People v. Moore

880 N.E.2d 229, 378 Ill. App. 3d 41, 316 Ill. Dec. 751, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1279
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 11, 2007·No. 1-06-0432·Published·Cited by 26 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE KARNEZIS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant was tried and convicted by a jury of first degree murder for his role in the beating death of James McDonald on May 20, 2002. Defendant was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress and he was denied his sixth amendment right to confrontation.

Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The trial court denied the motion.

Michael McDonald, James McDonald’s brother, testified at trial that at the time of the incident he was living with his mother and brother in his mother’s house at 5327 West Crystal in Chicago. Nearly every day for two weeks before the incident, defendant came to their house looking for James because James owed defendant money. At about 7 p.m. on the evening of May 20, 2002, defendant came to the house looking for James and brought a two-by-four piece of construction wood with him. When Michael went into the alley at approximately 8:30 p.m., on that evening, he saw James lying in a pool of blood. An ambulance was called and James was taken to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., on the morning of May 21, 2002, Michael and his brother-in-law went into the alley where James was found and saw a two-by-four nearby that appeared to have blood on it. They called the police to collect it. Michael later identified defendant in a police lineup.

Frederick White, Michael McDonald’s brother-in-law, corroborated Michael’s testimony regarding the two-by-four in the alley. After he and Michael called the police to collect the board, Frederick got into his car, which was parked in the alley. While he was sitting in his car in the alley, he saw defendant bend over, grab the two-by-four and run away with it. Frederick identified defendant in a police lineup and in open court as the man he had seen remove the two-by-four from the alley.

Angela Taylor testified that she was James’s neighbor. On Friday in the third week of May 2002, Taylor saw defendant walking in the alley behind James’s house carrying a two-by-four. She had known defendant for about five years. He asked Taylor if she had seen James. Later that day when she came back outside, she saw James lying on the ground badly injured. When Taylor saw defendant the next day, he cried and told her that he had hit James with a stick and that he had died but he did not mean to do it.

Detective Kurt Hagemann testified that at approximately 2:30 a.m., on May 21, 2002, he and his partner went to defendant’s house at 1118 North Latrobe in Chicago. While they were there, they heard a loud noise upstairs. Detective Hagemann ran outside and saw a black male fleeing from a second-story window. Defendant was later arrested by Lieutenant Leo Schmitz on the evening of May 21, 2002.

Detective Raymond Schalk testified that during an interview with defendant after his arrest, defendant told him that he had been looking for James McDonald because James owed him money. Defendant’s wife, Latasha Tolliver, went with him to look for James. When defendant found James, James pulled out a large kitchen knife and the two began wrestling. Defendant picked up a two-by-four that was lying in the alley and hit James twice with it. Defendant and his wife then left the scene taking James’s knife with them. They returned later for the two-by-four. Detective Schalk then told defendant that he had spoken with defendant’s wife and that there were discrepancies in their stories. Defendant then told Detective Schalk that James did not actually have a knife and that he and his wife had made up that part of the story.

Later that evening, defendant was questioned by Assistant State’s Attorney Denise Ambroziak in the presence of Detective Schalk. During that questioning, defendant stated that James owed him $50 for crack cocaine and that he had brought a two-by-four when he went looking for James in order to scare him. When he found James, defendant asked him for the $50. James became belligerent and defendant raised the two-by-four as though he would hit James. James attacked him and the two wrestled on the ground, where James hit his head on the pavement. Defendant hit him with the board several times, punched him and kicked him. Defendant fled the scene and left the board in the alley. He and his wife later returned to retrieve the board.

After this interview, defendant gave a videotaped statement consistent with the information he provided during the interview with Detective Schalk and Assistant State’s Attorney Ambroziak. The videotaped statement was admitted into evidence and presented to the jury.

Dr. Te An, the medical examiner who performed James’s autopsy, was not available to testify at trial because he had retired. Dr. Michael Humilier testified regarding Dr. An’s report. Dr. Humilier testified that Dr. An had concluded that the cause of death was blunt force trauma and the manner of death was homicide. Dr. Humilier agreed with Dr. An regarding the cause and manner of death.

Defendant testified at trial. He stated that James had stolen some tools from him the day before the incident. He went to James’s house several times on May 20, 2002, to retrieve the tools. He did not bring a two-by-four with him. Defendant then described the altercation with James, which was largely consistent with the one he described in the videotaped statement. He did stress that James was exhibiting “crazy” behavior. Defendant testified that he did not bring the board with him, that he never went back to retrieve a board, that James never had a knife, and that when he left, James was conscious. He further stated that he made inconsistent statements in his videotaped statement because the police threatened to charge his wife if he did not change his story.

After hearing all of the evidence, the jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder. It is from this conviction that defendant now appeals.

Defendant first argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence because he was illegally detained without probable cause when Lieutenant Schmitz ordered him into a police car for interrogation despite the fact that Lieutenant Schmitz was unaware of any specific facts connecting defendant to the beating death of James McDonald.

At the motion to suppress, Lieutenant Schmitz testified that he was working as a sergeant in the Area 5 Detective Division on May 21, 2002. Lieutenant Schmitz testified that he knew the detectives in his division were investigating a beating death that occurred the previous evening. After interviewing the victim’s family members, the detectives had identified the perpetrator as Carnell Moore, who lived at 1118 N. Latrobe in Chicago. Lieutenant Schmitz further testified that he was aware that detectives had attempted to locate defendant at his home, but when they arrived a man jumped out of a second-story window and fled.

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People v. Moore, 880 N.E.2d 229, 378 Ill. App. 3d 41, 316 Ill. Dec. 751, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1279 (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

880 N.E.2d 229 (People v. Moore) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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