People v. Harris

2018 IL 121932
Illinois Supreme Court·Decided April 29, 2019·No. 121932·Published·Cited by 475 cases

Opinion

Digitally signed by Reporter of Decisions Reason: I attest to Illinois Official Reports the accuracy and integrity of this document Supreme Court Date: 2019.04.29 10:01:07 -05'00'

People v. Harris, 2018 IL 121932

Caption in Supreme THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Appellant, v. Court: DARIEN HARRIS, Appellee.

Docket No. 121932

Filed October 18, 2018

Decision Under Appeal from the Appellate Court for the First District; heard in that Review court on appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County, the Hon. Nicholas Ford, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Appellate court judgment affirmed in part and reversed in part.

Counsel on Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, of Springfield, and Kimberly M. Appeal Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (David L. Franklin, Solicitor General, Michael M. Glick and Gopi Kashyap, Assistant Attorneys General, and Alan J. Spellberg, Assistant State’s Attorney, of counsel), for the People.

James E. Chadd, State Appellate Defender, Patricia Mysza, Deputy Defender, and Lauren A. Bauser, Assistant Appellate Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Chicago, for appellee.

Bluhm Legal Clinic, of Chicago (Shobha L. Mahadev and Scott F. Main, of counsel, and Margaret Houseknecht and Kathleen Ryan, law students), for amici curiae Children & Family Justice Center et al. Justices JUSTICE KILBRIDE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Karmeier and Justices Thomas, Garman, and Theis concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Burke specially concurred, with opinion. Justice Neville took no part in the decision.

OPINION

¶1 The defendant, Darien Harris, was convicted of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2010)), attempted first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 9-1 (West 2010)), and aggravated battery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/12-4.2(a)(1) (West 2010)) and sentenced to a mandatory minimum aggregate term of 76 years’ imprisonment. Defendant was 18 years, 3 months of age at the time of the offenses. The appellate court vacated defendant’s sentences and remanded for resentencing, holding that, as applied to his circumstances, the aggregate prison term violates the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 11). 2016 IL App (1st) 141744. For the following reasons, we affirm in part and reverse in part the appellate court’s judgment.

¶2 BACKGROUND ¶3 Defendant was charged in Cook County circuit court with several offenses following a shooting at a Chicago gas station. At defendant’s bench trial, Ronald Moore testified that he was riding in the backseat of a car driven by his younger brother, Rondell Moore. A person identified as Marcus Diggs was also in the car. When the car began to overheat, Rondell drove into a gas station parking lot and parked the car, and Rondell and Marcus Diggs went into the store to buy antifreeze. A local mechanic Ronald knew as “Red,” later identified as Quincy Woulard, arrived on his bicycle and began looking under the hood of the car. Rondell came back to the car and was standing outside talking to Woulard. ¶4 Ronald stayed in the backseat of the car and saw a black Lexus turn into the gas station parking lot. Ronald testified that he had seen the Lexus previously and recognized the driver, but he did not know the driver’s name. The Lexus went to the other side of the gas station building where Ronald could no longer see it. A short time later, Ronald heard gunshots, looked out the rear driver’s-side window, and saw defendant two feet away shooting a chrome handgun at Rondell. Ronald stated he heard more than five gunshots and testified that defendant was “standing on the side” of the rear driver’s-side door. Ronald recognized defendant but did not know his name. Defendant kept shooting as Rondell ran, jumped over a fence, and continued running toward a nearby Chase Bank parking lot. ¶5 Marcus Diggs jumped out of the car and ran toward a nearby McDonald’s restaurant. As Ronald slid over to the driver’s side of the backseat, defendant pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked but did not fire. ¶6 When defendant began running away, Ronald got out of the car and chased him for 5 to 10 feet. Ronald then turned to look for his brother and found him lying in the Chase Bank parking

-2- lot one-half block away. Ronald saw the black Lexus drive through the Chase Bank parking lot with only the driver inside. Police officers later arrived, and Ronald overheard a message on a police radio that a Lexus had been stopped at a Walgreens store across the street from the bank. Ronald ran to the Walgreens store, recognized the Lexus, and yelled that the driver had killed his brother. Ronald testified at trial, however, that the driver was not the shooter and he did not see defendant in the Lexus when it was stopped at the Walgreens store. ¶7 Ronald further testified that a person from his neighborhood showed him a YouTube video a couple days after the shooting. Ronald recognized the black Lexus, the driver, and the shooter in the video, but he did not know their names. Ronald alerted the police to the video, and he subsequently identified defendant as the shooter from a lineup conducted eight days after the shooting. Ronald also identified defendant in court as the shooter. ¶8 Dexter Saffold testified that he was riding his scooter on the street in front of the gas station on the night of the shooting. He testified it was early evening and still light out. As he approached the gas station, he heard gunshots, stopped, and saw the shooter from about 18 feet away. Saffold identified defendant in court as the shooter. Saffold testified that defendant was holding a dark-colored handgun, he could see flashes coming from the muzzle, and he heard more than two gunshots. Defendant was pointing the gun at a person by a car with the hood up and another man on a bicycle near the car. After firing the handgun, defendant ran toward Saffold and bumped into him, almost dropping the gun while trying to put it in his pocket. Defendant ran behind Chase Bank and out of Saffold’s view. Saffold also saw another person running “behind, you know, the alley, a fence or somewhere.” As he went into the gas station to call 911, Saffold saw a man lying in the parking lot by the car and the bicycle. Eight days after the shooting, Saffold viewed a lineup and identified defendant as the shooter. ¶9 Quincy Woulard testified that he often helped people with car repairs at the gas station. He saw his friend Rondell Moore, known by his nickname “Blink,” at the gas station with his car that was overheating. Woulard was looking under the hood of the car when he heard three gunshots and fell to the ground. He heard someone say, “he runnin [sic] down the alley,” and he saw someone running there. Woulard was shot three times but testified he did not see who shot him. ¶ 10 Aaron Jones testified that he was driving the black Lexus and selling marijuana when defendant, known by Jones as “Slim” or “Chucky,” asked him for a ride to the gas station. Jones drove defendant to the gas station and dropped him off. Jones testified that he then drove to his home six blocks away but came back to buy cigarettes at the Walgreens store across the street from Chase Bank. Jones testified he was stopped and arrested by police officers before he reached the Walgreens store. Later in his testimony, however, Jones recanted and stated defendant was never in his car, that police officers told him to identify defendant, and that the officers threatened him with life imprisonment if he did not testify as they wished.

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