People v. Favela

681 N.E.2d 582, 288 Ill. App. 3d 85, 224 Ill. Dec. 267, 1997 Ill. App. LEXIS 287
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 13, 1997
Docket3-96-0754
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 681 N.E.2d 582 (People v. Favela) 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. Favela, 681 N.E.2d 582, 288 Ill. App. 3d 85, 224 Ill. Dec. 267, 1997 Ill. App. LEXIS 287 (Ill. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

JUSTICE HOMER

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, the defendant, Alberto Favela, was convicted of possession with intent to deliver more than 5,000 grams of cannabis (720 ILCS 550/5(g) (West Supp. 1995)). He was sentenced to a 14-year term of imprisonment. The defendant appeals, contending that: (1) the warrant issued to search his place of business was defective; and (2) defense counsel was ineffective for failing to move to quash the search warrant. We affirm.

FACTS

On the morning of January 25, 1996, the Quad City Metropolitan Enforcement Group (MEG) obtained two search warrants in connection with three boxes that weighed a total of 152 pounds and were destined for delivery to the defendant’s place of business, Alberto’s Hair Design (Alberto’s), at 2125 16th Street, Moline, Illinois. One of the boxes had broken open in transit on Emery Air Freight and contained smaller, taped packages. Personnel from Emery Air Freight suspected that the packages contained cannabis and called the police. After a police canine alerted on all three boxes, Agent Jay Titus obtained the first search warrant. Pursuant to that warrant, the officers took core samples of the contents of the three boxes and installed a beeper device in one of them to monitor when it was next opened. The samples tested positive for cannabis.

Agent Rick Ryckeghem then swore out a complaint for the second search warrant, alleging that the MEG team intended to make a controlled delivery of the three boxes and surveil the defendant’s place of business until the boxes were opened. At 11:50 a.m., the circuit judge issued the second warrant, authorizing the agents to search Alberto’s within 96 hours for cannabis and evidence of cannabis trafficking.

Around 12:10 p.m., MEG agent Randy Wilson, posing as an Emery World Wide employee, delivered the three boxes to Alberto’s. At the time, the defendant was cutting one customer’s hair, and a third man was seated in another chair in the salon area. The third man accompanied Wilson back to the delivery van and carried one of the boxes inside. Wilson placed the box with the beeper on the floor inside the front door. When he returned with the third box, he noted that the box with the beeper had been removed. Wilson asked where to place the third box, and the defendant said to set it on the floor. The third man then signed the shipping bill as "Alberto Juarez.”

Officer Dale Sievert testified that he surveilled Alberto’s that afternoon. None of the boxes left the premises. Around 5:45 p.m., Sievert and two other agents executed the second search warrant as the defendant was closing the salon. The boxes were not in sight, but the officers observed a locked door in the office area. The defendant opened the door to a closet, which contained the three boxes earlier delivered by Wilson. An agent noted that one of the boxes had been opened, and the defendant admitted that he knew the boxes contained marijuana.

At trial, in addition to the foregoing evidence, the parties stipulated that the three boxes contained over 20,000 grams of cannabis. The jury subsequently found the defendant guilty of possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, as charged.

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

On appeal, the defendant argues that the warrant authorizing the search of his place of business was statutorily and facially invalid. Because the issue was waived for failure to present it in a pretrial motion to quash, the defendant also contends that he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

1. Validity of Search Warrant

The defendant argues that: (1) section 108 — 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (the Code) (725 ILCS 5/108 — 3 (West Supp. 1995)) does not authorize anticipatory search warrants; and (2) the warrant, if not statutorily infirm, was defective for failure to state on its face that the search was contingent on the delivery of the cannabis to the defendant’s place of business.

The State initially argues, and we agree, that the legislature amended section 108 — 3(a)(1) with the intent to authorize anticipatory warrants, following our supreme court’s decision in People v. Ross, 168 Ill. 2d 347, 659 N.E.2d 1319 (1995). Ross held that the prior statute did not authorize the issuance of anticipatory search warrants. The prior statute authorized the issuance of warrants for articles "which have been used in the commission of, or which may constitute evidence of, the offense in connection with which the warrant is issued.” 725 ILCS 5/108 — 3(a)(1) (West 1992). The court found this language ambiguous as to whether a warrant could be issued for evidence of future offenses.

The Ross court then contrasted the language of the Illinois statute with its counterpart in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. Federal Rule 41(b) authorizes warrants, inter alia, for "(3) property designed or intended for use or which is or has been used as the means of committing a criminal offense.” Fed. R. Crim. P. 41(b)(3). This part of the federal rule, the court observed, "explicitly sanctions the use of anticipatory search warrants.” Ross, 168 Ill. 2d at 352 n.2, 659 N.E.2d at 1321 n.2.

Responding to Ross, the legislature amended section 108— 3(a)(1) of the Code prior to the issuance of the instant search warrant. Effective August 18, 1995, the amended statute allows for the issuance of search warrants for "articles or things designed or intended for use or which are or have been used in the commission of, or which may constitute evidence of, the offense in connection with which the warrant is issued; or contraband, the fruits of crime, or things otherwise criminally possessed.” (Emphasis added.) 725 ILCS 5/108 — 3 (West Supp. 1995). The italicized provisions were added by the amendment. By adopting much of the language of Federal Rule 41(b), the legislature obviously intended to conform this state’s law to the federal law and permit the issuance of anticipatory search warrants.

The defendant argues that, since the amended statute retains the words "the offense,” it remains ambiguous. See Ross, 168 Ill. 2d at 351, 659 N.E.2d at 1320 (court construed "the offense” as denoting that an offense had already been committed). However, since legislative intent controls in construing the statute, the retention of the words "i/ie offense,” rather than "an offense,” does not alter our conclusion that the statute, as amended, now authorizes the issuance of anticipatory warrants.

The defendant also argues that the anticipatory warrant issued in this case was defective on its face for failure to state that it could not be executed unless the contraband was delivered. We do not agree.

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Bluebook (online)
681 N.E.2d 582, 288 Ill. App. 3d 85, 224 Ill. Dec. 267, 1997 Ill. App. LEXIS 287, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-favela-illappct-1997.