People v. Collins

592 N.E.2d 217, 227 Ill. App. 3d 670, 169 Ill. Dec. 730, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 392
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 20, 1992
Docket1-91-0180
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 592 N.E.2d 217 (People v. Collins) 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. Collins, 592 N.E.2d 217, 227 Ill. App. 3d 670, 169 Ill. Dec. 730, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 392 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE RAKOWSKI

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court, defendant Charles Collins was found guilty of burglary and theft. He was sentenced to a term of six years on the burglary count and 364 days on the theft count, the sentences to run concurrently. The issues raised on appeal are: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion in limine to preclude the State from introducing evidence of defendant’s 1986 theft conviction; (2) whether the trial court improperly restricted cross-examination of the State’s witness; (3) whether the trial court erred in not allowing a defense witness to testify regarding the complainant’s prior efforts to evict defendant; (4) whether the trial court erred in not allowing defendant’s proposed jury instruction; and (5) whether prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument denied defendant the right to a fair trial. We affirm.

The complainant, Karen McDonald, her three children and her fiance, Frank Kilmek, lived in an apartment at 4100 West Crenshaw in Chicago. The apartment was in a three-story building which had two entrances. McDonald’s mother owned the building and McDonald was the building manager. The defendant also lived in the building. Sometime in January 1990, Kilmek, McDonald and her three children left the apartment to stay with McDonald’s mother because there was no heat or electricity. However, they left all of their belongings in the apartment and returned every day to check their mail. On February 23, 1990, at approximately 2:45 p.m., Kilmek was at the building getting the mail when he heard a door close. He asked who was there, and a male voice answered “James.” Kilmek then went upstairs, where he found defendant standing at the door of McDonald’s apartment. Defendant had a trench coat over his arm and was carrying a pillow case filled with various items. When defendant saw Kilmek he put the pillowcase down, pulled a gun from his pocket, and told Kilmek to step back so that he could get out of the building. Me-Donald arrived at the building at this time and was halfway between the gate and the building entrance when defendant ran past her. Kilmek came out a few seconds later and told McDonald to call the police. After the police were contacted, McDonald and Kilmek retrieved the trench coat, which belonged to Kilmek, and the pillowcase, which contained various items belonging to McDonald. Inside the pillowcase were two walkmen, a car radio, and some canned goods. McDonald and Kilmek also noted that the burglar bars in the apartment doorway were bent and the wood surrounding the door lock was broken. According to her trial testimony, McDonald was unable to thoroughly search the apartment on the day of the incident but she did tell the police that some items of clothing, a videocassette recorder, television, amplifier and turntable were included in the property taken.

Detective Carroll apprehended defendant several days after the incident as defendant was leaving the building at 4100 West Crenshaw. After being advised of his Miranda rights and the reason for his arrest, defendant stated “so the bitch called the police on me.” Following defendant’s arrest, his apartment was searched and several items were confiscated, including a travel bag, purse, electric heater, and two-burner hotplate. On February 28, 1990, McDonald and Kilmek went to the police station where they identified the items taken from defendant’s apartment as their property.

McDonald testified that she had known defendant since November 1988, when he had moved into the building. She initially helped defendant with his apartment, but their relationship, which she described as strictly friendly, eventually deteriorated, and she tried to get him out of the building. McDonald signed a theft complaint against defendant in August 1989.

Kilmek testified that he was present when McDonald and defendant argued, and he knew that she wanted defendant out of the building.

Defendant’s brother, Ricky Collins, testified in defendant’s behalf that McDonald was initially in defendant’s apartment most of the time but that their relationship changed when McDonald began demanding money from defendant. McDonald then began calling the police and reporting that defendant was stealing. He testified that McDonald used a circuit breaker to turn off the lights in defendant’s apartment. Although Ricky Collins stated that defendant had a hotplate in the apartment as well as a “radiator,” and that the “purses” found in the apartment belonged to a man and woman who had lived in the apartment for a period of time, on cross-examination he could not say how many purses were in the apartment or describe any of them. He also stated that defendant’s hotplate had one burner and that the portable heater was kerosene rather than electric.

Defendant testified that when he first moved into the building he had an agreement with McDonald that he would serve as the building maintenance man in exchange for not paying rent. He acknowledged on cross-examination that he stopped performing maintenance duties by June 1989, but did not pay any rent until February 1990. Defendant stated that he and McDonald had been lovers but when their relationship deteriorated, McDonald started calling the police and accusing defendant of stealing property. Defendant denied seeing McDonald and Kilmek in the building on the afternoon of February 23, 1990.

Defendant first contends that the trial court’s denial of his motion in limine was error because the evidence of his misdemeanor retail theft conviction was more prejudicial than probative. Defendant filed a motion in limine to preclude evidence of a misdemeanor theft conviction which occurred in 1986. The State sought to introduce this evidence to impeach defendant’s credibility. The State maintains that the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion was not error where it was based on proper consideration of the Montgomery factors.

In People v. Montgomery (1971), 47 Ill. 2d 510, 268 N.E.2d 695, the Illinois Supreme Court adopted the provisions of Rule 609 of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States as a standard for impeachment by evidence of a prior conviction. The rule provides in part as follows:

“ ‘(a) General Rule. For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, evidence that he has been convicted of a crime, except on a plea of nolo contendere, is admissible but only if the crime, (1) was punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year under the law under which he was convicted, or (2) involved dishonesty or false statement regardless of the punishment unless (3), in either case, the judge determines that the probative value of the evidence of the crime is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.
(b) Time limit. Evidence of a conviction under this rule is not admissible if a period of more than 10 years has elapsed since the date of the conviction or of the release of the witness from confinement, whichever is the later date.’ ” (Montgomery, 47 Ill. 2d at 516, quoting 51 F.R.D 391.)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
592 N.E.2d 217, 227 Ill. App. 3d 670, 169 Ill. Dec. 730, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 392, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-collins-illappct-1992.