People v. Hill

2021 IL App (1st) 182632-U
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in People v. Hill. Read the opinion of the Court — 2020 IL App (1st) 171739
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided October 15, 2021·No. 1-18-2632·Unpublished

Opinion

2021 IL App (1st) 182632-U

SIXTH DIVISION October 15, 2021

No. 1-18-2632

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County ) v. ) No. 16 CR 10786 ) JOSEPH HILL, ) The Honorable ) Thomas J. Byrne, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge, presiding.

PRESIDING JUSTICE PIERCE delivered the judgment of the court. Justice Mikva and Justice Johnson concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: Trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request a jury instruction on the affirmative defense of necessity to the armed habitual criminal charge where there was enough evidence to support the defense and defendant was prejudiced by the exclusion of this instruction.

¶2 Defendant, Joseph Hill, was convicted of armed habitual criminal and sentenced to seven

years’ imprisonment. Defendant appeals. For the reasons that follow, we reverse defendant’s

conviction and remand for a new trial. No. 1-18-2632

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 On June 22, 2016, defendant was arrested shortly after an altercation with Leashia Allen,

Sr. during which she was shot in the leg.

¶5 The State proceeded to trial against defendant on the charges of armed habitual criminal in

violation of 720 ILCS 5/24-1.7(a) (West 2016), aggravated battery with a firearm in violation of

720 ILCS 5/12-3.05(e)(1) (West 2016), and reckless conduct under a lesser-included offense

theory.

¶6 The evidence at trial is summarized as follows.

¶7 Leashia Allen, Sr. testified that around 4:00 A.M. on June 22, 2016, she was working as a

security guard at Cook County Hospital. Allen took a lunch break and drove her vehicle to a gas

station on Harrison Street and Independence Boulevard. Allen was wearing a uniform including a

bullet proof vest and a gun belt, but there was no gun in her belt at that time. She testified that her

.22 caliber Barretta semiautomatic handgun was locked in a box in the trunk of her vehicle. On

cross examination, however, Allen stated that she was carrying her gun in her gun belt. She did

not have a revolver with her. At the gas station, Allen saw an African American male dressed in

white, who she identified in court as Joseph Hill, walking towards her. As defendant approached,

Allen observed that he was carrying a black revolver. Defendant pointed the gun at Allen and said,

“give me your money, give me your keys.” Allen threw her keys, but defendant continued to point

the gun at her and then told her to get in her car. Allen then grabbed the barrel of the gun, which

was pointed at the lower half of her body. Allen testified that she keeps crazy glue, razors, and a

small screwdriver on her for self-defense. She tried unsuccessfully to use these items against

defendant. As defendant and Allen struggled over the gun, defendant shot Allen in the leg. Allen

fell to the ground and called for help. She observed defendant running away down Harrison Street.

2 No. 1-18-2632

Allen called 911 and spoke to them while she was on the ground. Allen testified that she identified

defendant as her assailant at the scene. In court, Allen identified the black revolver as the one used

by defendant to shoot her.

¶8 Syed Oumar testified that he was working in the gas station at the time the shooting

occurred. Oumar heard a gunshot and called 911. He saw a man dressed in white running away

from the gas station and heard a woman shout. Oumar did not see the altercation between defendant

and Allen, nor did he see the shooting itself.

¶9 Sergeant Jesus Enriquez testified that he was on patrol near the intersection of Harrison

and Independence when he observed a man dressed in white running away from the gas station

into an alley “right next to” the gas station. Sergeant Enriquez identified defendant in court as the

man he saw. Sergeant Enriquez heard a woman at the gas station cry for help. Sergeant Enriquez

followed defendant into an alley and detained him. Sergeant Enriquez observed a bulge in

defendant’s clothing near his waistband, so he performed a pat-down. Sergeant Enriquez removed

a .357 magnum revolver from defendant’s waistband and threw it to the side. Defendant was

handcuffed as other officers responded to secure the scene. Another police officer, Officer

Bednarczyk, took defendant back to the gas station where he was identified by Allen as the person

who shot her.

¶ 10 Officer Bednarczyk testified that he responded to the alley where defendant was being

detained after observing the activated lights on Sergeant Enriquez’s squad car. There was a gun

next to the squad car. Officer Bednarczyk took defendant back to the gas station where Allen was

given the opportunity to identify him. Officer Bednarczyk did not recall seeing any injuries on

defendant.

3 No. 1-18-2632

¶ 11 Evidence Technician Sergio Glowacki testified he recovered and inventoried the revolver

found in the alley. It had one fired cartridge and five unfired cartridges. He also took pictures of

the scene. He did not recover any keys, nor did he recall a taking a photo of car keys on the ground.

¶ 12 Fred Tomasek, a forensic scientist employed by the Illinois State Police, testified as an

expert in the field of firearm and tool mark identification. Tomasek testified that the fired cartridge

was fired from the revolver found when defendant was arrested, and that the gun could not be fired

by someone holding the barrel.

¶ 13 Detective Steven DeSalvo testified that he performed a gunshot residue swab on

defendant’s hands and clothing after defendant was transported to the police station.

¶ 14 Mary Wong, a forensic analyst with the Illinois State Police, testified as an expert in trace

chemistry, gunshot residue analysis. Wong had examined three samples from the gunshot residue

test administered to defendant using a scanning electron microscope. One sample from defendant’s

right hand contained gunshot residue that would have come from both the back of the gun and the

barrel of the gun when it was fired. Wong did not examine a gunshot residue test from Leashia

Allen.

¶ 15 Detective Thomas Conley interviewed Allen later that day, and she told him she had

offered defendant her car keys but he refused them. She did not mention the screwdriver, glue or

razor blades. He also testified there was no record of Allen’s 911 call.

¶ 16 The State and defendant stipulated to defendant’s two predicate convictions for the charge

of armed habitual criminal in cases 01 CR 0149301 and 96 CR 1695701 and certified copies of

those convictions were entered into evidence.

¶ 17 Defendant moved for a directed verdict, and his motion was denied. Defendant then called

two witnesses.

4 No. 1-18-2632

¶ 18 Ashley Schuchart, an investigator for the Office of the Cook County Public Defender,

testified that on October 28, 2017, she interviewed Allen. Allen told Schuchart that she had been

shot outside of a gas station while doing unarmed security for Cook County Hospital. Allen told

Schuchart that her guns were locked in the trunk of her car on the night she was shot, and the

revolver recovered at the scene was not hers.

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People v. Hill, 2021 IL App (1st) 182632-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2021).

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