People v. Chambers

629 N.E.2d 606, 258 Ill. App. 3d 73, 196 Ill. Dec. 61, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 54
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 21, 1994
Docket1-91-1695
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 629 N.E.2d 606 (People v. Chambers) 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. Chambers, 629 N.E.2d 606, 258 Ill. App. 3d 73, 196 Ill. Dec. 61, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 54 (Ill. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE EGAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial, the defendant, William Chambers, was convicted of delivery of a controlled substance. The trial judge sentenced him to the Illinois Department of Corrections for 12 years. He maintains he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; that his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated; that several trial errors occurred that require a new trial; and that his sentence was excessive.

On April 3, 1990, Chicago police officer Israel Pacheco was working as an undercover officer purchasing narcotics. He would make as many as four purchases a day and sometimes return to the same area twice in one day. Between April 1990 and May 1991 he had made more than 100 drug purchases.

At approximately 7:45 p.m. on April 3, 1990, Pacheco and his two partners that evening, Therese Lykins and Daniel Bartoszewski, drove to the 1300 block of North Maplewood in Chicago. Pacheco was the "buy” officer and was driving a rental car. Lykins and Bartoszewski were "surveillance” officers and followed him in an unmarked police department car.

Pacheco parked his car on the east side of the street in front of 1303 North Maplewood. He testified that although it was dark at 7:45 p.m., the corner was "well-lit” by artificial lighting; there was a light pole on the corner where Pacheco parked. As he was stopping at the curb, he noticed a black man and two young Hispanic men standing at the corner. The black man, who was wearing a black Los Angeles Raiders’ T-shirt, a stonewashed black jean jacket and stonewashed black jeans, walked over to Pacheco’s car. Pacheco made an in-court identification of the defendant as the black man. Pacheco had seen the defendant in the vicinity more than three times before.

As he walked toward Pacheco, the defendant asked, "What do you need?” Pacheco believed this question was an offer by the defendant to sell drugs. Pacheco told the defendant he "wanted two halves,” which means a particular quantity of cocaine. The defendant told Pacheco he "had only sixteenths” of cocaine, which he would sell for $80. Pacheco said he would buy one "sixteenth,” and the defendant removed a "small package of white powder” in a plastic bag from his pocket. At that time, the defendant leaned into Pacheco’s car so that Pacheco and the defendant were face to face and only "a matter of inches” apart. The defendant gave Pacheco the bag of powder, and Pacheco handed the defendant $80. Pacheco did not arrest the defendant at the scene because he wanted to keep his identity secret in order to protect his safety and the integrity of the undercover police operation.

Pacheco drove away from the curb and watched the defendant in his rear-view mirror. He saw the defendant walk toward the Hispanic men. As Pacheco was driving, he used his radio to tell Lykins and Bartoszewski that he would meet them at a previously designated location. Pacheco drove to the meeting place, a fire station approximately four blocks from 1303 North Maplewood. Pacheco described the defendant to Lykins and Bartoszewski, who agreed that this was the individual they saw approach Pacheco’s car. Lykins and Bartoszewski returned to North Maplewood to question the defendant. Approximately five minutes after they left, they called Pacheco on his radio and told him they had located and identified the defendant.

Lykins and Bartoszewski both testified that they were parked approximately three-fourths of a block behind Pacheco on North Maplewood. They were on the west side of the street, and he was parked on the east side. They testified that the lighting was good and that nothing obstructed their view of the defendant. They both saw the defendant with two Hispanic men on the corner of the 1300 block of North Maplewood, and both saw the defendant walk away from the two Hispanic men and stand beside Pacheco’s car. According to Bartoszewski, the defendant wore a black Raiders’ sweatshirt with black stonewashed jeans and a black stonewashed jacket. Lykins testified that the defendant wore a black sweatshirt, a black denim jacket, and black jeans.

Lykins testified that the defendant leaned into Pacheco’s car and the "upper portion [of his body] above the waist” entered the car. Bartoszewski saw the defendant "reach” into Pacheco’s car with "the top portion of his body, his hands.” They estimated that approximately two or three minutes passed from the time they drove to the corner until Pacheco drove away. Lykins looked at the defendant as she and Bartoszewski drove past him on the way to the fire station.

After the brief discussion with Pacheco at the fire station, Lykins and Bartoszewski returned to North Maplewood. They saw the defendant standing by himself approximately one block from the corner near 1356 North Maplewood. They left their car and questioned the defendant. Lykins testified that the interview lasted approximately five minutes. They did not arrest the defendant at this time because they wanted to protect Pacheco and maintain the undercover nature of the operation. The defendant showed Lykins and Bartoszewski a social security card, but did not present a photo ID. The officers later determined that the social security number on the card belonged to a William Chambers. The defendant also gave the officers his name, age, date of birth, height and weight. He told them his address was 3518 Evergreen.

Lykins completed a field contact card while they were interviewing the defendant and placed all this information on the card. Bartoszewski testified that the purpose of the field contact card is to help the officers when they complete later reports. The contact card was introduced into evidence. The blanks for date, signature, officer star number, beat number, and assignment were all blank on the contact card. When they returned to the police station, Bartoszewski placed all of the information from the contact card into his report. Bartoszewski additionally "ordered picture[s] of the subject”; the pictures arrived two or three days later. Both Lykins and Bartoszewski recognized the man in the pictures as the same man they saw beside Pacheco’s car and later interviewed. They both identified the defendant as that man in court. The pictures of the defendant were introduced into evidence.

Funmi Mocha, a criminologist who worked as a supervisor in the Chicago police department’s crime detection laboratory, testified that she tested the powder submitted by Officer Pacheco and determined that it was 1.64 grams of cocaine.

Janet Lockett, a "house mother” at 3518 Evergreen, testified for the defendant that the defendant had lived at 3518 Evergreen since December 1990, but did not live there in April 1990.

The defendant was 39 years old, divorced, and had two adult children. He attended Taft High School and received a license as a cook. He testified that in April 1990 he was living at 2746 West LeMoyne, where he received mail. He never owned a Raiders’ shirt. He was not in the vicinity of North Maplewood on April 3, 1990, and did not "even go into that area.” He had no recollection regarding what he was doing on April 3, 1990, but he knew that he did not sell drugs that day. He denied talking to Lykins and Bartoszewski and denied seeing any of the officers involved on April 3, 1990.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
629 N.E.2d 606, 258 Ill. App. 3d 73, 196 Ill. Dec. 61, 1994 Ill. App. LEXIS 54, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-chambers-illappct-1994.