People v. J.E.

282 Ill. App. 3d 794
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 15, 1996
DocketNo. 1—95—1271
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 282 Ill. App. 3d 794 (People v. J.E.) 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. J.E., 282 Ill. App. 3d 794 (Ill. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

JUSTICE WOLFSON

delivered the opinion of the court:

This case requires us to examine a statutory procedure that routes a juvenile offender into the adult criminal justice system.

The State contends a finding of probable cause at a minor’s detention hearing, without more, creates a rebuttable presumption that the minor’s case should be transferred from the juvenile court to the criminal court.

In this case, the trial judge at the transfer hearing refused to adopt the probable cause finding made at the detention hearing. He also held the State failed to establish probable cause to transfer on all counts it had charged. The motion to transfer was denied.

We conclude that the probable cause finding made at the detention hearing cannot be used to establish a rebuttable presumption of transfer at the transfer hearing. We also find it is not necessary for the State to establish probable cause to transfer on each charge listed in its motion. For these reasons, we reverse the order denying the motion to permit prosecution of a minor under the criminal laws and remand this case for a new transfer hearing.

FACTS

J.E.’s detention hearing (705 ILCS 405/5 — 10) (West 1994) was held February 3, 1995. J.E. was two months shy of 17 at the time. The petition for adjudication of wardship contained five charges against J.E.: two counts of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, one of attempted murder, and one of armed violence.

The charges grew out of the shooting of Kenny Mercado (Mercado) on January 28, 1995, at 1637 North Artesian in Chicago.

Officer Joseph Corona (Corona) was the only witness at the detention hearing. He spoke to Mercado about three days after the shooting. Mercado told him he was outside his home when a car pulled up. Someone came out of the car and began shooting at him. Mercado described the car as "a brownish color 98 with very dark tinted windows.” There was damage on the left side of the car. One bullet went into Mercado’s arm and lodged in his shoulder. He was taken to a hospital.

Corona spoke with Marquis Carter, who said he was walking in the area when the shooting took place. Carter said he saw the car pull up. He described it as a "brownish 98 with very, very dark tinted windows. Then someone came out of the car and began firing. He said he was familiar with the shooter and knew where that person "hung around.”

Corona was familiar with a person who drove the described car. Physical descriptions from witnesses matched that person. Corona and others were brought to the 14th district police station, where they looked at photos of gang members. J.E.’s photo was identified as that of the shooter, although the record is unclear as to which witness made that identification.

J.E. was picked up and taken to the police station for a lineup. Marquis Carter identified J.E. as the shooter.

On cross-examination, Corona said that at first J.E. was tentatively, not positively, identified. Counsel asked:

"Q. And Marquis Carter, by the way, is a member of the gang called the Satan Disciples, isn’t that right?”

The State’s objection to the question was sustained on the grounds that it was irrelevant to probable cause.

After establishing that Carter was 15, counsel asked:

"Q. And you don’t know where Marquis Carter was when he allegedly observed these events that occurred on January 28th of 1995, isn’t that correct?”

The State’s objection was sustained on the grounds that "this is discovery.”

After Corona said there were four people in the car, defense counsel attempted to ask him about statements contained in the general offense case report made out by beat officers on the day of the shooting. The judge sustained the State’s objection to questions about the report. In an offer of proof, defense counsel suggested the report contained the words: "There were four in the car, the window on the right came down, somebody in the auto started shooting.”

The judge then entered a finding of probable cause. The State then sought a finding of urgent and immediate necessity to detain J.E. in custody.

J.E. was on supervision for possession of cannabis at the time of the hearing. He had three prior court referrals. He attended Clemente High School as a night student. He had no prior violent crimes in his background. He was a lifelong Chicago resident. He lived with two brothers and a sister. His father was in court.

The judge found there was urgent and immediate necessity to hold J.E. in custody.

The State filed a motion to permit prosecution of a minor under the criminal laws. The purpose of the motion was to transfer J.E. from the juvenile court to the criminal court, where he would be treated as an adult under the Criminal Code. It was a presumptive transfer motion, brought under section 5 — 4(3.3) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (705 ILCS 405/5 — 4(3.3) (West 1994)). J.E.’s lawyer opposed the motion.

J.E.’s transfer hearing was held on March 31, 1995, before another judge. The parties stipulated to admission of the transcript from the detention hearing. No other evidence was offered. The State relied entirely on the detention hearing finding of probable cause to establish a rebuttable presumption that the minor was not a fit and proper subject to be dealt with under the Juvenile Court Act. If the rebuttable presumption were to arise, evidence concerning the charges would be closed. All that would remain would be a section 5 — 4(3.3)(b) determination of whether the minor "would be amenable to the care, treatment, and training programs available through the facilities of the juvenile court.” 705 ILCS 405/5 — 4(3.3)(b) (West 1994). If, after evaluating seven statutory factors, the trial judge found the minor would not be "amenable,” the case is transferred to the criminal court, where proceedings would be conducted under the Criminal Code.

The judge refused to hold that the detention hearing finding of probable cause was enough to establish the rebuttable presumption sought by the State. Further, the judge seemed to be holding that it is the State’s obligation at a transfer hearing to establish probable cause as to each charge in the petition for adjudication and each charge in the motion to transfer the case to the criminal court. He denied the State’s motion. This appeal followed.

OPINION

The section 5 — 10 detention hearing is to be held within 36 hours of the time the juvenile is taken into custody, excluding weekends and holidays. The court’s duty is to determine whether there is "probable cause to believe that the minor is a delinquent minor.” 705 ILCS 405/5 — 10(1) (West 1994). If the court finds probable cause, it then goes on to determine whether there is an "immediate and urgent necessity” to detain the minor.

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282 Ill. App. 3d 794, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-je-illappct-1996.