People v. Cardenas

568 N.E.2d 102, 209 Ill. App. 3d 217, 154 Ill. Dec. 102, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 104
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 16, 1991
Docket1-87-2812,1-88-0528 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 568 N.E.2d 102 (People v. Cardenas) 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. Cardenas, 568 N.E.2d 102, 209 Ill. App. 3d 217, 154 Ill. Dec. 102, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 104 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE WHITE

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is a consolidated appeal from two separate convictions by defendant Dennis Cardenas. In case number 1 — 87—2812 defendant was convicted of the aggravated criminal sexual assault of C.R., receiving a prison term of natural life pursuant to the Habitual Criminal Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 33B — 1). In case number 1 — 88— 0528, defendant was convicted of the residential burglary of the home of J.C., receiving a 15-year prison term for that offense, to be served consecutively to the natural life term.

We have consolidated these cases because they both involve identical issues concerning the propriety of defendant’s arrest and subsequent interrogation. Defendant’s arrest in the residential burglary case resulted in evidence and statements relating to both cases. In the latter case defense counsel moved to quash defendant’s arrest and to suppress evidence, including certain statements allegedly made by him. When it was determined that these identical issues had been raised in case number 1 — 87—2812, defense counsel withdrew the motions but sought to preserve for appeal the issue of whether those motions had been properly denied in the earlier trial. On appeal in 1— 88 — 0528, defendant’s only contentions of error concern the trial court’s rulings on those motions in the earlier trial. In 1 — 87—2812 defendant also raises those issues. However, he additionally contends: the trial court should have suppressed certain identification testimony; his guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt; his trial attorney’s failure to investigate defenses and interview witnesses denied him the effective assistance of counsel; the trial court erroneously overruled defendant’s objection to a hypothetical question; the court erroneously refused to give some of defendant’s jury instructions; prejudicial final argument by the prosecution deprived defendant of a fair trial; and defendant was improperly sentenced to a term of natural life.

We first consider defendant’s contention that the trial court erred in suppressing his motions to quash his arrest and to suppress evidence arising from that arrest. As we have noted, this argument relates to both cases before us, as defendant’s arrest for the burglary of J.C.’s home yielded evidence and statements concerning both cases. The evidence concerning this issue can be summarized as follows. On June 29, 1986, at 4 a.m. Chicago police detectives Schnoor and Atkins went to the scene of a reported burglary in progress at 1451 West Melrose in Chicago. Schnoor testified that they were told by J.C. that she had been sleeping on the couch and was awakened by a male intruder. The man fumbled with his pants and asked the victim to help him. He then began fondling his penis while telling the victim to “come and get some of this.” When the victim yelled to her roommate for help the man grabbed her money off a table and fled through the front door. J.C. described this man as white, 30 to 35 years old, 180 pounds, 5 feet 11 inches, wearing navy pants, a gray top, and a towel over his head. Two doors in the home were unlocked and there was no sign of forced entry.

Schnoor had already been informed by another detective, Mette, of what the police believed to be a pattern of similar crimes in the area. Schnoor testified that in these crimes women were sexually assaulted and their money taken in the early morning after being awakened by a male intruder who had entered through an unlocked door or window. The assailant was described as being a white man, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, weighing between 150 and 180 pounds, wearing a hooded sweatshirt or a towel over his head. Some descriptions were of a man between the ages of 25 and 30. Two of the offenses had occurred in the immediate area, six and eight blocks away, and five days earlier and one month earlier. Defendant was a suspect in these crimes. The pattern began one week after he moved to 1116 North Wood, in November 1985.

Detective Robert Mette was the officer who arrested the defendant. On June 29, 1986, at about 5:30 a.m. he spoke to Detective Schnoor and learned the details of the offense at J.C.’s home. Mette was aware that defendant had been involved in a similar crime pattern of burglaries and rapes in 1977, which Mette had investigated. For those offenses the police had a description of a male white, 25 to 35 years of age, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 11 inches, 140 to 180 pounds, wearing a hood or a towel draped over his head. The victims were normally asleep when the offender entered through an open door or window between midnight and 6 a.m. This pattern ceased after defendant Cardenas was arrested. He was subsequently convicted and imprisoned for a number of those offenses. Within several weeks of his release from prison on November 8, 1985, a similar crime pattern began again. In 1977 the defendant had worked as a pizza delivery man. He was so employed again at the time of his arrest in 1986. Detective Mette testified that this occupation enabled defendant to be in the areas where these crimes occurred.

After learning of the offense at the home of J.C., Detective Mette and his partner drove to the vicinity of defendant’s home at 1116 North Wood. When Mette saw the defendant driving, he pulled him over. As Mette approached defendant’s car, he saw defendant reach back to the floor behind the driver’s seat. Mette asked defendant for his driver’s license, and defendant got out of the car and produced his license. In the vehicle Mette could see a white towel on the floor behind the driver’s seat and a gray sweatshirt on the back seat. The defendant, who appeared to have an erection, was wearing a blue T-shirt and navy blue pants. Defendant was approximately 5 feet 10 inches, 185 pounds, and appeared to be about 35 to 40 years of age. Detective Mette believed defendant fit the description of the offender in the J.C. crime, and he arrested the defendant at that time.

Defendant testified that at the time of his arrest he was driving home from a date with a woman named Roberta, whose last name he did not know. He was pulled over by an unmarked police car. Two police officers approached and asked him to step out of the car. When he complied they spread him across the front of their car, emptied his pockets, and took his driver’s license from his wallet. One of the officers asked him what he had placed on the floor when he pulled over. While one officer kept him by the car, the other officer searched his car and retrieved a towel from the back seat. Defendant denied that he had a gray sweatshirt in the car. He stated that the gray sweatshirt he was wearing in a lineup photograph taken the next day had been retrieved from his home by the police. After the towel was found, defendant was told he was under arrest on suspicion of burglary and was taken in handcuffs to the police station. Defendant, who was 43 years old, testified that he was 5 feet 11 inches and weighed a little less than 185 pounds at the time of his arrest. At that time he was wearing navy blue slacks and a blue Bears T-shirt.

After hearing argument on this evidence, the trial court ruled that the officers had at least a reasonable suspicion justifying a Terry stop when they first pulled the defendant over. They then had probable cause to arrest the defendant after they saw the towel and gray sweatshirt in defendant’s car. Accordingly, the court found no basis for quashing defendant’s arrest.

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Bluebook (online)
568 N.E.2d 102, 209 Ill. App. 3d 217, 154 Ill. Dec. 102, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 104, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cardenas-illappct-1991.