsible, performed the acts which caused the death of Leon Brewer; and
Second: That when the defendant, or one for whose conduct he is legally responsible, did so, he intended to kill or do great bodily harm to Leon Brewer;
or
he knew that his acts would cause death to Leon Brewer;
or
he knew that his acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to Leon Brewer;
or
he was committing the offense of home invasion.
If you find from your consideration of all the evidence that each one of these propositions has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant guilty.
If you find from your consideration of all the evidence that any one of these propositions has not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, you should find the defendant not guilty.” (Emphasis in original.)

See Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 7.02 (4th ed. 2000).

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Bluebook (online)
911 N.E.2d 1189, 393 Ill. App. 3d 100, 331 Ill. Dec. 959, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-braboy-illappct-2009.