People v. Hairston

566 N.E.2d 343, 207 Ill. App. 3d 674, 152 Ill. Dec. 656, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 197
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 11, 1991
Docket1-87-2275,1-87-2549 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 566 N.E.2d 343 (People v. Hairston) 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. Hairston, 566 N.E.2d 343, 207 Ill. App. 3d 674, 152 Ill. Dec. 656, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 197 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE O’CONNOR

delivered the opinion of the court:

Leroy Hairston and Herman Warr were charged with aggravated kidnapping (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 2(a)(3)), armed robbery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 18 — 2(a)), and aggravated battery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 12 — 4(a)). Both were found guilty after a bench trial and were sentenced to concurrent terms for the crimes. For the reasons below, we affirm.

Two conflicting versions of the crimes were presented at trial, that of the complaining witness, Olaide Olumini, and that of defendants. The trial court accepted Olumini’s version.

Olumini testified that on the morning of February 2, 1987, he attended an accounting class at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Although he had attended all semester, he could not remember the professor’s name. When the class was over, he drove to the north side to visit a friend.

Olumini parked his car near the intersection of Glenlake and Kenmore Avenues, and when he got out, he was approached by two men whom Olumini later identified as Hairston and Warr. Hairston had a gun. The defendants put Olumini in their car, where they took his wallet and $100.

Olumini testified that the defendants drove about four blocks south to a building at 5420 North Kenmore, where they took him inside and tied him to a bed. Olumini said he had never been in the building before. In the building, Olumini testified, the defendants demanded more money. The defendants left the building, and Olumini testified he was beaten for about two hours before he fell asleep.

The defendants returned and drove Olumini in a light blue Cadillac to an apartment at Glenlake and Kenmore. Hairston demanded more money, then the defendants, and others in the apartment, left the apartment, forcing Olumini with them at gunpoint. Olumini testified they went down the back stairs and climbed a fence. Olumini said he fell while climbing and screamed for help. The others ran away.

Olumini was helped by Ms. Barbara Smith, who had responded to his calls. The police were summoned, and Olumini identified Hairston at the scene. The police took Olumini to the police station at Clark and Devon, where he identified Warr. Olumini stated he had never seen his attackers before and that he had never used drugs.

On cross-examination, the trial court refused to allow extended questioning about Olumini’s relationship with the defendants and whether he dealt drugs. The trial court also refused to allow questions concerning whether the building at 5420 Kenmore was a drug house and whether Olumini knew the neighborhood. The trial court further refused to allow the testimony of two witnesses to impeach Olumini’s statement that he did not know the defendants.

Defendants presented a conflicting version of the event. Warr testified he was a drug dealer and ran three drug houses in the Kenmore neighborhood. Hairston was a security guard at Warr’s drug houses. Warr said he had known Olumini since the summer of 1986.

Warr testified that on February 2, 1987, Olumini conducted a drug transaction at 5420 North Kenmore and returned at about 3:30 p.m. to set up another deal at 1041 Glenlake. Hairston and Warr arrived at the Glenlake apartment before 6 and 7 p.m. Olumini was already there, smoking cocaine. Olumini made a phone call, explaining that he was waiting for someone to answer a page. Warr became restless and demanded his money back. A fight broke out, and Hairston pulled his gun and intervened.

A few minutes later someone yelled that the police were coming. Everyone ran down the back stairs and climbed over a fence. Olumini fell. He asked for help but no one stopped. Hairston and Warr were later arrested.

Several other witnesses testified to their roles in the incident. Ms. Barbara Smith testified that while having dinner at her mother’s apartment on Glenlake, she heard a man screaming outside. There were other men around him, and she went to help. As she approached, the other men left. One man, whom Ms. Smith identified as Hairston, walked away slowly with his left hand behind his back. She followed him until he was arrested a short time later. Ms. Smith did not know who called the police.

Officer Derek McClinton testified that while on patrol at about 7 p.m., he and his partner had been flagged down by Ms. Smith, who pointed out Hairston. Hairston threw down a gun, and they arrested him.

Officer William Blake testified that he was called to the scene, where he found Olumini. He drove to where Hairston had been caught, and Olumini identified Hairston. Officer Blake later found the gun Hairston had tossed.

Officer Paul Cardón testified that he arrested two of Hairston and Warr’s codefendants, not parties to this action. One of the codefendants had $100 on him, and another was arrested at 5420 North Kenmore. Officer Cardón identified a picture of the bed where Olumini had been tied. It was clean and had no bloodstains.

Officer David Rucci testified that he and his partner had staked out the blue Cadillac at 1041 Glenlake and there arrested Ricky Warr, brother of defendant Herman Warr. Officer Rucci further testified that Olumini had identified Ricky as Herman’s brother. Later, when a woman tried to take the car, Rucci talked to her and drove to an apartment on North Winthrop, one block west of Kenmore, where he arrested Herman Warr.

Detective James Gildea testified that he met Olumini at the police station and that Olumini identified Warr in a lineup. Gildea testified that Olumini had told him the crime occurred at 3:55 p.m. Blood was found on Hairston’s and Warr’s clothing when they were arrested, but tests were inconclusive.

Warr’s uncle, Joe Wilson, testified that he had known Olumini for about six months, having met him through his nephew. Wilson stated that Olumini dealt drugs with Warr. Wilson testified that Olumini had asked for $3,000 to drop the charges against Warr and that the events of February 2, 1987, centered around a soured drug deal.

Warr’s sister, Kimberly Warr, testified that she knew Olumini through her brother and that Olumini dealt drugs. She stated that she had seen Olumini at 5420 North Kenmore and at another apartment at 5420 West Potomac.

After closing arguments, the trial court found Hairston and Warr guilty of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, and armed robbery. Defense counsel for Warr moved for a new trial based on new evidence, that Olumini was not a student at Roosevelt University, and that he was an illegal alien. The trial court denied the motion.

Defendants were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for aggravated battery. Hairston was sentenced to 10 years each for aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery, and Warr was sentenced to eight years each for aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery. The sentences were to be served concurrently. Defendants appeal.

We first note that the record supports the finding of guilt.

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

Related

People v. Ransom
2024 IL App (4th) 230506 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2024)
People v. Boyd
851 N.E.2d 827 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006)
People v. Smith
609 N.E.2d 1004 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
People v. Cobern
603 N.E.2d 693 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
566 N.E.2d 343, 207 Ill. App. 3d 674, 152 Ill. Dec. 656, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 197, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hairston-illappct-1991.