People v. Moffett

2019 IL App (2d) 180964
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 8, 2020
Docket2-18-0964
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 2019 IL App (2d) 180964 (People v. Moffett) 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. Moffett, 2019 IL App (2d) 180964 (Ill. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

Digitally signed by Reporter of Decisions Reason: I attest to Illinois Official Reports the accuracy and integrity of this document Appellate Court Date: 2020.07.07 09:21:46 -05'00'

People v. Moffett, 2019 IL App (2d) 180964

Appellate Court THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellant, Caption v. YOLANDA MOFFETT, Defendant-Appellee.

District & No. Second District No. 2-18-0964

Filed December 18, 2019

Decision Under Appeal from the Circuit Court of Kane County, No. 18-CF-1382; the Review Hon. John A. Barsanti, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Reversed and remanded.

Counsel on Joseph McMahon, State’s Attorney, of St. Charles (Patrick Delfino, Appeal David J. Robinson, and Luke McNeill, of State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, of counsel), for the People.

James E. Chadd, Thomas A. Lilien, and Sade V. Edwards, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Elgin, for appellee.

Panel PRESIDING JUSTICE BIRKETT delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Zenoff and Hudson concurred in the judgment and opinion. OPINION

¶1 In this prosecution of defendant, Yolanda Moffett, for aggravated battery of a correctional institution employee, the State appeals two orders of the circuit court of Kane County. The first is an order dismissing, on speedy-trial grounds, count II of the State’s August 22, 2018, indictment. The second is an order granting in part defendant’s motion in limine to exclude video evidence of the alleged battery. For the following reasons, we reverse both the dismissal of count II and the partial grant of defendant’s motion in limine.

¶2 I. BACKGROUND ¶3 A. Speedy Trial ¶4 For purposes of the speedy-trial issue, we note that defendant was in custody continuously from July 7, 2018—when the complaint was filed—to November 6, 2019—when defendant filed her successful motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds. ¶5 On July 7, 2018, defendant was charged by complaint with one count of aggravated battery of Officer Davis, a correctional institution employee. See 720 ILCS 5/12-3(a)(1), 12-3.05(d)(4) (West 2018). The complaint alleged that, on or about July 5, 2018, defendant “knowingly caused bodily harm to [Davis] *** in that she bit [Davis’s] fingers on her right hand, knowing said victim to be a correctional officer, while performing her official duties.” ¶6 During defendant’s first appearance on the charge, on July 13, 2018, she stated that she wished to hire an attorney and needed immediate assistance in reading documents. The trial court appointed the public defender for the limited purpose of helping defendant understand her legal situation. The court continued the matter to July 20 for the setting of a preliminary hearing. The court’s order of July 13 states that the continuance was by agreement of the defense. ¶7 Meanwhile, on July 19, 2018, defendant—by the public defender—filed a demand for a speedy trial. At the status hearing on July 20, the court appointed the public defender in full. Defense counsel asked that the court “continue the matter by agreement” for counsel to review additional discovery provided by the State. The court continued the matter to August 8 for the setting of a preliminary hearing. The court’s order of July 20 states that the continuance was by agreement of the defense. ¶8 At the August 8, 2018, status hearing, defendant stated that she was asserting her speedy- trial rights and wanted the case set for trial. The court set the matter for a pretrial conference on September 13 and for trial on September 17. The court then continued the matter to August 24 for a preliminary hearing. The court’s order of August 8 states that “[d]efendant demands a speedy trial and objects to further continuances.” ¶9 On August 22, 2018, the State filed an indictment setting forth two counts of aggravated battery that allegedly occurred on or about July 5. Count I alleged that defendant “knowingly caused bodily harm to Officer Davis, in that said defendant bit Officer Davis on or about the body and/or hands, knowing said victim to be a correctional officer performing her official duties.” See id. §§ 12-3(a)(1), 12-3.05(d)(4). Count II alleged that defendant “knowingly made physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Officer Davis, in that said defendant bit Officer Davis on or about the body and/or hands, knowing said victim to be a correctional officer performing her official duties.” See id. §§ 12-3(a)(2), 12-3.05(d)(4).

-2- ¶ 10 Defendant was arraigned on the indictment on August 24, 2018. The court remarked to defendant that count II was “exactly the same” as count I and was “just a different way of charging it.” Defendant pled not guilty to both charges. ¶ 11 The trial court subsequently granted the State two continuances of the trial date. The first was from September 17 to October 22, and the second was from October 22 to November 13. Defendant objected to both continuances. ¶ 12 On November 6, 2018, defendant filed a motion to dismiss count II of the indictment because she had not been tried on that charge within the statutory 120-day period for defendants in custody. See 725 ILCS 5/103-5(a) (West 2018) (“Every person in custody in this State for an alleged offense shall be tried by the court having jurisdiction within 120 days from the date he or she was taken into custody unless delay is occasioned by the defendant ***.”). Defendant asserted in her motion that, because count II was a “new and additional charge” (People v. Staake, 2017 IL 121755, ¶ 37), delays occasioned by defendant on the initial charge (filed in the complaint, on July 7, 2018) were not attributable to her on count II. According to defendant, when those delays were excluded, November 6 became day 121 of the statutory period, and therefore her speedy-trial rights were violated with respect to count II. ¶ 13 At the hearing on the motion to dismiss, defendant observed that battery as charged in count II of the indictment had a different element than battery as charged in the original complaint. Specifically, the original count required proof that defendant “cause[d] bodily harm” (720 ILCS 5/12-3(a)(1) (West 2018)), while count II required proof of “physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature” (id. § 12-3(a)(2)). The trial court agreed that this was the decisive difference that rendered count II a new and additional charge. The court recognized that the State cited cases that “discuss a notice issue.” See People v. Phipps, 238 Ill. 2d 54, 67 (2010) (in determining whether subsequent charges are new and additional, “[t]he focus is on whether the original charging instrument gave the defendant sufficient notice of the subsequent charges to prepare adequately for trial on those charges”). The court said that it was “not following the notice cases” because “[n]othing in the statute speaks to notice, nothing in the statute refers to timing in any way.” The court believed, rather, that the “actual purpose” of the speedy-trial rule was to “avoid piecemeal prosecutions,” such as the State was attempting in this case. Therefore, the court dismissed count II. ¶ 14 The State filed a motion to reconsider. The court denied the motion, adhering to its position that count II was a new and additional charge because of “the different types of mental states and different types of activity that *** would have to be proven.”

¶ 15 B. Motion in Limine ¶ 16 Defendant filed a motion in limine concerning an eight-minute video that the State intended to introduce as evidence that defendant bit Davis. Defendant sought exclusion of all statements on the video as irrelevant or as inadmissible hearsay.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2019 IL App (2d) 180964, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-moffett-illappct-2020.