People v. Lake

2015 IL App (4th) 130072, 28 N.E.3d 1036
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided March 16, 2015·No. 4-13-0072·Unpublished·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

2015 IL App (4th) 130072

FILED

March 16, 2015

Carla Bender

NO. 4-13-0072 4th District Appellate Court, IL

IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Circuit Court of v. ) Vermilion County TREVON M. LAKE, ) No. 12CF265 Defendant-Appellant. )

) Honorable

) Nancy S. Fahey,

) Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE STEIGMANN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Justices Holder White and Appleton concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 In June 2012, the State charged defendant, Trevon M. Lake, in part, with (1) ag- gravated use of a weapon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(I) (West 2010)) and (2) defacing iden- tification marks of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24-5(b) (West 2010)). Defendant later filed a motion to suppress the gun police seized, arguing that the police search of him was unreasonable under the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution. U.S. Const., amend. IV.

¶2 Following a November 2012 hearing, the trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress. At a stipulated bench trial conducted later that month, the court found defendant guilty of both charges. In December 2012, the court sentenced defendant to time served (187 days in jail) and probation for 24 months.

¶3 Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evidence and (2) his conviction for aggravated use of a weapon under section 24-

1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(I) of the Criminal Code of 1961 is unconstitutional. We disagree and affirm.

¶4 I. BACKGROUND

¶5 A. The State's Charges and Defendant's Motion To Suppress Evidence

¶6 In June 2012, a police officer searched defendant—who was 17 years old—and discovered a gun with a defaced serial number. The State later charged defendant with (1) two counts of aggravated use of a weapon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.6(a)(1), (a)(3)(C); (a)(1), (a)(3)(I) (West 2010)) (counts I and II, respectively) and (2) defacing identification marks of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24-5(b) (West 2010)) (count III).

¶7 In September 2012, defendant filed a "motion to quash arrest and suppress evi- dence." See People v. Ramirez, 2013 IL App (4th) 121153, ¶ 57, 996 N.E.2d 1227 (saying de- fendants should stop filing motions to "quash arrest" because they make no sense and add noth- ing to achieving the intended goal of suppressing evidence). Defendant sought to exclude the gun and any associated evidence, arguing that the search of his person was unreasonable under the fourth amendment because the police lacked sufficient justification to stop and question him and then seize the gun.

¶8 B. The Hearing on Defendant's Motion To Suppress

¶9 At a November 2012 hearing on defendant's motion to suppress, defendant pre- sented the following evidence.

¶ 10 Sergeant Terry McCord of the Danville police department testified that shortly after midnight on June 15, 2012, he responded to a call reporting gunshots at the Fair Oaks pub- lic housing complex, which is managed by the Danville Housing Authority. Although McCord initially patrolled the property in his marked squad car, he left his vehicle, traveled on foot, and later observed three men in front of a building. One of the three men—later identified as defend-

ant—caught McCord's attention because he walked back and forth three times, looking in vari- ous directions as he did so, which gave McCord the impression that the man was a "lookout." McCord, who did not know defendant at the time he observed the three individuals, character- ized the shifting movements as "suspicious," adding that "[w]hat I witnessed from the subject was not a normal *** reaction in my 15 years' experience."

¶ 11 The "lookout" (defendant) eventually walked "down the street," away from the two men as he listened to loud music playing from an electronic device. Unbeknownst to de- fendant, McCord followed, closing the 20-foot distance between them. McCord then tapped de- fendant's shoulder from behind, which startled and scared him. When defendant turned his head and saw McCord behind him, McCord moved in front of defendant, identified himself, and asked what defendant was doing. Defendant responded that he was walking to his apartment, which was a few doors away, and he wanted to go home. McCord then asked defendant to identify himself, and defendant responded, "Trevon Lake." At that moment, McCord recalled infor- mation provided by another officer not more than six months earlier that Trevon Lake was known to carry a gun. McCord looked down and observed a four-inch bulge at defendant's waist area. McCord then conducted a "pat down" search of that bulge and seized the gun at issue.

¶ 12 McCord testified that pursuant to a written agreement between the Danville Hous- ing Authority and the Danville police department, police patrolling the apartment complex are supposed to determine that people on housing authority property either reside there or are permit- ted to be on the premises. McCord explained the following standard procedure police use under that agreement:

"[Police] [u]sually stop [people], *** ask for their name, [and] ask their purpose [for] being on the property. We can check to see if

they actually live there because [police dispatchers have] a resi-

dents' list for Fair Oaks. If they're not on the bar list and they do live there, obviously they're allowed to go *** wherever they're going. If they're not on the bar list and they don't live there, they're asked to leave the property or go wherever they're supposed to be visiting or whatever they're supposed to be doing."

McCord testified that police dispatchers have access to a listing of over 600 people who are barred from the Fair Oaks property. If police question an individual who is on the barred list, that person is asked to leave the premises. McCord stated that he stopped defendant to ask (1) why he was on the property and (2) his name to determine his status in accordance with the aforementioned procedure.

¶ 13 In addition to ensuring his own safety, McCord stated that he searched defendant for the following reasons:

"[Defendant] was patted down because of the totality of the circumstances; based on the area that I was in, the high-crime/ high-drug area[;] based on [defendant's] action and what I believed he could be possibly doing[;] based on the fact that I asked [de-

fendant for] his name *** and I had information *** that [defend-

ant] was known to carry guns. I then looked down [at] his waist area and at that point was able to see what I believed to be a bulge *** in his waist."

¶ 14 Defendant's testimony regarding his June 15, 2012, encounter with McCord was consistent with McCord's account. Defendant added that he did not feel free to leave during his

encounter with McCord.

¶ 15 Thereafter, the trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress evidence.

¶ 16 C. Defendant's Trial

¶ 17 Following a November 2012 stipulated bench trial, the trial court found defendant (1) not guilty of count I and (2) guilty of counts II and III. The stipulated evidence showed that the gun seized from defendant had its identification marks defaced. In December 2012, the court sentenced defendant as previously noted.

¶ 18 This appeal followed.

¶ 19 II. ANALYSIS

¶ 20 A. Defendant's Fourth-Amendment Claim

¶ 21 Defendant argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress evi- dence. Specifically, defendant contends that suppression of the firearm is appropriate because the police lacked sufficient justification to seize and question him. In this regard, defendant as- serts that he was seized because McCord (1) believed his innocent actions were suspicious; (2) approached him from behind and tapped him on his shoulder, which caused him to stop and submit to McCord's authority as a police officer; and (3) blocked his path. We disagree that McCord's encounter with defendant violated the fourth amendment.

¶ 22 1. The Standard of Review

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People v. Lake, 2015 IL App (4th) 130072, 28 N.E.3d 1036 (Ill. Ct. App. 2015).

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