People v. Duncan

2023 IL App (5th) 200283-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 6, 2023
Docket5-20-0283
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2023 IL App (5th) 200283-U (People v. Duncan) 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. Duncan, 2023 IL App (5th) 200283-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

NOTICE 2023 IL App (5th) 200283-U NOTICE Decision filed 01/06/23. The This order was filed under text of this decision may be NO. 5-20-0283 Supreme Court Rule 23 and is changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Petition for not precedent except in the

Rehearing or the disposition of IN THE limited circumstances allowed the same. under Rule 23(e)(1). APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIFTH DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Marion County. ) v. ) No. 16-CF-182 ) D’SHAWN DUNCAN, ) Honorable ) J. Marc Kelly, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

PRESIDING JUSTICE BOIE delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Welch and Vaughan concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: Where there is no arguable basis for reversing or vacating any portion of the judgment of conviction, the defendant’s appointed appellate attorney is granted leave to withdraw, and the judgment of conviction is affirmed.

¶2 The defendant, D’Shawn Duncan, appeals from a judgment of conviction that was entered

after a jury found him guilty of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance within 500

feet of a public park. He was sentenced to imprisonment. Currently, he is serving a term of

mandatory supervised release (MSR). His appointed attorney on appeal, the Office of the State

Appellate Defender (OSAD), has concluded that this appeal lacks merit, and on that basis OSAD

has filed with this court a motion to withdraw as counsel and a memorandum of law in support of

the motion. See Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967). This court granted the defendant

ample opportunity to file a written response to OSAD’s motion, or a brief, memorandum, etc.,

1 explaining why this appeal has merit, but he has not taken advantage of that opportunity. Having

examined OSAD’s Anders motion and memorandum, along with the entire record on appeal, this

court agrees with OSAD that this appeal has no merit. Accordingly, OSAD is granted leave to

withdraw as counsel on appeal, and the judgment of conviction, entered by the circuit court of

Marion County, is affirmed.

¶3 BACKGROUND

¶4 In June 2016, the defendant was charged by information with possession with intent to

deliver a controlled substance, specifically, less than one gram of a substance containing heroin, a

Class 2 felony. See 720 ILCS 570/401(d) (West 2016). The information alleged that he possessed

the substance within 1000 feet of a school, making the offense a Class 1 felony. See id.

§ 407(b)(2). The information also stated that due to a prior conviction for the Class 1 felony of

residential burglary, the charge was not probationable, and the defendant was eligible for extended-

term sentencing.

¶5 There followed many delays attributable to the defendant. For approximately one year, the

defendant was a fugitive. Eventually, he was extradited from Kentucky, and the case resumed.

¶6 On November 7, 2019, the State and the defendant pro se appeared before the circuit court.

The State moved to amend the information so as to allege that he possessed the heroin within 500

feet of a public park. See 720 ILCS 570/407(b)(2) (West 2018). All other aspects of the

information remained the same. Over the defendant’s objection, the circuit court allowed the

amendment. (The amendment of the charge reflected an amendment of the criminal statute, which

went into effect while the defendant was a fugitive.)

¶7 The State also filed two motions in limine. The first such motion sought the circuit court’s

ruling on whether it could impeach the defendant’s credibility as a witness with his prior conviction

2 for residential burglary in Marion County case No. 13-CF-87, in the event the defendant chose to

testify at his trial. (For that residential-burglary conviction, the defendant was sentenced to

imprisonment for four years.) At a hearing, the defendant, through appointed counsel, opposed

the State’s motion, on the ground of unfair prejudice. Finding that the prior conviction concerned

“honesty” and that “any unfair prejudicial effects would be minimal in this case,” the court granted

the motion.

¶8 In the other motion in limine, the State sought a ruling on whether it could offer into

evidence a portion of a recorded police interview with the defendant, a portion that concerned

“prior bad acts / other crimes” committed by the defendant. According to the motion, the recording

included the defendant’s stating that “his brother sent him to Family Dollar on [June 3, 2016, the

date of the instant offense] to make $60.00 for his brother and in return his brother would give him

$10.” The defendant also discussed “how this is the second time he has done this for his brother.”

Then, the police interrogator told the defendant that he was aware that the Centralia Police

Department had “a couple of prior buys on the defendant,” and that he was not sure whether the

defendant was merely helping his brother or starting out on his own. The defendant responded

with, “I told you, man, I can’t sell that shit on my own.” The State argued in its motion that this

other-crimes evidence was relevant to show something other than a propensity to commit crimes—

it showed the defendant’s intent, and the absence of mistake or accident. At a hearing on this

motion, the defendant, through appointed counsel, objected to the motion, stating, inter alia, that

the other-crimes evidence showed only a propensity to commit crimes. The court granted the

State’s motion, allowing the other-crimes evidence to come in.

¶9 In February 2020, a trial by jury was held. The defendant was represented by appointed

counsel. During voir dire, the circuit court addressed, sequentially, two groups of 14 prospective

3 jurors. All the petit jurors, plus an alternate, were selected from those two 14-person groups. The

court asked each group about the four principles enunciated in Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b)

(eff. July 1, 2012), i.e., (1) that the defendant is presumed innocent of the charge against him,

(2) that before a defendant can be convicted, the State must prove him guilty beyond a reasonable

doubt, (3) that the defendant is not required to offer any evidence on his own behalf, and (4) that

if a defendant does not testify, it cannot be held against him. The court inquired about the four

principles one at a time, asking, “Do you understand and accept,” then stating the principle, and

finally asking for a show of hands on whether anyone did not understand or accept the principle.

Not a hand was raised concerning any of the four principles, among the members of either group

of 14. Eventually, a jury was selected.

¶ 10 The State presented its case in chief. Ryan Castleman, a detective with the Marion County

Sheriff’s Office, testified that on June 2, 2016, he possessed the cell phone of Casey Harrington, a

“confidential source” of Castleman who had died the previous evening. At 1:47 p.m., this phone

received a text message from “Tezz A,” which read simply, “Tar.” From his training and

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Related

People v. Duncan
2024 IL App (5th) 230538-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2024)

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2023 IL App (5th) 200283-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-duncan-illappct-2023.