People v. Lyda

327 N.E.2d 494, 27 Ill. App. 3d 906, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2163
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 29, 1975
Docket73-298
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 327 N.E.2d 494 (People v. Lyda) 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. Lyda, 327 N.E.2d 494, 27 Ill. App. 3d 906, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2163 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE DIXON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Christopher Lyda, was indicted by the Du Page County grand jury on one count of possession of cannabis and one count.of obstruction of justice. He was found guilty on both counts at a bench trial and sentenced to concurrent terms of 1 to 3 years on the possession count and 1 year on the obstruction of justice count. Defendant argues on appeal that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress because of lack of standing, that he was convicted under a fatally defective indictment, that the court erred in entering judgment and sentences for two offenses arising out of the same conduct or transaction, and that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The prosecution evidence indicated that on April 18, 1972, defendant walked into a pool hall and said that he had 19-20 “nickel” bags of marijuana to sell. Defendant and one Neely and one Macias then went to a storage room where defendant removed a plastic bag containing smaller bags from his crotch area. Neely asked defendant to stay and play pool. Defendant got some balls from Neely, took off his jacket and took the bag from his crotch area and placed it in a sleeve of the jacket, and played pool with one McCreary. Neely called the Wheaton police and spoke to Detective Leonard about defendant. Shortly thereafter Officer Matthews came to the pool hall. Matthews asked defendant to get his jacket and step outside to talk about some marijuana. Defendant told Matthews his jacket was in the washroom, so they both went there to get it. Matthews searched the washroom and did not find the jacket and" again asked defendant to step outside.

Defendant then said that he wanted to use the bathroom and walked into the cubicle. Matthews grabbed defendant’s left arm and defendant shoved Matthews away. Matthews then arrested defendant. Neely and another man named Doney then entered the washroom. Matthews tried to keep Doney in view. Defendant then returned to the cubicle, removed a clear plastic bag from his crotch area and flushed it down the toilet. Defendant blocked Matthews from retrieving this bag. The substance in the bag appeared to be marijuana.

Defendant then submitted to arrest and, when asked by Matthews where his jacket was, nodded toward the wall. Matthews asked which jacket it was. Neely pointed it out, and Matthews took it. At the police station defendant denied owning the jacket which was identified by others at trial as his jacket. A large plastic bag with nineteen smaller bags inside it was found in the jacket sleeve, each bag containing marijuana.

The defense evidence included a denial by defendant that he had any marijuana and a denial of a conversation about the sale of marijuana. McCreary, a defense witness, said defendant simply came up to him and asked him to play pool shortly after defendant came in. Mc-Creary and defendant said that defendant and Doney went into the washroom together after defendant was arrested. McCreary stated that ■Neely went to the wall and got the jacket, which he gave to Officer Matthews.

There was also testimony that later in the afternoon, subsequent to defendant’s arrest, some girls came to the pool hall and took defendant’s jacket to defendant’s house. At trial, defense witnesses identified this second jacket as belonging to defendant, based on a patch on the jacket which was not on the jacket seized by police.

Finally there was evidence that Macias and Neely, who- were witnesses for the prosecution, could be biased. Macias had minor charges pending against him for which he expected leniency in return for his testimony. Neely was owed money by defendant and there was testimony that Neely would not testify against defendant if defendant paid back the money he owed.

The issues presented on appeal are:

I. Did the trial court err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress evidence because of lack of standing?
II. Was defendant convicted under a fatally defective indictment?
III. Did the trial court err by entering judgment on both offenses and sentencing defendant to concurrent terms for two offenses which arose out of the same act, conduct, or transaction?
IV. Was defendant proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt?

I. It was held below that defendant had no standing to move to suppress the evidence against him because he denied owning the jacket in which the marijuana was found. It was held that, absent a proprietary interest in the jacket, defendant could not.raise the question of an invalid search and seizure. Under Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 4 L.Ed.2d 697, 87 S.Ct. 725, automatic standing to move to suppress is conferred upon a defendant where possession of the evidence seized is an element of the offense for which tire defendant may be convicted. The continuing vitality of the Jones rule was indicated in Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247, 88 S.Ct. 967. In Brown v. United States, 411 U.S. 223, 36 L.Ed.2d 208, 93 S.Ct. 1565, the Supreme Court specifically refused to decide the continuing vitality of the Jones rule, in light of the fact that Simmons may have made it unnecessary. The Jones rule was restated in Illinois in 1966. (People v. DeFilippis, 34 Ill.2d 129.) DeFillipis also went beyond Jones and extended automatic standing to cases where possession merely formed the basis for a conviction, but was not an element of the offense charged. In People v. McNeil, 53 Ill.2d 187, DeFilippis was overruled insofar as it extended automatic standing beyond the Jones rule. It is clear that the Jones rule was left untouched and of continuing validity. (See also People v. Teague, 15 Ill.App.3d 479, 489.) As possession was an element of the offense charged in the instant case, defendant had standing to move to suppress.

However, the fact that defendant had standing does not mean that the evidence in the instant case should have been suppressed. Defendant here had a full hearing on his motion to suppress. At the end of the hearing, the judge denied the motion on the basis of lack of standing. From the evidence adduced at the hearing on the motion to suppress it is seen that the motion to suppress is to be denied because the search and seizure involved here was in compliance with the fourth and fourteenth amendments of the United States Constitution. When an arrest is made, it is reasonable for the arresting officer to search for and seize any evidence on the arrestee’s person which the arrestee might conceal or destroy and to search the arrestee’s person for any weapons which the arrestee might utilize, as well as to search the area into which the arrestee could reach to grab a weapon or destroy or conceal evidence. (Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752, 23 L.Ed.2d 685, 89 S.Ct. 2034.) Similar authority for search and seizure by an arresting officer is found in section 108 — 1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 108 — 1.)

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Bluebook (online)
327 N.E.2d 494, 27 Ill. App. 3d 906, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 2163, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-lyda-illappct-1975.