People v. Hemphill

594 N.E.2d 1279, 230 Ill. App. 3d 453, 171 Ill. Dec. 759, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 796
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 26, 1992
Docket1—87—3788, 1—87—3909 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 594 N.E.2d 1279 (People v. Hemphill) 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. Hemphill, 594 N.E.2d 1279, 230 Ill. App. 3d 453, 171 Ill. Dec. 759, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 796 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE BUCKLEY

delivered the opinion of the court:

Joe Hemphill and Winston McIntyre were each charged with six counts of murder, two counts of armed robbery, one count each of possession of cocaine, heroin and cannabis with intent to deliver and one count of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. McIntyre moved for a severance. The trial court granted his severance motion and decided to try the cases simultaneously before two separate juries.

Hemphill was found guilty as charged. The trial court sentenced him to two concurrent terms of natural life without parole for mm*der, 30 years for each count of armed robbery, 30 years for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to deliver and five years for possession of cannabis with intent to deliver. The conspiracy count merged with the substantive offense of armed robbery. All sentences are to be served concurrently.

McIntyre was convicted of murder, one count of armed robbery, conspiracy and possession of controlled substances with the intent to deliver. McIntyre was sentenced to a term of natural life.

Prior to trial, McIntyre filed a motion to suppress a photo array identification made by Bessie Thompson on the basis that it was too suggestive. The court reviewed the five photos contained in the array. Two photos were of McIntyre in which his hair styles differed considerably, one was of Hemphill and the other two were of young black males. The court found that the photo array was not suggestive and denied McIntyre’s motion.

At trial, William Jackson testified that his brother Carl Jackson owned a liquor store. About every three days Carl would pick up the proceeds from the store and take them to his apartment at 1400 West Harrison to count. On March 6, 1987, William went to that apartment at about 6 p.m., and found his brother, Carl, on the floor with his throat slashed. He also found Sonia Adams in the bedroom with her throat slashed. The apartment had been ransacked and a bedroom window was open. William further testified that Joe Hemphill knew Carl, and that Carl had introduced him to William in 1955. Additionally, William identified various jewelry items and photographs as belonging to Carl.

Bessie Thompson testified that she had known Carl for about 20 years. Thompson stated that she had been at the apartment during the afternoon and late evening of March 5, 1987. Thompson testified that Carl received a number of telephone calls from Sonia Adams requesting to discuss something very important with Carl. Initially, Jackson refused to allow Adams to come to the apartment. Jackson, however, relented and Adams arrived at approximately 10 p.m. Thompson and Adams had known each other for about four years. Thompson and Adams talked with each other in the bedroom while Jackson was talking on the telephone in the living room. Jackson then joined the women in the bedroom but left the room at about 11 p.m. to answer the door. Shortly thereafter, Thompson went into the kitchen to get something to drink and saw Jackson with a man she had never seen before, but later identified him in court as McIntyre. When Thompson left at approximately midnight, Adams, Jackson and McIntyre were still in the apartment.

Two months later, Thompson contacted the police regarding the murders. A detective showed her a stack of five photographs. Thompson picked out two photographs of McIntyre and also stated that she knew one of the men in the photographs as Joe Moody (a/k/a Hemp-hill). Later, Thompson viewed a lineup and picked out McIntyre as the man she had seen in Jackson’s apartment the night of the murders. Public defender investigator Floyd Turner testified, however, that when he spoke with Thompson, she did not tell him that McIntyre was in Jackson’s apartment the night of the murders.

On March 6, 1987, between 1:30 and 2 a.m., police officer Robbie Levensbaum was patrolling the area near the apartment complex where the murders occurred. Levensbaum testified that he noticed a dark green Lincoln limousine with its hood up in the parking lot of the apartment complex. Levensbaum identified McIntyre in court as the man standing next to the car. Levensbaum testified that he and his partner drove into the parking lot, asked McIntyre why he was there and whether anything was wrong with the car. McIntyre responded that the car was not starting and that he was waiting for his brother to return with a car battery. McIntyre stated that he did not have any identification or the keys to the car. Levensbaum then checked the license plate and the vehicle identification number through the use of a computer and determined that the vehicle was not stolen. Thereafter, the officers left the area.

Phillip O’Neill testified that he was a security guard at the apartment complex and worked the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift on March 5-6, 1987. At about 12:30 a.m. on March 6, O’Neill was on foot patrol in the parking lot adjacent to 1400 West Harrison. O’Neill saw a green Lincoln, which he had never seen before that morning, parked at the west end of the lot. Again at approximately 1 a.m., O’Neill saw the green Lincoln, but at this time the hood was raised and the trunk was open. A man, whom O’Neill identified in court as McIntyre, was standing near the open trunk. There was a police paddy wagon parked on Harrison Street and when McIntyre saw it he closed the trunk. Thirty minutes later O’Neill saw McIntyre enter the apartment building. O’Neill continued to make his rounds. When O’Neill returned, he saw that the green Lincoln had been moved and the engine was running. O’Neill approached the car to speak with McIntyre. McIntyre claimed that he was visiting his brother John Hernandez. O’Neill, however, checked the mail boxes and found no Hernandez listed. After talking to O’Neill, McIntyre drove the car to a parking lot of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Hospital. O’Neill testified that he saw McIntyre stop by a Chevrolet, get out of the car, open the trunk then crouch in front of the Chevrolet. O’Neill, then, called the police.

Police officer John Valiutis responded to O’Neill’s call by arriving at the apartment complex at approximately 3 a.m. Valiutis testified that he apprehended McIntyre, searched his person and found a silver plastic knob which was missing from the green Lincoln.

Officer Tom Lampa also testified that he assisted in the search of the Lincoln. The car was found with the engine running without anyone inside. The rear doors of the car were unlocked so Lampa opened a door and removed a rifle from the rear seat. Lampa then removed six rounds of live ammunition from the rifle. Lampa also noticed two pair of binoculars and a car battery in the rear seat and that a knob was missing from the dashboard. Lampa searched the trunk and found four loaded handguns, $10,000 cash, white and brown powdery substances which he suspected were narcotics and a crushed green plant which he suspected was cannabis. Lampa also found photographs and jewelry which were identified in court as belonging to Jackson, and handcuffs and a leather wallet containing a Cook County sheriff’s badge with an identification card bearing the name Rico Hernandez, which were identified in court as belonging to Hemphill.

Detective Gregory Vaiocchi was assigned to investigate the murders. He testified that he entered the apartment and found Jackson’s body on the floor.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
594 N.E.2d 1279, 230 Ill. App. 3d 453, 171 Ill. Dec. 759, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 796, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hemphill-illappct-1992.