People v. Broadnax

532 N.E.2d 936, 177 Ill. App. 3d 818, 127 Ill. Dec. 107, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1797
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 28, 1988
Docket2-87-0077
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 532 N.E.2d 936 (People v. Broadnax) 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. Broadnax, 532 N.E.2d 936, 177 Ill. App. 3d 818, 127 Ill. Dec. 107, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1797 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

JUSTICE UNVERZAGT

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Leroy Broadnax, was tried by a jury in the circuit court of Kane County on two counts of armed robbery. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 18—2(a).) He was found guilty on both counts. At sentencing, one conviction was vacated and he was sentenced on the other to 20 years’ imprisonment. He brings this direct appeal from that conviction and sentence.

These issues are raised: (1) whether the Kane County jury selection system resulted in the underrepresentation of blacks and Hispanics thereby depriving him of his right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community and equal protection; (2) whether identification evidence produced by an improperly suggestive showup should have been suppressed; and (3) whether the court misapplied the rule governing the substantive use of prior inconsistent statements when it denied his tendered instruction on this matter and precluded defense counsel from arguing the evidence substantively to the jury-

This case involved the robbery of a grocery store in Aurora on May 8, 1986, about 4:45 p.m. The robber, wéaring sunglasses and a mask over his nose and mouth and carrying a gun and a bag, entered the store and jumped over the customer service area counter, accosting the cashier, Diane Kinney. The robber, later identified as the defendant, demanded to know where the cash drawers were. He left Kinney and went down to the area of the lottery and liquor cash registers where cashier Christine Trotto was working. He jumped over the service counter, Trotto opened the cash register drawers, and he took $300 to $400. He then returned to the area where Kinney was, had her open the cash drawer, and then jumped over the counter and left the store. When the store security guard, William Foster, saw the robber jump over the counter, he (Foster) left the store and waited outside for the robber. The robber came outside without the mask on and drove off in a black-over-green 1973 Cadillac. Foster fired a shot at the right rear tire.

Shortly thereafter, Aurora police officer Pierceall, responding to a radio broadcast concerning the robbery, spotted the Cadillac in a playground parking lot. A black man named Graham was changing the right rear tire, and the defendant walked out from behind a building where several items, including a handgun and, nearby, two pair of sunglasses, were later found. The store security guard identified the defendant as the robber.

The defendant and Graham were then brought to the grocery store parking lot, where the store security guard again identified the defendant as the robber. Diane Kinney identified the defendant as the robber. Christine Trotto and Diane Kinney’s two daughters, who were present during the robbery, were unable to identify the defendant. Aurora police officer Long’s report recounting this showup at the grocery store indicated Kinney identified Graham rather than the defendant as the robber. Long explained, however, that the defendant’s and Graham’s names were transposed on his report, and he testified Kinney identified the defendant as the robber.

A customer in the grocery store at the time of the robbery, Dean Rosspank, also identified the defendant in a later lineup, and he testified at trial.

Among the pretrial motions filed by the defendant was a motion to quash the indictment and discharge the jury panel filed pursuant to section 114—3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) and supported by affidavits. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 114—3.) His motion alleged that the method of jury selection in Kane County, which draws jurors only from a list of registered voters, results in underrepresentation of blacks and Hispanics on Kane County grand and petit juries in comparison with their proportionate presence in the total population of the community. That is, in the 1980 census, blacks comprised 4.9% of the Kane County population, whereas observations of the jury pool during the period July 28 to October 27, 1986, showed only 2.8% of the potential jurors were black. Further, Hispanics comprised 9.4% of the Kane County population, but observations of the jury venire during the same time period as above showed only 1.5% of potential jurors were Hispanics.

Finding the threshold requirements of section 114—3 of the Code had been met (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 114—3), the trial court allowed the matter to proceed to hearing.

Brad White, a self-employed translator and interpreter of Spanish, Portuguese and French, was offered as an expert in the field of translation and languages. He testified that there are characteristics of Hispanic surnames which distinguish them from surnames of other ethnic and racial groups. Applying these characteristics, White reviewed a number of Kane County accounting system check registers reflecting payments made to jurors for service during the period July 28 to October 27, 1986. These registers purported to contain 982 names of persons who had served as petit jurors. Of that number, he identified 20 as being Hispanic and two others as possibly Hispanic.

Douglas Naughton, the court administrator for the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, testified that the jury selection system for Kane County used the voter’s registration lists. He said driver’s license lists could be used, but were not used because the county lacked the resources to add this additional list. By “resources,” he meant the programmers and analysts it would take to modify the system.

On cross-examination, Naughton testified it is not administratively and economically feasible at this time for Kane County to implement the multiple-list system. Duplicate names would have to be removed if the voter’s and driver’s license lists were to be combined. It would take a minimum of three or four experienced programmers/analysts to accomplish this work along with modification of about 40 other programs related to the voter’s registration lists that would have to be changed as well. He testified that out of 22 circuit courts in the State of Illinois, there are none that use both driver’s license and voter’s registration lists as their jury source list. One county, Stephenson County, with a population of 50,000 to 55,000, has implemented the system which uses only the driver’s license list. The population of Kane County is approximately 360,000. On redirect examination, Naughton testified it would not be impossible to make the switch, but that the resources to do so presently do not exist.

Barbara Bieritz, the chief clerk for the Kane County Jury Commission, testified that the response form completed by perspective jurors after they receive a jury summons does not have a place in which to indicate their race. The court later took judicial notice of the juror qualification form and juror summons for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The juror qualification form includes a question regarding race and ethnic origin.

Lucille Heninger, the chief bailiff of Kane County, testified that one of her duties was to check on prospective jurors when they reported to the courthouse for jury duty. Each person reporting for jury duty is given a jury questionnaire to complete. The questionnaire does not ask the prospective jurors to indicate their race or ethnic origin.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
532 N.E.2d 936, 177 Ill. App. 3d 818, 127 Ill. Dec. 107, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 1797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-broadnax-illappct-1988.