People v. Crotty

914 N.E.2d 1269, 394 Ill. App. 3d 651, 333 Ill. Dec. 457, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 894
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 10, 2009
Docket2-07-0194
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 914 N.E.2d 1269 (People v. Crotty) 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. Crotty, 914 N.E.2d 1269, 394 Ill. App. 3d 651, 333 Ill. Dec. 457, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 894 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JUSTICE BOWMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Johnathan D. Crotty, was charged with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in violation of section 401(c)(2) of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (Act) (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 2006)). On November 30, 2006, the trial court granted defendant’s motion to suppress evidence. The State moved for reconsideration, and the trial court denied that motion on January 12, 2007. The State filed a certificate of impairment and timely appealed the trial court’s order, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1) (210 Ill. 2d R. 604(a)(1)). 1 We reverse and remand.

On June 20, 2006, defendant was charged by complaint with one count of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/ 401(c)(2) (West 2006)) for delivering more than 1 gram but less than 15 grams of cocaine on May 5, 2006, in Naperville. On August 28, 2006, defendant moved to suppress evidence, alleging that Naperville police detectives improperly interrogated him after he invoked his right to counsel.

The trial court heard defendant’s motion on November 30, 2006. Detective Richard Arsenault of the Naperville police department testified for the State. On May 5, 2006, around 4 p.m., Detective Arsenault was at the Naperville police department jail, where he had two people in custody as a result of a drug investigation. He and another detective met with defendant in an interview room in the jail. Detective Arsenault read defendant his Miranda rights from a preprinted form and had defendant initial next to each right if he understood it. Detective Arsenault then asked defendant to read a waiver and to sign it if he wanted to speak with the detectives. Defendant signed the waiver and initialed each right on the form. Defendant denied any involvement in the crime that Detective Arsenault was investigating. Detective Arsenault asked to look at defendant’s cellular phone and defendant consented. Detective Arsenault located a phone number that he recognized on the phone, and he confronted defendant with it. Defendant said that he did not know how the number had gotten into his phone and that possibly the codefendant had stored the number in his phone. Defendant then asked to speak with an attorney before any further questioning.

After defendant requested an attorney, Detective Arsenault terminated the interview and returned defendant to his cell. Detective Arsenault went to his office, which was at the other end of the building. Detective Arsenault discussed with other members of his narcotics unit whether any search warrants would be executed in relation to defendant’s case. None of the officers involved were near defendant’s cell after he invoked his right to counsel. Approximately IV2 hours after the termination of the interview, Detective Arsenault was summoned to the jail because defendant was asking to speak with somebody. At approximately 5:40 p.m., Detective Arsenault proceeded to the jail, and defendant asked him what was happening at that point. Defendant asked what the process that he would be going through consisted of. Detective Arsenault told defendant that at that point, an assistant State’s Attorney would be contacted and would review the facts of the case. He further told defendant that if he were charged, he would be transported to the Du Page County jail and in the morning he would have to appear in front of a bond court judge. He told defendant that the bond court judge would set a bond for him. Defendant then told Detective Arsenault that he wanted to talk again. Detective Arsenault advised defendant that he previously stated that he wanted an attorney and that he would not speak with him. Defendant responded that he wanted to talk to Detective Arsenault again. At that point, Detective Arsenault contacted Detective Kammerer and asked him to return to the jail because defendant wanted to speak to them.

When Detective Kammerer returned to the jail, the detectives presented defendant with a new Miranda waiver form and again advised him of his Miranda rights. They asked defendant to initial the Miranda form if he understood the rights and to sign the waiver if he chose to do so. Defendant initialed the second Miranda form and signed the second waiver. The detectives then interviewed defendant for the second time and defendant gave a statement. Detective Arsenault denied that any of his interactions with defendant involved threatening language, promises, or yelling. On cross-examination, Detective Arsenault stated that he was not certain that he informed defendant when he would appear in front of a bond court judge if he were charged. However, Detective Arsenault stated that, if he did, he would have told defendant that it would take place sometime in the morning. When defendant said that he wanted to speak to him again, Detective Arsenault believed that he wanted to talk about the investigation and not about the process and that this was the reason Detective Arsenault called Detective Kammerer and re-Mirandized defendant.

On redirect, Detective Arsenault denied giving defendant any information related to the strength of his case, the evidence that was being gathered, or the status of any search warrants. He also did not provide any information regarding any statements that the codefendant made.

After hearing the testimony and the parties’ arguments, the trial court stated that it found People v, Flores, 315 Ill. App. 3d 387 (2000), controlling, although it disagreed with the holding of that case. The trial court also noted that defendant was being held in the jail where a jailer would be available to answer routine questions, yet Detective Arsenault was specifically called to speak with defendant. Defendant asked Detective Arsenault about what was going to happen and he was not then re-Mirandized. In light of the facts and circumstances and the relevant case law, the trial court granted defendant’s motion to suppress.

On December 26, 2006, the State moved for reconsideration and argued that Detective Arsenault did not interrogate defendant when he answered his question. On January 12, 2007, the trial court heard the motion for reconsideration and denied it. On appeal, the State argues that this court should not follow Flores, because it was an “aberration on the legal landscape” of the body of law surrounding Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 86 S. Ct. 1602 (1966). The State argues that two factors must be considered as to whether defendant’s rights were violated where he gave a statement after having asserted his right to counsel and new Miranda warnings did not precede the inculpatory statements: (1) whether defendant initiated the renewed contact with the police, and (2) if police did not re-Mirandize defendant, whether the exchange constituted an interrogation such that the police knew or should have known that their statements or questions were likely to elicit an incriminating response. The State asserts that it was undisputed that defendant in this case renewed contact with Detective Arsenault, and that the dispute concerns whether the exchange was an interrogation or its functional equivalent.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
914 N.E.2d 1269, 394 Ill. App. 3d 651, 333 Ill. Dec. 457, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-crotty-illappct-2009.