People v. Humphries

584 N.E.2d 996, 223 Ill. App. 3d 81, 165 Ill. Dec. 562, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2191
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 27, 1991
DocketNo. 5-90-0421
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 584 N.E.2d 996 (People v. Humphries) 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. Humphries, 584 N.E.2d 996, 223 Ill. App. 3d 81, 165 Ill. Dec. 562, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2191 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE WELCH

delivered the opinion of the court:

The People of the State of Illinois appeal, pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 604(a) (134 Ill. 2d R. 604(a)), the order entered June 1, 1990, by the circuit court of St. Clair County and claim as grounds for this appeal that the suppression of evidence ordered by the court substantially impaired its ability to prosecute its criminal case against defendant, Eric Humphries. The People present two issues for our consideration on review of the June 1, 1990, order of the circuit court: (1) whether the court abused its discretion in allowing defendant’s motion to suppress to be heard after jury selection had taken place; and (2) whether the court erred in finding that part of the defendant’s statement made immediately following his polygraph examination was deliberately elicited in violation of defendant’s sixth amendment right to counsel and in ordering that this portion of defendant’s statement to the polygraph examiner be suppressed. For reasons stated as follows, we affirm.

Defendant and Andre Polk were charged by criminal complaint with two counts of attempted armed robbery. At his arraignment defendant pleaded not guilty and requested that a public defender be appointed to represent him. The record indicates that defendant was represented by counsel at the preliminary hearing when the court ordered that the defendant be bound over to the grand jury.

The grand jury indicted defendant on charges of two counts of attempted armed robbery on February 9, 1990. A stipulation was made between the assistant public defender who represented defendant and the assistant State’s Attorney to whom this case was assigned for prosecution, to the effect that if defendant would take and pass a polygraph examination, the State would dismiss the charges pending against him.

On May 9, 1990, defendant, an 18-year-old high school student, and his mother drove to the sheriff’s department for the examination. The examiner, Robert Baldwin, was an employee of the St. Clair County sheriff’s department. Defendant’s mother did not accompany him to the room where he would be examined by Baldwin. The record reflects that defendant’s attorney was not present on the day of the examination.

Mr. Baldwin testified at the hearing on the motion to suppress that the polygraph examination consists of three parts. In the first part he will obtain the person’s consent, find out whether the person has been given his Miranda warnings, and go over the questions he will be asking during the examination. The second part is running the polygraph chart, and the third part is the posttest interview.

Baldwin testified that the request for the polygraph examination was made through the office of the State’s Attorney. He admitted that he was aware that charges were pending against the defendant and that he had discussed the charges with defendant prior to the examination. Baldwin noted that he asked defendant about having been read his Miranda rights at the State’s Attorney’s office and that defendant stated that he had signed a Miranda form. Baldwin admitted, however, that it had been four months prior to the May 9, 1990, test when those rights had been read to defendant. Baldwin did ask defendant whether he understood the Miranda rights, whether he wanted to take the test, and whether he would like to have a lawyer, and defendant replied that he wanted to take the test. Baldwin did not obtain another signed Miranda waiver form.

Baldwin admitted that he knew that while defendant’s statement during the polygraph examination could not be used against defendant in court, what defendant said subsequent to the test in the phase-three interview could be used against him. Although Baldwin testified that he had told defendant at the start of the procedure that whatever defendant told Baldwin could be used against him in a court of law, he did not specifically advise defendant that anything defendant said subsequent to the completion of the polygraph test could be used against him. In the written consent signed by defendant prior to the test, defendant stated that he submitted “voluntarily without duress, coercion, threat, promises or reward or immunity to be examined by polygraph (Lie Detector) detection of deception technique.” In the consent defendant further agreed that “the final results of this examination may be made known and available to the proper person or persons requesting the examination.”

The polygraph machine was attached to defendant’s person and Baldwin asked him four relevant questions, four irrelevant questions, and two control questions. Baldwin testified that the polygraph chart which recorded defendant’s answers showed that defendant was not telling the truth. Baldwin testified that he told defendant that he had not passed the test and showed him on the charts where defendant had failed.

In the posttest interview Baldwin testified that he had engaged in “light” conversation with defendant about “how this was going to affect him in his football and everything” and that defendant explained to Baldwin how events had occurred on the day of the alleged attempted armed robbery. Baldwin testified that defendant had told him that he and Polk had seen two people on the playground of the junior high school. Polk ran his shoulder into one of the two people, and this person pulled a knife. Defendant told Baldwin that Polk took off his belt and began hitting the person when the second individual threw a bottle of wine and some bricks at him. Polk and defendant began chasing the two people until they hailed a police car.

Baldwin testified that at this point he and defendant had started to walk out of the polygraph room. Baldwin then said, “You know, you still haven’t explained why you failed the test; you talked about robbing them, didn’t you[?]” Baldwin testified that defendant replied, “Yeah; we talked about ganking.” Baldwin asked him what “ganking” meant and defendant said, “That means give us all you got, whatever you got, we want it all.” Baldwin then asked defendant if he had talked with Polk about taking their money, and defendant stated, “I was going to take the wine from the girl and Polk was going to take their money.” After defendant and his mother left the sheriffs office, Baldwin typed up the posttest statement.

Defendant received the statement by way of supplementary discovery dated May 9, 1990. A jury trial was set to begin on May 30, 1990, and a jury was picked but not yet sworn when defendant made an oral in limine motion to suppress his posttest statement. The court stated at a hearing on May 30, 1990, that although originally designated a motion in limine, the motion had since become more in the nature of a motion to suppress and would require testimony. The court overruled the People’s objection to the timeliness of the motion to suppress. The only witness at the hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress was Robert Baldwin, whose relevant testimony is set forth above.

At the conclusion of the evidence, the court found that defendant’s right to counsel had attached following the indictment, that under Massiah v. United States (1964), 377 U.S. 201, 12 L. Ed. 2d 246, 84 S. Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
584 N.E.2d 996, 223 Ill. App. 3d 81, 165 Ill. Dec. 562, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 2191, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-humphries-illappct-1991.