People v. Jackson

599 N.E.2d 1192, 233 Ill. App. 3d 1089, 175 Ill. Dec. 178, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1308
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided August 17, 1992·No. 1-88-0730·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE CAMPBELL

delivered the opinion of the court:

An indictment returned in the circuit court of Cook County charged Ira Jackson (hereafter defendant), Allen Falls, Dwayne Coulter, and John Annerino with the murder of Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Ridges, and with conspiracy to kill Robert Fischer. Annerino died prior to trial. The trial judge granted defendant a severance from Coulter, but ruled that defendant and Falls would be tried together using different juries. In a separate trial, Coulter was convicted of the murder of Ridges and conspiracy to kill Fischer, and this court affirmed his conviction in People v. Coulter (1992), 230 Ill. App. 3d 209. Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty and sentenced to a prison term of 40 years on the murder count and seven years on the conspiracy count. On appeal, defendant contends that: (1) his conviction is invalid because his indictment did not charge him with felony murder pursuant to section 9—l(a)(3) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 9—l(a)(3)); (2) the trial court erred in failing to sever his two charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder; (3) his inculpatory statement was made involuntarily because Sergeant Reed failed to advise him of his Miranda rights; and (4) the State failed to prove him guilty of the murder of Officer Ridges beyond a reasonable doubt. For the following reasons, we affirm defendant’s conviction.

On October 17, 1985, Officer Ridges was found shot to death at the intersection of Willow Road and Route 83 in Prospect Heights, Illinois. The record reveals a series of relevant facts which connect defendant to John Annerino, Robert Fischer and, ultimately, to Officer Ridges. At trial, Robert Fischer testified that he met John Annerino in August 1984 at a bar called “Halsted’s” in Chicago while he was working as a security guard at an adjacent bar called the “Loading Dock.” Fischer and Annerino struck up a friendship, and Annerino told Fischer that he wanted to open up a bar, but because he worked for the Chicago city clerk’s office he was not allowed to own any businesses. Annerino proposed that Fischer become a “front” for such a business, and Fischer agreed.

Annerino also told Fischer that he was the minister of the Guardian Angel Spiritual Independent Church, which was located in his home at 515 West 28th Place, Chicago. Fischer replied that he, too, was a minister. Annerino told Fischer that he was planning on retiring soon and asked Fischer to take the senior pastor’s position at his church. One of the conditions of the position was that Fischer had to live at Annerino’s home.

Fischer moved into Annerino’s home and, subsequently, Annerino put Fischer’s name on several bank accounts. In January 1985, Annerino arranged for Fischer to take a position as a license examiner in the city clerk’s office. Annerino also purchased a Lincoln Continental in the name of the church for Fischer’s use.

Between February and May 1985, Annerino made sexual advances toward Fischer, and Fischer was not responsive. On May 11, 1985, Mother’s Day, Fischer talked to his mother on the phone. After the conversation, Annerino threw a tantrum and accused Fischer of having received a message from his mother about a woman with whom Annerino alleged Fischer was having a relationship. Fischer told Annerino he was leaving the church. Annerino replied that the church was a lifetime commitment and that Fischer could never leave unless he was in a casket. He told Fischer he would “stomp on him like a cockroach” if he left the church. Fischer subsequently moved out on June 30, 1985, and went to live with his mother at 704 Maple Street in Prospect Heights.

On July 1, 1985, Fischer reported to work at the clerk’s office and Annerino informed him that he was fired. Fischer responded that he could only be fired by Walter Kozubowski, the city clerk. Annerino ran into Kozubowski’s office and five minutes later Kozubowski summoned Fischer and told him that he was being let go because he was not doing his job properly.

On August 2, 1985, at approximately 5 a.m. a brick was thrown through the living room window of Mrs. Fischer’s house. The Fischers called the police and Cook County sheriff’s police officer Dean Endre responded to the call. At 5:58 a.m., Fischer received a phone call and Officer Endre listened in on the extension. A male caller stated, “Did you see what happened earlier, Bobby? Your whole f — ing world is about to come to an end.”

On August 12, 1985, Fischer was served with a lawsuit demanding $35,000 in storage, room and board for the six-month period Fischer stayed with Annerino. Fischer filed a countersuit for return of his personal possessions. On October 5, 1985, Fischer was shot at as he drove home from his job as a security guard at “Christopher Street,” a bar on Halsted Street in Chicago. He was unharmed, but retrieved a bullet that had lodged in his seat belt. Fischer reported the incident to the Chicago police.

On October 15, 1985, Fischer received a call from a man claiming to be a Chicago police officer. The man stated that he had an arrest warrant for Fischer because he was two months behind in car payments and that he would come to arrest Fischer the next morning at 9:30 a.m. Fischer was not late on his car payments. Fischer called the Prospect Heights police, and the case was referred to Officer Michael Ridges.

On October 17 at 9 a.m., Officer Ridges came out to Fischer’s house, talked with Mrs. Fischer for about 10 minutes, and then left. Later that day, Fischer learned that Officer Ridges had been shot at Willow Road and Route 83, approximately IV2 blocks from the Fischer home.

Park Ridge police detective Joseph Burke testified that on October 17 around 9 a.m. he was off duty, driving east on Willow Road, when he noticed a car parked east of Route 83. He also saw a blue Cadillac. Two black males were standing at the left rear of the Cadillac and one black male was standing at the right rear of the Cadillac. He saw a white male walk around the front of the Cadillac from the front passenger side to the driver’s side. After the traffic cleared, he turned and drove north on Route 83. When he arrived at work later that day, he heard a news bulletin that a Cook County sheriff’s police officer was shot in the vicinity of Route 83 and Willow Road.

James Lussky, a Cook County sheriff’s police officer, testified that at 9:20 a.m. he received a radio message from Officer Ridges for backup at a traffic stop at Willow Road and Route 83. Lussky was en route to that location when he heard a radio broadcast that an officer was shot in that vicinity. When Officer Lussky arrived at the scene, he discovered Ridges’ body and found Falls’ driver’s license nearby.

Chicago police officer John Kucharski testified that he heard a broadcast over his police radio at 9:40 a.m. that a blue Cadillac was wanted in connection with the shooting of a police officer at Willow Road and Route 83. Kucharski and other Chicago police officers responding to the call located the Cadillac on the Kennedy Expressway, stopped the car at Lawrence Avenue, and ordered defendant, Coulter and Falls out of the car. Coulter was dressed as a police officer in a blue shirt with a “Chicago Police Department” patch, and was carrying a .38 caliber gun.

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People v. Jackson, 599 N.E.2d 1192, 233 Ill. App. 3d 1089, 175 Ill. Dec. 178, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1308 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

599 N.E.2d 1192 (People v. Jackson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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