People v. Dillard

Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 27, 2026·No. 1-24-1656·Unpublished

Opinion

2026 IL App (1st) 241656-U No. 1-24-1656

Order filed August 27, 2026 Fourth Division

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of

Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County.

)

v. ) No. 22 CR 06348 )

RAHSAAN DILLARD, ) Honorable ) Michael R. Clancy,

Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE NAVARRO delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Ocasio and Quish concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: We affirm defendant’s convictions for robbery and domestic battery where (1) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of defendant’s prior acts of domestic violence, (2) defendant’s counsel did not provide ineffective assistance, and (3) defendant’s time on GPS monitoring did not constitute custody or home detention eligible for sentencing credit.

¶2 Following a bench trial, defendant Rahsaan Dillard was convicted of robbery and domestic battery and sentenced to concurrent terms of 3 years in prison and 180 days in the Cook County Department of Corrections, respectively. On appeal, he contends that the trial court erred in

admitting other-crimes evidence and that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to have such evidence excluded. Defendant also argues that he is owed more sentencing credit for his time on GPS monitoring. We affirm.

¶3 Following an incident on March 22, 2022, between defendant and Malissa W. (Malissa), defendant was charged with robbing Malissa of her cellphone and keys (720 ILCS 5/18-1(a) (West 2022)), theft of the cellphone and keys (id. § 16-1(a)(1)), and domestic battery for striking Malissa “with closed fists and kicks” (id. § 12-3.2(a)(1)). After defendant’s arrest, he was released on cash bond.

¶4 On August 25, 2023, the State filed a pretrial motion to admit proof of defendant’s uncharged acts of domestic violence pursuant to section 115-7.4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code of Criminal Procedure) (725 ILCS 5/115-7.4 (West 2022)). The State described the charged offense, and six prior incidents occurring on April 24, 2021; February 26 and 27, 2022; and March 2 and 3, 2022. The State argued that the prior incidents occurred within a year of the charged offense and similarly involved defendant damaging property, threatening Malissa, and calling her a “b***.”

¶5 At the hearing on the motion, defense counsel argued that section 115-7.4 did not allow admission of “made up” allegations. Counsel asserted that defendant had filed a complaint against Malissa with the Chicago Police Department alleging that she had stolen approximately $30,000 from him. According to counsel, Malissa “began filing the alleged cases” after defendant asked her to return the funds.

¶6 On September 25, 2023, the trial court ruled that evidence of the prior incidents was admissible “to show intent, lack of mistake, motive, or propensity.” The court considered the prior

incidents’ proximity to the charged offense, observing that all but one incident occurred within one month of the charged offense, and the least proximate incident happened within a year of the charged offense. The court additionally considered the “degree of factual similarity” between the prior incidents and the charged offense, noting they “involve[d] threats,” “damaging property,” and “stealing property,” and that the three incidents allegedly occurred at Malissa’s residence. Further, defendant had allegedly called Malissa a “b***” in the charged offense and in two prior incidents. The court explained that it had “weighed the probative value of the evidence against the prejudicial effect” on defendant and found that the former outweighed the latter.

¶7 At a pretrial status conference on February 6, 2024, the trial court stated that “a prior [j]udge” had placed defendant on GPS monitoring to distance him from Malissa and her family. The court entered an order continuing defendant’s GPS monitoring.

¶8 Before trial commenced on June 6, 2024, the trial court and the parties discussed defendant’s accrued sentencing credit under the Unified Code of Corrections (Code of Corrections) (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-100(b) (West 2022)). Per the discussion, defendant’s GPS monitoring excluded him from certain zones, including his regular commute on the Eisenhower Expressway. He also wore his GPS-monitoring device while hospitalized. The court stated that defendant would not receive sentencing credit for time spent on GPS monitoring because he was not “in his house *** in a detention situation.” The court also noted that the GPS monitoring was not subject to curfew and that defendant’s hospitalization was unrelated to time in custody.

¶9 The trial court also held a conference pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 402 (eff. July 1, 2012) and admonished defendant that it would hear what the State believed the facts would show and any prior criminal history. The court advised defendant that he could not “ask for a new

Judge just because [it] heard the information” that may be presented at trial or sentencing. During the conference, the State detailed defendant’s prior acts of domestic violence. After the conference, the court set the case for trial.

¶ 10 We set forth only the evidence relevant to the issues raised on appeal.

¶ 11 At trial, Douglas Yang testified that he lived in a unit below Malissa’s residence in an apartment building that Yang owned. During the night of April 23 into April 24, 2021, Malissa’s back door alarm activated, waking Yang. Sensors triggered the alarm if the door opened, so Yang surmised that someone was knocking on Malissa’s door hard enough to activate the sensors. When the alarm kept ringing, Yang went outside and encountered a man wearing orange clothing. The man left without identifying himself but returned once or twice later that night.

¶ 12 Around 2 p.m. on April 24, 2021, Yang heard a “thud” outside his open front window. Yang went outside and observed Malissa’s Mercedes-Benz with a shattered rear window and damaged driver’s side window. He found a large rock inside the vehicle. The State published a photograph of Malissa’s damaged Mercedes-Benz, which is included in the record on appeal and depicts a hole smashed in the vehicle’s rear window.

¶ 13 Afterwards, while Yang spoke to police outside the building, he saw a black SUV driven by a black man with a “slightly larger build” and wearing an orange outfit. The vehicle slowed in front of the building before speeding away. Yang recognized the driver as the man who had knocked on Malissa’s back door.

¶ 14 On cross-examination, Yang testified that the man knocking on Malissa’s door stated that she had asked him to come to her apartment. Yang did not see anyone throw the rock through the vehicle’s window.

¶ 15 On redirect examination, Yang identified defendant in court as the man who knocked on Malissa’s door. Yang could not “say for sure” that defendant drove the black SUV, but “his build and the item he was wearing matche[d] the description in [his] mind.”

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People v. Dillard, (Ill. Ct. App. 2026).

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