People v. Coles

578 N.E.2d 86, 217 Ill. App. 3d 1079, 160 Ill. Dec. 907, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1230
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 19, 1991
Docket1-89-1122
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 578 N.E.2d 86 (People v. Coles) 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. Coles, 578 N.E.2d 86, 217 Ill. App. 3d 1079, 160 Ill. Dec. 907, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1230 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE EGAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a stipulated bench trial, the defendant, Gary Coles, was convicted of delivery of a controlled substance and possession of cannabis with intent to deliver; he was sentenced to six years on the delivery charge and two years on the possession charge, the sentences to be served concurrently.

The defendant first maintains that reversible error occurred when the judge denied the defendant’s motion to suppress his statement and his motion to suppress evidence seized from his residence.

At the hearing on his motions to suppress, the defendant testified that on Friday, July 17, 1987, at approximately 3 p.m. he was arrested by Wilmette police officer John Provost and taken to the Wilmette police department. He was advised of his rights and asked Provost for an attorney and to make a phone call. Provost responded, “You haven’t been booked yet, and you cannot make a call until you have been booked and we can keep you here for hours.” The defendant signed a waiver of Miranda rights, but put “No” next to the question, “Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to me/ us?” Provost continued to talk to the defendant. He said the defendant was going to be incarcerated for a long time and if the defendant did not talk to him and submit to an apartment search, he would be put in jail that evening and would not be allowed to leave custody. The defendant was also told he would not get a bond hearing until the following Monday because the courts were closed over the weekend and that the bond set would be very high. Provost continued talking for approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.

The defendant testified that “at that point, after being told that I would be going to Cook County Jail for the weekend, I told Officer Provost anything he wanted to hear to get out of there. Officer Provost agreed to get me a very inexpensive bail to get me out of there.” Provost told the defendant that if he did not sign a consent-to-search form, a search warrant would be obtained anyway, and the authorities would go to his apartment, which was located at 600 South Dearborn in Chicago, arrest anyone there and tear the apartment apart. Provost asked the defendant if he had ever seen what happens to an apartment or what a home could look like after it has been searched by the police. The defendant again asked Provost if he could speak with his attorney, and Provost said he could not until he signed the consent to search his apartment. Provost also said that once the search was conducted, the defendant could make a phone call. The defendant then signed the consent-to-search form.

On cross-examination, the defendant said he knew he was under arrest for delivery of almost 29 grams of cocaine. After he had been arrested, an agent of the Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG) named Martinez came up to the police car, “smacked” the defendant and said, “You have met MEG.” While he was in a room at the Wilmette police station, officers were coming in and out of the room. He admitted that he told Provost that he would speak with Provost because he was from the Wilmette police and he knew Provost would not treat him like the officers from the MEG unit. The defendant said he did not feel comfortable talking with Provost, but he did not have much of a choice at that point after having been denied a phone call or an attorney. He told another police officer where he lived and whether he was a registered voter. He further testified that he was not surprised when told that he could be held over the weekend in Cook County jail and that bond could be rather high.

Officer Provost testified that he arrested the defendant at 525 Pinecrest in Wilmette at approximately 1:55 p.m. Present at the scene were other officers from the Wilmette police department and officers from MEG. MEG Agent Martinez read the defendant his Miranda rights from a preprinted card. The defendant was transported to the Wilmette police department in handcuffs. Provost next saw the defendant shortly after 2 p.m. in the Wilmette police station booking room. Provost entered the room and uncuffed the defendant. Provost, who was alone in the room "with the defendant, read the defendant his Miranda rights from a poster on the wall. The defendant asked Provost what agency he belonged to, and Provost answered that he was with the Wilmette police department. The defendant then stated, “That’s fine. I’ll talk to you but I’m not going to talk to the MEG guys. I know they will try to fuck me over, and you won’t.” The defendant volunteered to cooperate and do anything to assist Provost, but repeated that he would not speak with the MEG people.

MEG Agent Selecki entered the room and told the defendant that he needed to get some information from him to fill out a personal history form. The defendant asked Selecki who he was, and Selecki answered that he was a MEG agent. The defendant said that he did not want to speak to any MEG agents. Selecki read the defendant his Miranda rights from a preprinted form. At approximately 2:10 p.m., the defendant signed a waiver of Miranda rights form but put “No” after the question that asked whether he wished to talk to them. Selecki told the defendant that he needed to fill out the form even if the defendant was unwilling to speak with him. Among other things, Selecki asked the defendant his name, address, phone number and acquaintances. The defendant also told Selecki the name of his attorney, but never requested permission to call him.

Provost then booked the defendant for the Wilmette police department and for MEG by taking fingerprints and photographs. The booking procedure took approximately one half hour. Selecki left the room between 2:30 to 3 p.m. The defendant again stated that he wanted to talk to the Wilmette police department, but not MEG. Provost told the defendant that he was not required to talk to Provost or MEG. The defendant related information to Provost about how he could be helpful to the Wilmette police department in return for reduction of his charges.

Provost informed the defendant that he had other information regarding the defendant, his narcotics ventures, and his apartment. He also told the defendant that it was possible that the authorities would be seeking to go to his apartment. He told the defendant that the information was derived from a confidential informant, who told the authorities that he had been in the defendant’s apartment and had seen quantities of cocaine and cannabis there. The informant, according to Provost, also informed authorities that in phone conversations on July 17 the defendant indicated that he had large quantities of drugs and offered to bring more than what he had actually brought. Provost told the defendant that the authorities were going to contact the State’s Attorney’s office, make an application to search his apartment, and that he and fellow officers would go down to his apartment. The defendant told Provost that he wished that he would not do that because there was an employee working in his apartment and he did not want the police to break down the door and rip the place up. The defendant also stated his concern for his furniture and that he did not want his employee to get arrested.

At approximately 3 p.m., Provost asked the defendant to sign a permission-to-search form.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
578 N.E.2d 86, 217 Ill. App. 3d 1079, 160 Ill. Dec. 907, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 1230, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-coles-illappct-1991.