People v. Hunt

611 N.E.2d 5, 240 Ill. App. 3d 496, 183 Ill. Dec. 152, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 2165
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 30, 1992
DocketNo. 1-89-1670
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 611 N.E.2d 5 (People v. Hunt) 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. Hunt, 611 N.E.2d 5, 240 Ill. App. 3d 496, 183 Ill. Dec. 152, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 2165 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE CERDA

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Terrance Hunt, was charged with two counts of murder. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 9 — 1.) Following a bench trial, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 9 — 3) and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment to be served concurrently with an unrelated murder charge. On appeal, defendant asserts that (1) his fifth amendment right to counsel attached when he accepted counsel on an unrelated crime; (2) his sixth amendment right to counsel attached when a complaint was sworn and an arrest warrant served; (3) he did not knowingly and intelligently waive his fifth amendment right to counsel after he invoked it for this crime; and (4) the police conduct violated his rights under the Illinois Constitution. We affirm.

On January 8, 1987, defendant argued and fought with Timothy Jenkins. As a result of the fight, Jenkins suffered head injuries for which he was hospitalized until September 3, 1987, when he died from his injuries.

Chicago police detective Byron Uppling testified that he was assigned to investigate the January 8, 1987, battery of Jenkins. Defendant was arrested on March 17, 1987, on an unrelated charge for which the Cook County public defender was appointed to represent him. Upon learning that defendant had been arrested for the unrelated offense, Uppling obtained a writ of habeas corpus and transferred defendant from the county jail to a courtroom. There, Uppling served defendant with a criminal complaint for a preliminary hearing and an arrest warrant for the Jenkins battery. Defendant was transferred to the Area Four police station for a lineup and an interview concerning the Jenkins battery.

Detective Uppling stated that he advised defendant of his Miranda rights at 1:45 p.m. on March 20, 1987. At that time, defendant stated that he did not want to make a statement. At about 3 p.m., defendant participated in a lineup. Afterwards, Uppling asked defendant if he was hungry and gave him some food. According to Uppling, defendant told him at that time that he wanted to tell his story. Defendant did not tell his story at that time.

Uppling contacted Assistant State’s Attorney Robert Alvarado, who took a statement from defendant at 4:50 p.m. after advising him of his Miranda rights. Uppling was present when the statement was taken. Detective Uppling testified that defendant stated that he had been in á fight with Jenkins on the date in question.

Prior to trial, defendant moved to suppress his custodial statement. The trial court denied the motion, ruling that defendant’s sixth amendment right to counsel did not attach when the complaint was filed and the arrest warrant issued regarding the Jenkins battery. The trial court also found that no fifth amendment violation occurred and that defendant’s confession was knowingly and voluntarily made.

On appeal, defendant asserts that his inculpatory statement should have been suppressed because it was obtained following an illegal lineup by authorities who initiated interrogation after defendant refused to cooperate. He bases his argument on the fifth and sixth amendments of the United States Constitution.

Initially, defendant argues that his fifth amendment right to counsel attached on March 17, 1987, when he accepted legal representation by the Cook County public defender on an unrelated charge. In his reply brief, however, he concedes that under the recent United States Supreme Court opinion in McNeil v. Wisconsin (1991), 501 U.S. 171, 115 L. Ed. 2d 158, 111 S. Ct. 2204, the appointment of counsel at a judicial proceeding of an unrelated offense does not constitute a right to counsel under the fifth amendment. McNeil was decided while this appeal was pending. Subsequently, the Illinois Supreme Court followed McNeil in People v. Crane (1991), 145 Ill. 2d 520.

In Crane, the supreme court stated the following:

“The sixth amendment right to counsel is offense-specific. It cannot be invoked once for all future prosecutions, because the sixth amendment does not attach until the initiation of adversary judicial criminal proceedings. ***
Applying McNeil to the case at bar, even if defendant did request counsel in regard to the New Mexico offenses, this request would not relate to the questioning regarding the events surrounding the murder of Gahan. Defendant was being held in New Mexico on misdemeanor traffic offenses and as a fugitive from justice in Illinois because of a parole violation and an outstanding warrant. Defendant was informed that New Mexico does not appoint counsel on fugitive from justice charges. Additionally, while two offenses may be sufficiently similar that a sixth amendment right to counsel on one triggers a right to counsel on the other (People v. Clankie (1988), 124 Ill. 2d 456, 465), the New Mexico and Illinois offenses are not related for sixth amendment purposes. Defendant had not been charged with the murder of Gahan at the time of the questioning. Thus, the initiation of adversary proceeding had not begun and the sixth amendment did not apply.” Crane, 145 Ill. 2d at 531-32.

Defendant then asserts that it was illegal for the police to initiate further conversation with him once he refused to cooperate. He maintains that compelling him to appear in a lineup and then engaging him in a general conversation constituted the initiation of interrogation. Prior to the lineup, defendant had unequivocally declared his intent not to make a statement. He maintains that his subsequent statement was not made because he knowingly and intelligently waived his previously invoked rights, but because he was coerced with the inculpatory results of the illegal lineup.

The fifth amendment guarantees that “[n]o person *** shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” (U.S. Const., amend. V.) In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436, 444, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 706-07, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 1612, the United States Supreme Court held that the fifth amendment provides that a suspect in custody must be informed that he has the right to remain silent and to have an attorney present before he is interrogated. The defendant may waive those rights provided the waiver is made voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently. Miranda, 384 U.S. at 444, 16 L. Ed. 2d at 707, 86 S. Ct. at 1612.

If the accused indicates in any manner at any time that he wants to remain silent, the interrogation must cease. (Miranda, 384 U.S. at 473-74, 16 L. Ed. 2d at 723, 86 S. Ct. at 1627-28.) Although the Miranda court held that the interrogation must cease until an attorney is present if the accused asks for an attorney (Miranda, 384 U.S. at 474, 16 L. Ed. 2d at 723, 86 S. Ct. at 1628), it did not state under what circumstances, if any, a resumption of questioning is permissible if the accused chooses to remain silent but does not ask for an attorney. Michigan v. Mosley (1975), 423 U.S. 96, 101, 46 L. Ed. 2d 313, 320, 96 S. Ct. 321, 325.

In Michigan v.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
611 N.E.2d 5, 240 Ill. App. 3d 496, 183 Ill. Dec. 152, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 2165, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hunt-illappct-1992.