People v. Givens

892 N.E.2d 1098, 384 Ill. App. 3d 101, 323 Ill. Dec. 106, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 684
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided July 10, 2008·No. 1-06-0679 Rel·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE NEVILLE

Fatima Givens was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. At the close of the State’s case, the trial court granted Givens’ motion for a directed verdict and dismissed the count for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Following a bench trial, Givens was found guilty of the lesser included offense of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to 12 months’ probation. In this appeal, Givens presents the following issues for review: (1) whether she received ineffective assistance of counsel because her trial counsel filed but withdrew a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence; (2) whether the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she had either actual or constructive possession of the drugs recovered inside her friend’s apartment; (3) whether the State failed to establish a sufficient chain of custody where the inventory numbers of the items recovered did not match the number of the items that were tested; and (4) whether the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to sentence her to probation pursuant to section 410 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (720 ILCS 570/410 (West 2006)). For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand this case for a hearing on a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence and, if necessary, a new trial.

BACKGROUND

Pretrial

On July 13, 2005, Givens’ counsel filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence that alleged that the arrest was made without authority of a valid search or arrest warrant. Givens’ motion also alleged that her conduct prior to the arrest would not reasonably be interpreted by the arresting officers as constituting probable cause that she had committed or was about to commit a crime. Givens’ motion further alleged that, due to the improper arrest, evidence recovered by the police should have been suppressed.

On January 11, 2006, Givens’ counsel made an oral motion for leave to withdraw the July 13, 2005, motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The trial court granted the motion to withdraw the motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence.

Trial

The State’s Case

Officer Robert Graves testified that, on April 9, 2005, he, Officers Rafael Bonifazi and Stephen Lotts received information from a confidential informant that drugs were being sold in apartment 366 at 2804 N. Leavitt in Chicago. The apartment was not rented by either Givens or Loving. Instead, the apartment was rented by Teri Matthews, who was one of Givens’ friends. Officer Graves testified that he and his fellow officers arrived at the building and met Matthews outside. According to Officer Graves, Matthews signed a consent form that allowed the police to enter her apartment and gave them a key. Officer Graves testified that the officers entered the apartment and approached the sole bedroom found therein. Officer Graves entered the bedroom and found Givens and Loving “still half asleep.” According to Officer Graves, he and the other officers observed a clear plastic bag that contained 21 smaller plastic baggies. Each of the smaller plastic baggies contained crack cocaine. There was also a razor blade on the night stand next to the bed. Officer Graves also testified that the police recovered $355 of United States currency.

Officer Graves testified that he placed the subjects in custody, and he and his partner transported them and the recovered items to the 19th District for processing and inventory. Officer Graves testified that his partner, Officer Bonifazi, was responsible for conducting the actual inventory. Finally, Officer Graves testified that the recovered items were inventoried at the 19th District and the drugs were placed in a vault and the other items were placed in an inventory bin.

The State also presented a stipulation that if Officer Bonifazi testified his testimony would be that he inventoried the recovered narcotic items under inventory number “10513558” and heat-sealed them into an inventory envelope for delivery to the Illinois State Police crime lab. According to the stipulation, when the items left Officer Bonifazi’s possession, they were in a sealed condition.

Next, the State presented a stipulation for the testimony of Hasnain Hamayat, a forensic chemist with the Illinois State Police crime lab. According to the stipulation, if Hamayat had been called to the stand, he would have testified (1) that he received the inventory from the Chicago police department in a heat-sealed condition; (2) that he opened the inventory envelope and found that it contained 21 plastic baggies; (3) that all of the equipment he used to test the inventory was tested, calibrated and functioning properly; (4) that Hamayat employed commonly accepted forensic chemistry tests for ascertaining the presence of controlled substances; (5) that, after performing the tests on the contents of 14 of the 21 items recovered, Hamayat concluded that the items tested positive for the presence of cocaine and that the actual weight was 1.2 grams; (6) that the total estimated weight of the 21 items was 1.8 grams; and (7) that, after testing and analyzing inventory number “10515338,” he resealed the items, would identify them in court as the same items he tested, and that a proper chain of custody was maintained.

Following the stipulations concerning Officer Bonifazi’s and Hamayat’s testimony, the State rested. The defense made a motion for a directed finding and argued that Givens was not seen holding, possessing, carrying or trying to sell any of the recovered narcotics. The defense also argued that no buyers were arrested. The State argued that the police entered the apartment with Matthews’ permission and saw 21 bags of crack cocaine and other empty bags along with a razor blade. Based upon the aforementioned facts, the State argued that Givens had constructive possession of those items.

The trial court found that “[biased upon the evidence presented with regard to the motion for directed finding as to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, it will be granted, but I find the State has put forth sufficient evidence to establish the lesser-included offense of possession of a controlled substance.”

The Defendant’s Case

Crystal Giles, a friend of the defendant, testified that on April 9, 2005, at 11:30 a.m., she was walking from 2890 North Clybourn to 2816 North Leavitt when she observed her mother’s friend, Teri Matthews, being held up against a wall by police officers who were going through her pockets. Giles also testified that she observed a police officer with Matthews’ keys and she observed Matthews go up the stairs into her building with the police officers.

Teri Matthews testified that she did not voluntarily sign a consent-to-search form. Matthews testified that she was on her way home when Officer DeLaFont approached her. According to Matthews, the police brought her into her apartment after they had been upstairs. Matthews testified that she was told that she would lose her house if she did not sign a consent form, so she signed it.

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People v. Givens, 892 N.E.2d 1098, 384 Ill. App. 3d 101, 323 Ill. Dec. 106, 2008 Ill. App. LEXIS 684 (Ill. Ct. App. 2008).

892 N.E.2d 1098 (People v. Givens) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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