People v. Gonzalez

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in People v. Gonzalez. Read the opinion of the Court — 326 Ill. App. 3d 629
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 26, 2001·No. 1-00-0311 Rel·Published

Opinion

No. 1-00-0311 First Division

November 26, 2001

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the

) Circuit Court of

Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County

)

  1. ) No. 98 CR 23340

TONY GONZALEZ, ) The Honorable

) Mary Ellen Coghlan,

Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE COHEN delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Tony Gonzalez was indicted on three counts of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3) (West 2000)), three counts of attempt (first degree murder) (720 ILCS 5/8-4 (West 2000)), two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/12-4.2(a) (West 2000)), two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(1), (a)(2) (West 2000)) and seven counts of aggravated battery (720 ILCS 5/12-4(a), (b)(1), (b)(8)  (West 2000)).  The record reflects the entry of an order of nolle prosequi with respect to the two aggravated discharge of a firearm counts and all of the aggravated battery counts.  In October 1999, defendant was tried before a jury in the circuit court of Cook County for the first degree murder of Hector Rivera and attempt (first degree murder) of Luis Marrero, Illuminata Nieves and Yesenia Rodriguez.  The jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder as to Hector Rivera and attempt (first degree murder) as to Luis Marrero and Illuminata Nieves.  The jury, however, found the defendant not guilty of attempt (first degree murder) as to Yesenia Rodriguez.  The trial court sentenced defendant to consecutive prison terms of 30 years for first degree murder and 6 years for each of the two attempt (first degree murder) convictions.

Defendant now appeals his convictions, asserting that: (1) the eyewitness testimony of Luis and Yesenia was insufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) his convictions should be overturned and a new trial granted because the prosecution misstated the law with respect to evaluating eyewitness identification testimony in closing argument; (3) the trial court similarly erred in instructing the jury with respect to evaluating eyewitness identification testimony; (4) the introduction of gang evidence prejudiced the jury against him and denied him a fair trial; (5)  he was denied the effective assistance of  counsel predicated on counsel's failure to object to prejudicial gang testimony as well as counsel's elicitation of testimony concerning gang-related activity and defendant's prior criminal conduct; and (6) because consecutive sentences were imposed, based on a matter neither charged nor submitted to a jury, his sentence was unconstitutional under Apprendi v. New Jersey , 530 U.S. 466, 147 L. Ed. 2d 435, 120 S. Ct. 2348 (2000).

Based on the trial court's submission of an erroneous jury instruction with respect to the evaluation of eyewitness identification testimony, we reverse defendant's convictions and remand this cause for a new trial.  Because this issue is dispositive, we need not address the remaining issues on appeal.

BACKGROUND

The evidence introduced at defendant's trial reveals that on the evening of July 23, 1998, Luis Marrero, Hector Rivera and Waldmar Rodriguez were playing dominoes and drinking rum at  Illuminata Nieves' apartment, located at 1215 North Washtenaw in the City of Chicago.  Yesenia Rodriguez was also present.  Illuminata is the mother of Waldmar and Yesenia.  Yesenia is  Luis' former girlfriend.  Luis, Hector and Waldmar were friends who frequently visited together at Illuminata's apartment.

Around 10:30 p.m., the men ended their dominoes game.  Waldmar fell asleep in the living room and Hector, Luis, Yesenia and Illuminata went to the kitchen to have coffee.  They were drinking coffee and talking until 2 a.m. when Yesenia and Luis began arguing about Luis' alcohol consumption.  While they were arguing, Luis exited the apartment through the back door and walked down a flight of stairs to an alley.  Yesenia followed closely behind.  As Luis turned to face Yesenia (with his back to the alley), a man emerged from the alley, pointed a gun at Luis' head, and screamed "Jiver killer."  Just as the gunman began to shoot, Luis ducked.  The first shot struck Luis in his arm and the second struck him in his chest.  The second shot caused Luis to fall face down onto the sidewalk.

As Luis lay on the sidewalk, the gunman approached Illuminata's apartment, kicked in the door and began shooting at Illuminata and Hector, who were sitting on the staircase.  Illuminata suffered a gunshot wound to the throat and Hector received gunshot wounds to his back, right forearm and left inner thigh.  When the gunman finished shooting inside the apartment, he exited the building, returned to where Luis was lying and shot Luis in the back.  The gunman then turned toward Yesenia, who was pleading for her life, and struck her in the head with the butt of his gun.  The gunman finally escaped down the alley from which he had appeared.

Officer Jesus Sanchez was assigned to beat 1414, routine patrol, on the night of the shooting.  Officer Sanchez was assisting two women who were locked out of their car when he heard gunshots.  As Officer Sanchez approached his vehicle, a call came over his police radio stating that shots were being fired at 1215 North Washtenaw.  Only 2 1/2 blocks away from Washtenaw, Officer Sanchez immediately drove to that location in his squad car.  When he arrived, Officer Sanchez observed two gunshot victims and a screaming Hispanic woman.  Officer Sanchez spoke to the Hispanic woman, who identified herself as Yesenia.  Yesenia provided Officer Sanchez with a description of the clothing and complexion of the gunman.  Yesenia was unable to tell Officer Sanchez, however, whether the gunman was African-American or Hispanic.  After receiving the general description of the gunman from Yesenia, Officer Sanchez dispatched the information over his police radio.  When he concluded the call, Officer Sanchez ran down the alley in an attempt to locate the gunman.  He was unsuccessful.

Illuminata was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital for treatment.  Shortly thereafter, she was transferred to Saint Mary's Hospital, where she underwent surgery to remove the bullet from her throat.  Luis was transported to Cook County Hospital, where he also underwent surgery.  Luis was required to remain in the hospital for a week and a half.  Hector was discovered by the police in the upstairs bathroom where he had died from multiple gunshot wounds.

On July 25, 1998, Detective Ray Guevara of the Area 5 violent crimes division of the Chicago police department went to 1215 North Washtenaw to interview Yesenia.  After a brief conversation, Detective Guevara transported Yesenia to the 14th District police station to view photographs.  The book of photographs presented to Yesenia contained photographs related to members of the Spanish Cobra gang.  On page 36 of the book, she identified defendant's photograph as the man who shot Luis, Illuminata and Hector on the evening of July 23, 1998.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Gonzalez, (Ill. Ct. App. 2001).

People v. Gonzalez (People v. Gonzalez) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Neil v. Biggers
409 U.S. 188 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Manson v. Brathwaite
432 U.S. 98 (Supreme Court, 1977)
Boyde v. California
494 U.S. 370 (Supreme Court, 1990)
Apprendi v. New Jersey
530 U.S. 466 (Supreme Court, 2000)
People v. Amaya
748 N.E.2d 1251 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2001)
People v. Keene
660 N.E.2d 901 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Johnson
585 N.E.2d 78 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1991)
People v. Manion
367 N.E.2d 1313 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1977)
People v. Lewis
651 N.E.2d 72 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Lozada
570 N.E.2d 737 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1991)
People v. Slim
537 N.E.2d 317 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1989)
People v. Nieves
737 N.E.2d 150 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2000)
People v. Fierer
529 N.E.2d 972 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1988)
People v. Dennis
692 N.E.2d 325 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1998)
People v. Pinkney
750 N.E.2d 673 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2001)
People v. Tisdel
739 N.E.2d 31 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2000)
People v. Joyner
739 N.E.2d 594 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2000)