People v. Gomez

2018 IL App (1st) 150605
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 24, 2018·No. 1-15-0605·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Digitally signed by Reporter of Decisions Reason: I attest to Illinois Official Reports the accuracy and integrity of this document Appellate Court Date: 2018.07.25 09:10:11 -05'00'

People v. Gomez, 2018 IL App (1st) 150605

Appellate Court PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Caption EDUARDO GOMEZ, Defendant-Appellant.

District & No. First District, Second Division Docket No. 1-15-0605

Filed April 3, 2018 Rehearing denied May 3, 2018

Decision Under Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, No. 14-CR-13389; the Review Hon. Maura Slattery Boyle, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded in part.

Counsel on Michael J. Pelletier, Patricia Mysza, and Michael Gomez, of State Appeal Appellate Defender’s Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Kimberly M. Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Joseph Alexander, and Brenda K. Gibbs, Assistant State’s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

Panel JUSTICE PUCINSKI delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justice Mason concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Hyman concurred in part and dissented in part, with opinion. OPINION

¶1 Following a bench trial, defendant Eduardo Gomez was convicted of being an armed habitual criminal (AHC) (720 ILCS 5/24-1.7 (a) (West 2014)), of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW) (720 ILCS 5/24-1.6 (West 2014)), and of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.1 (West 2014)). He was sentenced to three concurrent terms of seven years’ imprisonment and assessed various fines, fees, and costs. On appeal, defendant argues that (1) the circuit court erred in denying his pretrial motion to suppress, (2) his aggravated unlawful use of a weapon conviction should be vacated, and (3) the fines, fees, and costs imposed by the circuit court should be reduced. For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm defendant’s convictions for the offenses of armed habitual criminal and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon; however, we vacate his aggravated unlawful use of a weapon conviction. In addition, we remand the matter to the circuit court with instructions to modify its order assessing fines, fees, and costs.

¶2 BACKGROUND ¶3 On July 3, 2014, following an encounter with several Chicago police officers, defendant was found to be in possession of a loaded firearm and was charged with multiple offenses, including armed habitual criminal, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. After being taken into police custody, defendant admitted to possessing the firearm. ¶4 Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to quash his arrest and suppress evidence, arguing that he was unlawfully detained and searched absent probable cause or a warrant in violation of his constitutional rights. As such, he contended that suppression of the firearm and his incriminatory statement was warranted. ¶5 The circuit court subsequently presided over a hearing on defendant’s motion. At the hearing, defendant’s friend, Frankie Baez, testified that at approximately 10:45 p.m. on July 3, 2014, he, defendant, and their mutual friend, Enriquez Salvador (Junior), were sitting in a parked vehicle located near the intersection of 52nd Street and Kildare Avenue. Baez explained that they were waiting for his girlfriend to join them. The vehicle in which they were sitting was owned by Junior’s father, who operated a taxi company. Baez described the vehicle as a white “taxi car.”1 Junior was seated in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, defendant was seated in the backseat directly behind Junior, and Baez was seated in the backseat next to defendant. While the three men were seated in the parked vehicle, an unmarked “cop car,” containing three plain-clothes officers, pulled up alongside of them. The officers “flashed their lights” on the men, drew their weapons, and ordered Baez, Junior, and defendant to raise their hands and exit the vehicle. The three men complied. Baez testified that after he and defendant exited the vehicle, they placed their hands on opposite sides of the trunk. The officers then began searching them. As they were doing so, the officers heard a noise. Baez explained: “As they were searching us I guess they had like heard the noise of the firearm I guess fell on the floor and that’s when they had right away put the flashlight all over [and] under the car and

1 Although Baez describes the vehicle as a taxi car, it is not clear whether or not the vehicle bore any signs or markings indicating that it was used as a taxi. As will be shown below, the detective who encountered the vehicle simply described it as a white Mercury Grand Marquis.

-2- stuff.” The officer who was closest to defendant then bent down and recovered a firearm from underneath the car. Baez testified that the officers did not present a search warrant or an arrest warrant for defendant at any time during the encounter. ¶6 On cross-examination, Baez acknowledged that defendant was a good friend whom he had known for several years. When asked additional details about the night in question, Baez admitted that the three men had been driving around the neighborhood in Junior’s father’s car for at least 40 minutes before stopping the vehicle on 52nd Street. He estimated that they were sitting in the parked vehicle for 10 to 15 minutes before the police officers arrived on the scene. Baez also acknowledged that when the officers pulled up alongside of Junior’s father’s car, the officers did not immediately exit their unmarked car and order the men to raise their hands in the air; rather, the officers remained seated in their vehicle and spoke to Junior while the windows of the two vehicles were rolled down and inquired what the three men were doing in the neighborhood that night. During the course of this conversation, Baez admitted that defendant started “scooting down in his seat,” which was located right behind Junior’s seat. Baez further admitted that defendant was hiding a gun in his waistband. In addition, he acknowledged that the officers exited their unmarked vehicle only after they observed defendant scooting down in his seat. The officers then ordered each of the men to show their hands. Although defendant complied with the officers’ request and raised his hands, Baez admitted that defendant continued scooting down in the backseat until they were all ordered to exit the car. As Baez and his friends exited the vehicle, he heard one of the officers reference a noise, saying “What was that? What was that? What was that?” The officers then used their flashlights to illuminate the ground and recovered defendant’s gun next to where defendant was standing. Baez, however, denied that he heard the sound of a gun dropping. ¶7 Following Baez’s testimony, the defense rested, and defense counsel moved for a directed finding, which the circuit court denied. The State then called Chicago police detective Anthony Amato to testify. Detective Amato testified that on July 3, 2014, he was working with Sergeant Karczewski and Officer Daniel Pacelli. The three officers were wearing plain clothes and were riding in an unmarked police vehicle. Detective Amato, the driver of the unmarked police car, confirmed that at approximately 10:45 p.m. that evening, he and his partners encountered defendant, who was a passenger in a white Mercury Grand Marquis parked near the area of 4242 West 52nd Street. He explained that he had observed the vehicle on two prior occasions during a 30 to 40 minute period of time as he and his partners patrolled the area. During the previous two occasions that he observed the Grand Marquis, the vehicle was moving.

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