People v. Butler

819 N.E.2d 1133, 354 Ill. App. 3d 57, 289 Ill. Dec. 333
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 17, 2004
Docket1-03-1978
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 819 N.E.2d 1133 (People v. Butler) 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. Butler, 819 N.E.2d 1133, 354 Ill. App. 3d 57, 289 Ill. Dec. 333 (Ill. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

819 N.E.2d 1133 (2004)
354 Ill. App.3d 57
289 Ill.Dec. 333

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Marcus BUTLER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-03-1978.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Third Division.

November 17, 2004.

*1134 Michael Pelletier, Deputy Defender, Chicago (Lisa Rousso, Assistant Appellate Defender, of counsel), for Appellant.

Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (Renee Goldfarb, Veronica C. Malavia, Sally Dilgart & Jamieson Bowman, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for Appellees.

Justice HOFFMAN delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, the defendant, Marcus Butler, was convicted of retail theft of merchandise valued in excess of *1135 $150 (720 ILCS 5/16A-3(a) (West 2002)) and aggravated battery of a merchant (720 ILCS 5/12-4(b)(15) (West 2002)). He was sentenced to concurrent terms of five years' imprisonment. The circuit court also ordered the defendant to submit a biological sample for genetic marker testing pursuant to section 5-4-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections (Code of Corrections) (730 ILCS 5/5-4-3 (West 2002)). On appeal, the defendant contends that: (1) the State failed to prove him guilty of aggravated battery beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) section 16A-4 of the retail theft statute (720 ILCS 5/16A-4 (West 2002)) is unconstitutional because it contains a mandatory presumption that relieves the State of its burden to prove the element of intent beyond a reasonable doubt; (3) section 5-4-3 of the Code of Corrections is unconstitutional as applied because it constitutes a search without any individualized suspicion of criminal wrongdoing; and (4) the mittimus should be corrected to reflect the proper credit for time served prior to sentencing. For the reasons which follow, we affirm the defendant's convictions and sentence, and order the mittimus corrected.

The State presented the following evidence at trial. Daniel Keippel testified that, on September 13, 2002, at approximately 11 a.m., he was employed as the manager of a Walgreen's store at Fullerton and Central Avenues in Chicago. While standing near the front of the store, Keippel noticed the defendant enter the store holding a folded Walgreen's shopping bag in his hand. Keippel followed the defendant towards the back of the store where he observed him "shoveling" numerous items into the bag. The defendant then walked towards the front of the store and past several check-out registers. When the defendant approached the front door, Keippel stepped in front of him and said, "[S]ir, you need to give us the items back. You are not leaving with the bag." The defendant responded by taking a "swing" at Keippel, which missed, and then attempting to push his way out of the store. Keippel held onto the defendant and the two men fell to the ground and began to wrestle. While wrestling, the defendant struck Keippel "more than once" before an assistant manager aided Keippel in subduing the defendant until the police arrived. Keippel testified that, although he felt the defendant's punches and fell onto ceramic tiles, he did not receive any "injuries." However, Chicago police officer Barry Eichner testified that, after arriving at the Walgreen's store, he noticed that Keippel had contusions on his face. Keippel also testified that he recovered the Walgreen's shopping bag which the defendant had filled with merchandise valued in excess of $400.

The defendant testified that, on September 13, 2002, he was standing approximately 25 feet from the front door of the Walgreen's store when he was approached by two men. One of the men, who the defendant believed to be the manager, grabbed him by the shirt and told him to come to the back of the store. The defendant resisted and eventually wound up wrestling with the two men for about two minutes before the police arrived and placed him under arrest. The defendant claimed that the items he was charged with stealing were knocked off their shelves during the scuffle and that he never attempted to leave the store without paying for the merchandise.

In rebuttal, the State introduced evidence of the defendant's prior felony and misdemeanor convictions. Following arguments, the trial judge found the defendant guilty of retail theft of merchandise valued in excess of $150 and aggravated battery of a merchant. The judge commented that, even absent evidence of his prior *1136 convictions, the defendant's testimony was unbelievable.

The defendant filed a motion for a new trial, which the circuit court denied, and he was sentenced to concurrent terms of five years' imprisonment. The circuit court also ordered the defendant to submit a biological sample for genetic marker testing, and denied the defendant's motion to declare section 5-4-3 of the Code of Corrections unconstitutional. This timely appeal followed.

The defendant first argues that the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of aggravated battery of a merchant. In resolving this issue, we must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and determine whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Pollock, 202 Ill.2d 189, 217, 269 Ill.Dec. 197, 780 N.E.2d 669 (2002); see also People v. Cox, 195 Ill.2d 378, 387, 254 Ill.Dec. 720, 748 N.E.2d 166 (2001).

Section 12-4(b)(15) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Code) (720 ILCS 5/12-4(b)(15) (West 2002)) provides that a person commits the offense of aggravated battery when, in committing a battery, he or she "[k]nowingly and without legal justification and by any means causes bodily harm to a merchant who detains the person for an alleged commission of a retail theft." The defendant, citing People v. Fuller, 159 Ill.App.3d 441, 111 Ill.Dec. 443, 512 N.E.2d 832 (1987), contends that Keippel's own testimony precludes a finding that he suffered bodily harm within the meaning of the statute. We disagree.

In Fuller, the victim, a police officer, testified at trial that he was not injured "in any way" as a result of his physical encounter with the defendant. On appeal from the defendant's conviction for battery, the Fuller court reversed, finding that, based upon the officer's testimony and the lack of any other evidence, the State had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer sustained actual bodily harm. However, in this case, unlike in Fuller, the State presented testimony that the defendant caused bodily harm to the victim.

Our supreme court has stated that, while "it may be difficult to pinpoint exactly what constitutes bodily harm for the purposes of the statute, some sort of physical pain or damage to the body, like lacerations, bruises or abrasions, whether temporary or permanent, is required." People v. Mays, 91 Ill.2d 251, 256, 62 Ill.Dec. 945, 437 N.E.2d 633 (1982). At trial, Keippel testified that the defendant struck him numerous times while attempting to flee the store and that he "felt" the punches. Keippel also stated that, when he and the defendant started to wrestle, they fell to the ground and onto ceramic tiles.

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Bluebook (online)
819 N.E.2d 1133, 354 Ill. App. 3d 57, 289 Ill. Dec. 333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-butler-illappct-2004.