People v. Lawlor

683 N.E.2d 214, 291 Ill. App. 3d 97, 225 Ill. Dec. 270, 1997 Ill. App. LEXIS 531
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 31, 1997
Docket2-96-1030
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 683 N.E.2d 214 (People v. Lawlor) 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. Lawlor, 683 N.E.2d 214, 291 Ill. App. 3d 97, 225 Ill. Dec. 270, 1997 Ill. App. LEXIS 531 (Ill. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

JUSTICE RATHJE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Denis C. Lawlor, was charged by information with aggravated discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24—1.2(a)(1) (West 1994)) and three counts of reckless discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24— 1.5(a) (West 1994)). Pursuant to a seizure order, defendant was required to surrender his firearm and ammunition. Defendant filed motions to quash the seizure order and to suppress the evidence. Following a hearing, the court granted the motions. The State filed a notice of appeal and a certificate of impairment. On appeal, the State argues that the court erred in quashing the seizure order because the order was issued based on a written affidavit and complaint and was found by a neutral judge to be supported by probable cause. We affirm.

Sergeant Deborrah Pettit of the Northern Illinois University police force filed the affidavit and complaint for a seizure order. Pettit stated in her affidavit that on November 22, 1995, there were reports of gunshots fired into Grant Towers South, a campus residence hall. Pettit interviewed Darren Burgstiner on November 27, 1995, and he told her that his cousin (defendant) stayed with him on the night of the shooting. Defendant went outside apartment No. 5 at 710 Regent and "shot off a couple of rounds.” Defendant then came back inside the apartment and placed a black 9 millimeter handgun and 5 bullet casings on the bed. Later that day defendant was looking at Grant Towers South, and Burgstiner heard him say that he did not think his bullets could go that far and that he did not think the gun was pointing in that direction.

Pettit confirmed with the Chicago police department that defendant is a Chicago police officer and has a registered Sig Sauer 9 millimeter automatic pistol. Russell McLain, an Illinois State Police firearms examiner, told Pettit that the bullets from the shooting bore markings that could help identify the gun used in the incident.

Scott Carlson informed Pettit that he heard five to seven gunshots and then saw four white males standing on the sidewalk in front of 710 Regent. Carlson observed one of the men go to a car that matched a description of defendant’s car. That person retrieved a flashlight from the car, picked up several items from the ground, and then went inside apartment No. 5. Carlson heard the man with the flashlight say "the evidence is gone now.”

Donald McCue told Pettit that he saw defendant holding a black automatic handgun right after McCue heard gunshots in the area of apartment No. 5. Ryan Hill told Pettit that he observed three to four men exit 710 Regent and face south toward the dorms. Hill heard three shots fired and saw clouds of smoke after each shot. Hill then saw the men walk into the west entrance to 710 Regent. From Pet-tit’s observations of the bullet holes, she believed that the shots came from north of Grant Towers South, and 710 Regent, No. 5, is north of Grant Towers South.

Based on the information in Pettit’s affidavit and complaint, Judge Douglas R. Engel issued a seizure order for a search of defendant and for the seizure of all 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistols, ammunition, and shell casings. In the seizure order, the trial judge stated that the facts were sufficient to show probable cause pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 413 (134 Ill. 2d R. 413) for the seizure and inspection of handguns and ammunition from defendant.

At the hearing on the motion to suppress, defendant testified that he had been a Chicago police officer for almost two years. On December 2, 1995, Lieutenant Lorenz of the seventh district told him that the next morning he should report to the seventh district in compliance with an order from the first deputy’s office to turn over his gun, a Sig Sauer 9 millimeter pistol. The next morning, defendant reported to the seventh district and turned over his weapon to Sergeant Dennis O’Brien. Defendant was not placed under arrest, and he was not given a search warrant for the seizure of his gun. Defendant did not consent to the turnover of his weapon, and he had not received it back. After defendant turned over his weapon, he received a substitute weapon and went back to work.

Sergeant Dennis O’Brien of the Chicago police department testified that on the morning of December 2, 1995, he was told by the watch commander to bring defendant to the operations command. When they arrived, O’Brien was told that there was a court order requiring that defendant surrender any handgun that he owned, as well as any ammunition, magazines, and spent cartridges. O’Brien was told that the order was signed by Judge Engel. O’Brien was shown the order, but he did not read the whole thing. O’Brien was not told that there was a search warrant. He did see the portion that indicated what defendant was to surrender. O’Brien took defendant’s Sig Sauer 9 millimeter pistol, along with the magazines and ammunition, and delivered them to his commanding officer.

Sergeant Deborrah Pettit of the Northern Illinois University police force testified that she appeared before Judge Engel on December 1, 1995. She presented the affidavit and complaint for a seizure order that she worked on with Michael Coghlan, the De Kalb County State’s Attorney. When she received the order, she faxed it to Herman Cristia at the Chicago police department’s Office of Professional Standards. The order was executed, and Pettit obtained the 9 millimeter Sig Sauer.

On cross-examination, Pettit testified that the seizure order looked like a search warrant, but that she now realized that it was not one. The part of the order that authorized a search of defendant’s apartment had been crossed out by Coghlan.

Michael Coghlan testified that he had been the State’s Attorney of De Kalb County for almost eight years. Coghlan testified that he appeared before Judge Engel on December 1, 1995, to obtain an order to seize defendant’s gun. Coghlan testified that he researched and prepared the affidavit and complaint. Coghlan testified that after researching Supreme Court Rule 413 (134 Ill. 2d R. 413) he decided to call the document a seizure order but that in retrospect he should have called it a search warrant. He also asserted that in all practicality the complaint and affidavit were for a search warrant. Coghlan used the search warrant form, but changed it to read "seizure order.” Coghlan admitted that no criminal charges were pending when he prepared the complaint for the seizure order.

The trial judge granted the motions to quash the seizure order and to suppress the evidence. The trial judge ruled that the seizure order was not a search warrant.

On appeal, the State contends that the trial court erred in suppressing the seizure order because it was, in effect, a search warrant. The State’s argument is that the seizure order was issued based on a written affidavit and complaint and was found by a neutral judge to be supported by probable cause and, therefore, the court should have viewed it as a search warrant. We disagree.

Coghlan testified that, after researching the issue, he changed the search warrant form to a Rule 413 seizure order.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
683 N.E.2d 214, 291 Ill. App. 3d 97, 225 Ill. Dec. 270, 1997 Ill. App. LEXIS 531, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-lawlor-illappct-1997.