People v. Foresta

2021 IL App (2d) 190434-U

• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois
• Decided: March 22, 2021
• Docket: 2-19-0434
• Status: Unpublished

Opinion

2021 IL App (2d) 190434-U No. 2-19-0434 Order filed March 22, 2021

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

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court OF ILLINOIS, ) of Du Page County. ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) ) v. ) No. 18-CM-1657 ) JOHN J. FORESTA, ) Honorable ) Brian W. Jacobs, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________

PRESIDING JUSTICE BRIDGES delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Hutchinson and Hudson concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: At defendant’s bench trial for resisting police officers who were seizing him for transport to a hospital for evaluation, (1) the trial court properly relied on hearsay statements, not for the truth of the matter asserted, i.e., that defendant might be suicidal, but to explain why the officers decided to transport defendant to the hospital; and (2) the evidence was sufficient to show that the officers were performing a proper community-caretaking function, and thus an authorized act, in seizing defendant for transport to the hospital.

¶2 Defendant, John J. Foresta, appeals from his conviction in the circuit court of Du Page

County of resisting or obstructing a peace officer (720 ILCS 5/31-1 (West 2018)). He contends

that the trial court improperly considered hearsay evidence and that the remaining evidence was 2021 IL App (2d) 190434-U

insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that police officers were engaged in an authorized

act when defendant resisted. Because the court did not consider the hearsay evidence for an

improper purpose and the evidence established that the officers were involved in a community-

caretaking function when defendant resisted, we affirm.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 Defendant was charged by complaint with one count of resisting or obstructing a peace

officer (720 ILCS 5/31-1 (West 2018)). Defendant opted for a bench trial.

¶5 The following facts were established at defendant’s trial. On July 17, 2018, at

approximately 10 p.m., Officer Marlys Gilbert of the Woodridge Police Department was in

uniform and on patrol when she was dispatched via radio to a residence on Meadowdale Lane to

“check on [the] well-being” of defendant. When Officer Gilberts was asked why she had been sent

to check on defendant’s well-being, defendant objected based on hearsay. The trial court overruled

the objection, and Officer Gilbert testified that defendant’s ex-girlfriend had called the police

department to report that she had received a Snapchat video that caused her to think that defendant

was going to kill himself. When defendant again objected to that testimony as hearsay, the court

overruled the objection, explaining that it was not being offered for the truth of the matter asserted

but rather to show the reason why Officer Gilbert went to the residence on Meadowdale Lane.

Officer James Rion of the Woodridge Police Department testified that he received a radio dispatch

regarding a “suicidal subject” at a residence on Meadowdale Lane. He responded and joined

Gilbert at the residence.

¶6 According to Officer Gilbert, after arriving with other officers, she encountered defendant

outside in front of the house. When the officers spoke to defendant, he was cooperative at times

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and at other times was almost belligerent. According to Officer Rion, defendant denied being

suicidal.

¶7 When defendant told the officers that he lived there with his elderly aunt, Officer Gilbert

asked defendant if she could speak to his aunt. Defendant agreed but told the officers that, because

he did not want them to go in the house, he would go inside and wake up his aunt. The officers

allowed defendant to enter the house alone.

¶8 As the officers waited outside, Officer Gilbert yelled through the door, asking defendant’s

aunt if it would be easier if they came in. The officers then entered the house.

¶9 At one point, the officers told defendant that they had called for paramedics to come and

speak with defendant. Officer Rion testified that they called for paramedics because of the

information that they had gathered from the “reporting party” as well as the fact that defendant

had gone into an area of the house where the “suicidal videos” allegedly were made. After the

paramedics arrived, they spoke with defendant. In doing so, they “evaluated [defendant] with

questions.” According to Officer Gilbert, after the paramedics spoke with defendant, they called a

hospital and spoke to a doctor as to whether defendant needed to go to the hospital.

¶ 10 When Officer Gilbert was asked what the paramedics told her, defendant objected based

on hearsay. The trial court overruled the objection because the testimony was being offered to

explain the officers’ further conduct. Officer Gilbert then testified that the paramedics, after

speaking with the doctor, told the officers that defendant would have to be transported to the

hospital. When defendant objected again based on hearsay, the court overruled the objection and

allowed the testimony to show the officers’ course of conduct. When Officer Rion testified that,

after calling the hospital, the paramedics told the officers that defendant had to go to the hospital,

defendant yet again objected based on hearsay. The court again overruled the objection and

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allowed the testimony only for the course of conduct of the officers and not for the truth of the

matter asserted.

¶ 11 As the paramedics were preparing to transport defendant to the hospital, the officers told

defendant that he would have to go to the hospital. Defendant responded that he was not going to

the hospital and that they could not make him. For several minutes, the officers went back and

forth with defendant, trying to explain to him why he needed to go to the hospital.

¶ 12 At one point, defendant said that he was going to go in the house and started to walk toward

the front door. Officer Rion, who was standing between defendant and the front door, put his hand

on defendant’s chest. Officer Gilbert then took hold of defendant’s right arm and Officer Rion

took hold of defendant’s left arm. As they walked defendant toward the stretcher, Officer Rion

asked defendant if he was going to sit on the stretcher willingly or if he needed to be handcuffed.

Defendant then clenched his left arm and bent it toward his chest. Because defendant was resisting,

Officer Rion struck defendant’s left leg with his knee and applied a straight-arm-bar takedown.

Once defendant was on the ground, he was handcuffed and put on the stretcher. When Officer Rion

told defendant that, if he had voluntarily sat on the stretcher they would not have had to take him

down and handcuff him, defendant agreed and apologized. On cross-examination, Officer Rion

denied striking defendant with either his hands or a club.

¶ 13 Defendant’s father, Joseph Foresta, testified on defendant’s behalf. At around 10 p.m., on

July 17, 2018, Joseph was sitting at home watching television when he received a phone call from

his daughter that the police were at defendant’s house. Because he lived close by, Joseph walked

to defendant’s house. He stayed in the shadows a few houses away and observed the situation.

¶ 14 Joseph saw three officers removing defendant from the house. He saw the one male officer

hit defendant’s legs a few times with a club. Once the officers got defendant on the ground, they

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put him on the gurney and into the ambulance. When Joseph approached and identified himself to

the officers, they would not let him speak to defendant. He was told that defendant was being taken

to the hospital to be evaluated as a suicide risk. Joseph went to the hospital and, after waiting two

hours, took defendant home. Joseph denied that defendant was ever suicidal.

¶ 15 In finding defendant guilty, the trial court found that, because they wore uniforms,

defendant knew the officers were peace officers. In assessing whether the evidence was sufficient

to prove that the officers were engaged in an authorized act, the court noted that it did not “find

much of [the evidence] relevant to *** whether or not the defendant was actually suicidal or not.”

The court added that whether defendant was actually suicidal was “not important to this Court.”

The court further noted that, when an officer receives information that someone is suicidal, it

would “certainly fall within the community caretaking function of an officer.” The court explained

that it is not for an officer to decide whether someone is actually suicidal. Rather, when an officer

is notified that a person might be suicidal, his “official capacity is to transport the [person] to the

hospital.” The court further found that the officers were not acting for the purpose of investigating

a crime.

¶ 16 Defendant moved to reconsider, contending that once defendant said that he was not

suicidal and tried to enter his home, the officers were no longer engaged in community caretaking.

Defendant further claimed that the trial court improperly considered—as proof that the defendant

was actually suicidal—the hearsay evidence regarding what the officers were told by defendant’s

ex-girlfriend and the paramedics.

¶ 17 The trial court rejected defendant’s contentions and denied the motion to reconsider. The

court sentenced defendant to six months’ court supervision, and defendant filed this timely appeal.

¶ 18 II. ANALYSIS

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¶ 19 On appeal, defendant contends: (1) the trial court improperly considered the hearsay

statements by defendant’s ex-girlfriend and the paramedics for the truth of the matter asserted; and

(2) the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers were engaged in an

authorized act when they seized him and forced him to go to the hospital.1

¶ 20 When a defendant challenges on appeal the sufficiency of the evidence, we ask whether,

after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational trier of fact

could have found the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Beauchamp,

241 Ill. 2d 1, 8 (2011). When a defendant is charged with resisting or obstructing a peace officer,

the State is required to prove, among other things, that he knowingly obstructed a police officer

while engaged in an “authorized act within his or her official capacity.” 720 ILCS 5/31-1(a) (West

2018). Thus, if the officers were not engaged in an authorized act when the defendant resisted, his

conviction must be reversed. People v. Slaymaker, 2015 IL App (2d) 130528, ¶ 12.

¶ 21 We will first address whether the trial court relied improperly on hearsay evidence in

finding that the officers were engaged in an authorized act. It did not.

¶ 22 “’Hearsay’ is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial

or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." Illinois Rule of Evidence

801(c) (eff. Oct. 15, 2015). However, out-of-court statements are not inadmissible hearsay if

offered for the limited purpose of showing the course of conduct of the police to fully explain the

1 Although defendant asserts, in part, that the officers were not authorized to seize him

under section 3-606 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code (405 ILCS 5/3-

606 (West 2018)), the State responds that it does not contend that the officers’ actions were

authorized by that provision. Thus, we do not decide that issue.

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State’s case to the trier of fact. Jura, 352 Ill. App. 3d at 1085; see also People v. Rush, 401 Ill.

App. 3d 1, 15 (2010) (a statement is admissible if offered for the limited purpose of explaining

why the police acted as they did). Admissibility of evidence is within the discretion of the trial

court, and its ruling will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Jura, 352 Ill. App. 3d at

1085. In a bench trial, it is presumed that the trial court considered only competent evidence.

People v. Naylor, 229 Ill. 2d 584, 603 (2008). That presumption is overcome, however, where the

record affirmatively shows that the trial court considered improper evidence. Naylor, 229 Ill. 2d

at 603-04.

¶ 23 Defendant does not dispute that the trial court properly admitted the hearsay statements of

defendant’s ex-girlfriend and the paramedics for the limited purpose of showing why the officers

acted as they did. Rather, defendant asserts that the trial court improperly relied on those statements

for the truth of the matter asserted: that defendant was actually suicidal. We disagree.

¶ 24 In allowing the officers to testify to the out-of-court statements, the trial court expressly

ruled that it was doing so for the limited purpose of showing their course of conduct. We thus

presume that the court considered them only for that limited purpose. The record does not

affirmatively show otherwise. Indeed, in finding defendant guilty, the court noted that little of the

evidence was relevant to whether defendant was actually suicidal, and, more importantly, the court

considered it unimportant whether defendant was in fact suicidal. The court explained that it is not

for an officer to decide whether a person is actually suicidal; rather, when an officer has

information that a person might be suicidal, the officer is authorized to transport that person to a

hospital. In our view, those comments clearly show that the court did not consider the out-of-court

statements for the truth of the matter asserted. Rather, the court relied on those statements solely

for assessing whether the officers had reason to believe that defendant might be suicidal and thus

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were authorized to act accordingly. Thus, the court did not rely on the hearsay evidence for an

improper purpose.

¶ 25 We next address whether the evidence, including the out-of-court statements, was

sufficient to prove defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. It was.

¶ 26 Defendant’s specific challenge is that the State failed to prove that the officers had the

authorization to seize defendant. The State asserts that the officers’ conduct in seizing defendant

and forcing him to go to the hospital was authorized as a community-caretaking function. We

agree.

¶ 27 In People v. McDonough, our supreme court explained that community caretaking refers

to a function of the police in which they perform some task unrelated to the investigation of crime,

such as assisting the public. People v. McDonough, 239 Ill. 2d 260, 269 (2006). For the doctrine

to apply, two considerations must be present. McDonough, 239 Ill. 2d at 272. First, the officer’s

actions, viewed objectively, must involve some function other than investigating a crime.

McDonough, 239 Ill. 2d at 272. Second, a search or seizure resulting from such actions must be

objectively reasonable in light of the public-safety function engaged in by the officer. McDonough,

239 Ill. 2d at 272. In determining whether a search or seizure was justified pursuant to the

community-caretaking doctrine, a court must balance a citizen’s interest in going about his

business free from police interference against the public’s interest in having police officers perform

services in addition to strictly law enforcement. McDonough, 239 Ill. 2d at 272.

¶ 28 Here, the officers’ actions clearly fell within the ambit of the community-caretaking

doctrine. First, the officers were not involved in investigating a crime. Indeed, they were

performing a public-safety function. The officers were aware of a report by defendant’s ex-

girlfriend that he might be suicidal. After encountering defendant at his home, the officers called

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for paramedics to obtain an on-scene evaluation of whether defendant might be a threat to himself.

After questioning defendant, the paramedics spoke to a doctor at the hospital about defendant’s

condition. After speaking with the doctor, the paramedics advised the officers that defendant

needed to go to the hospital for further evaluation. The totality of this information gave the officers

reason to believe that defendant might be suicidal and that he needed further medical attention.

Although defendant denied being suicidal, it was reasonable for the officers to discount his self-

serving denial and rely on the third-party information, particularly that provided by the paramedics.

Clearly, the officers were performing a public-safety function in attempting to get defendant to go

to the hospital for further evaluation.

¶ 29 Second, the seizure of defendant was reasonable in light of the immediate need to prevent

defendant from harming himself. Once defendant refused to cooperate with the paramedics and

attempted to go into the house, the officers acted reasonably in stopping him and forcing him onto

the stretcher. The force used in restraining defendant was applied only after attempting to persuade

him to comply voluntarily. Moreover, the force used was only that necessary to overcome

defendant’s physical resistance and get him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. When we

balance the need for the police to restrain defendant so that he could be transported to the hospital

for further evaluation against defendant’s right to go about his business, we find the officers’

actions were reasonable and, thus, authorized by the community-caretaking doctrine. Therefore,

the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant resisted or obstructed the officers while

they were engaged in an authorized act.

¶ 30 Although defendant relies on Slaymaker, 2015 IL App (2d) 130528, that reliance is

misplaced. In that case, this court held that, although the defendant was originally seized properly

under the community-caretaking doctrine, the subsequent pat-down of his person was not so

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justified. Slaymaker, 2015 IL App (2d) 130528, ¶¶ 17-22. In this case, unlike Slaymaker, the

officers took no action beyond that justified by the need to transport defendant to the hospital for

further evaluation as a suicide risk. Thus, Slaymaker does not support defendant’s position.

¶ 31 III. CONCLUSION

¶ 32 For the reasons stated, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County.

¶ 33 Affirmed.

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