People v. Elder

910 N.E.2d 202, 392 Ill. App. 3d 133, 331 Ill. Dec. 129, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 627
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 30, 2009
Docket4-08-0424
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 910 N.E.2d 202 (People v. Elder) 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. Elder, 910 N.E.2d 202, 392 Ill. App. 3d 133, 331 Ill. Dec. 129, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 627 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JUSTICE POPE

delivered the opinion of the court:

In December 2004, defendant, John C. Elder, was charged with burglary (720 ILCS 5/19 — 1 (West 2004)) and theft (720 ILCS 5/16 — 1 (West 2004)). In January 2008, a jury convicted defendant of theft but acquitted him on the burglary charge. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with credit for 362 days’ time served. Defendant appeals, arguing the trial court erred when it (1) denied his motion to suppress items listed on the search warrant because the descriptions were vague and overbroad and (2) failed to credit defendant for time he spent in custody in Arizona. We affirm as modified and remand with directions.

I. BACKGROUND

Between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on December 3, 2004, John Rutherford was walking home from a gas station on the north end of Springfield. As he approached his house on Calhoun Avenue, he noticed a dark-colored van sitting in a nearby lot and two men trying to get into the back of his garage. The men were wearing dark coats, and one of them had a silver or gray stripe down the sleeve. Rutherford went into the house and called the Sangamon County sheriffs department. When the sheriffs department and Springfield police arrived, Rutherford described the van and the two men he saw breaking into his garage.

Sergeant Dan Parrish was a deputy with the Sangamon County sheriffs department in December 2004. Around 3:40 a.m. on December 3, 2004, Sergeant Parrish pulled over defendant’s van after hearing a dispatch describing a van involved in an attempted burglary. After Sergeant Parrish explained to defendant why he pulled him over, defendant told Sergeant Parrish that he and his son, the passenger, were out on their newspaper route. Defendant gave Sergeant Parrish permission to search the van. Inside the van, Sergeant Parrish observed, among other things, some tools, two chain saws, a pry bar, and gloves. Defendant explained he had purchased one chain saw from a Big R store and the other from a private individual. However, Sergeant Parrish noticed one of the chain saws was stamped “Phil. Township,” indicating it was property of Philadelphia Township in Cass County. Sergeant Parrish contacted the Cass County sheriffs department and learned that some equipment had been stolen from the county. Sergeant Parrish immediately read defendant his Miranda rights (Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444-45, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 706-07, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 1612 (1966)), and questioned him about the attempted burglary at the Rutherford residence. Defendant admitted attempting to burglarize the Rutherford garage.

In December 2004, William Ratliff was field superintendent for Evans Construction (Evans). At the time, Evans was building new facilities for Black Hawk School in Springfield. On the morning of December 3, 2004, Ratliff received a phone call from an Evans carpenter, informing him someone had broken into the Evans work trailer at Black Hawk School during the night. Ratliff went to the job-site and found the door of the trailer had been pried open. A generator and hammer drill were missing.

Around 9 a.m. on December 3, 2004, Sangamon County deputy sheriff Claricel Agans-Dominquez visited defendant’s home. Defendant’s wife gave Deputy Agans-Dominquez and other officers permission to search inside and around the house. At defendant’s residence, Cass County detectives recovered a stolen power washer and other property stolen from their jurisdiction. During the search of defendant’s home, investigators found documents indicating defendant rented two storage units at Thriftee Storage.

Five days after defendant’s arrest, Captain Tom Henrickson of the Sangamon County sheriff’s department wrote an affidavit for a search warrant to search the two Thriftee Storage units. The affidavit provided the following information: (1) defendant had admitted to Cass County authorities that he was involved in approximately six burglaries in Cass County where he took a variety of equipment and tools; (2) the items stolen in Cass County included chain saws and a power washer recovered by Sangamon County authorities; (3) defendant also admitted taking other property in Cass County, including “a plasma welder,” “a DeWalt drill,” “the chain saws,” “numerous power tools, of various makes and models,” and “several hand tools and toolboxes”; (4) during the investigation, Captain Henrickson spoke with Mike Carr, an acquaintance of defendant’s who was out of prison on parole, about his involvement with defendant; (5) on the morning of December 3, 2004, defendant asked Carr to meet him at Thriftee Storage to help move some items to an undisclosed location; (6) inside storage unit 9, Carr observed a welder, a DeWalt power tool and other power tools, kitchen cabinets, and other property; (7) inside storage unit 27, Carr saw power tools, an air compressor, and plastic storage containers labeled “Evans Construction”; (8) Carr believed the items in the units were stolen and refused to help defendant move them; (9) defendant contacted Carr the following day and offered to pay him to help; (10) Carr reiterated he did not want to be involved in illegal activity and refused to help; and (11) defendant did not deny to Carr that the items in the units were stolen.

The search warrant submitted with the affidavit listed the items to be seized as “any and all power tools, hand tools, welders, guns, kitchen cabinets and appliances, air compressors, other property[,] or other evidence of criminal activity.”

Once the officers gained authorized entry to both storage units, they observed more than 200 tools, including a Titan generator and a power hammer drill. Of the approximately 200 tools retrieved from the units, 50 were returned to the identifiable owners and 150 remained with the sheriffs department.

In December 2004, the State charged defendant with (1) burglary for entering an Evans Construction Company building with the intent to commit a theft, and (2) theft, for exerting unauthorized control over a Titan generator belonging to Evans Construction. During the pendency of the case and while defendant was out on bond, he left the state and traveled to Arizona. In August 2007, defendant was detained in Arizona and was returned to Illinois in September 2007. At his January 2008 trial, defendant was convicted of theft and sentenced as stated.

This appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Motion To Suppress

In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress, we first consider whether the trial court made and relied on any factual findings. People v. Capuzi, 308 Ill. App. 3d 425, 430, 720 N.E.2d 662, 666 (1999). Those findings will not be disturbed on appeal unless they are manifestly erroneous. People v. Sorenson, 196 Ill. 2d 425, 430-31, 752 N.E.2d 1078, 1083 (2001). However, we review de novo the trial court’s ultimate decision denying defendant’s motion to suppress. People v. Pitman, 211 Ill. 2d 502, 512,

Related

People v. Pacheco
2013 IL App (4th) 110409 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2013)
People v. Perry
2011 IL App (1st) 81228 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
People v. Rinehart
943 N.E.2d 698 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2010)
People v. Williams
917 N.E.2d 547 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
910 N.E.2d 202, 392 Ill. App. 3d 133, 331 Ill. Dec. 129, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 627, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-elder-illappct-2009.