People v. Morrow

708 N.E.2d 430, 303 Ill. App. 3d 671, 236 Ill. Dec. 844, 1999 Ill. App. LEXIS 101
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 1, 1999
Docket1-96-2592
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 708 N.E.2d 430 (People v. Morrow) 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. Morrow, 708 N.E.2d 430, 303 Ill. App. 3d 671, 236 Ill. Dec. 844, 1999 Ill. App. LEXIS 101 (Ill. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

JUSTICE GALLAGHER

delivered the opinion of the court:

On November 22, 1994, defendant Mitchell Morrow, along with codefendants Birandi Paschal and Alanda McComb, was charged by indictment with the August 28, 1994, murder and armed robbery of Kazmierz Kosinski. Following a four-day jury trial in April 1996 before the Honorable John E. Morrissey, defendant was convicted of both murder and armed robbery and thereafter sentenced to concurrent terms of 60 years for the murder and 20 years for the armed robbery. Codefendant Birandi Paschal was found guilty of murder and armed robbery by a different jury. The two juries sat jointly for some of the testimony, but each jury was excluded for certain other portions of the testimony. Codefendant Alanda McComb was acquitted following a bench trial before Judge Morrissey. Defendant now appeals.

The record before us reveals that during the evening of August 27, 1994, and the early morning of August 28, 1994, Kazmierz Kosinski and his friend, Chester Szwajnus, drank together at a couple of bars. Thereafter, Kosinski dropped Szwajnus off at another tavern and that was the last time Szwajnus saw Kosinski alive. Kosinski then went to the area of Cicero and Dickens, where he solicited and hired two prostitutes to perform sex for $25 each. Those prostitutes were codefendant Birandi Paschal and another woman, Ramona Siler. Kosinski had hired Siler as a prostitute on previous occasions.

Paschal and Siler got into Kosinski’s car and he eventually drove to an area near Blackhawk Park. Unbeknownst to Kosinski, his car was followed by another car. In that car was defendant, who was Siler’s pimp, and codefendant Alanda McComb, who was Paschal’s pimp. Once Kosinski parked his car, Siler placed a condom on his penis and began performing oral sex. Paschal got on top of Kosinski’s lap and pulled her shirt up to allow him to suck her breasts.

While this was transpiring, Siler saw Paschal try to take Kosinski’s wallet from his pocket. When Kosinski realized this, he grabbed Paschal by the hair, called her a “black bitch” and the two began to struggle. Siler called for help and defendant and McComb ran to the car. McComb punched Kosinski. Siler ran to defendant’s car, where Paschal had already gone. Siler saw defendant shoot Kosinski, who later died of the gunshot wounds.

Defendant and McComb returned to the car. McComb told Paschal to split up, between the four, the $160 contained in Kosinski’s wallet. As they drove, they tossed the wallet out the window. The wallet was later recovered a few blocks away from the scene of the crime by an individual who placed it in a mailbox.

At one point, the car stopped and defendant got out and hid the gun up under the hood of the car. Defendant said to Siler, “Did I get any blood on me, Bay?” “Bay” was a nickname, short for “Baby,” which defendant called Siler, who was also his girlfriend.

On September 5, 1994, after initially telling the police she did not know anything, Siler gave a statement to detectives and an assistant State’s Attorney and subsequently testified before the grand jury. The substance of both her statement and her grand jury testimony was essentially an account of the foregoing described events. At trial, however, Siler denied knowing the victim and also denied being with him on the night of the murder. She did not, however, deny that she gave the pretrial statement and grand jury testimony.

Defendant now raises several arguments on appeal, but primarily contends that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because his conviction was based solely upon the inherently untrustworthy testimony of Siler. Defendant gives several arguments as to why Siler’s testimony was insufficient. We shall examine each argument separately.

The standard of review for challenging the sufficiency of the evidence is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Collins, 106 Ill. 2d 237, 261, 478 N.E.2d 267 (1985).

To support his contention that Siler’s pretrial statements were unreliable, defendant places much emphasis on the fact that Siler recanted her testimony at trial. Section 115—10.1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/115—10.1 (West 1992)) provides, in pertinent part:

“In all criminal cases, evidence of a statement made by a witness is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if
(a) the statement is inconsistent with his testimony at the hearing or trial, and
(b) the witness is subject to cross-examination concerning the statement, and
(c) the statement—
(1) was made under oath at a trial, hearing, or other proceeding.” 725 ILCS 5/115—10.1 (West 1992).

Pursuant to the statute, Siler’s pretrial statements implicating the defendant were admitted as substantive evidence. Defendant does not dispute that these prior inconsistent statements were properly admitted. Defendant instead contends that Siler was a heroin addict and an accomplice, and, therefore, her statements were inherently untrustworthy. He further contends that these unreliable statements were insufficient to convict him, absent some corroborating evidence. We disagree and will address each of defendant’s contentions individually.

First, defendant is mistaken when he claims that there was no corroborative evidence. On the contrary, Siler’s account of the events surrounding the murder was corroborated by the condom wrapper recovered from the car, which was the same brand as the condoms recovered from her purse; the condom that was found in the victim’s pants; the straw on the floor of the car, which Siler had identified as belonging to her; the medical examiner’s testimony that the shooter was above the victim and to his left; and the victim’s wallet, which was found near the scene.

Defendant nevertheless contends that this corroborative evidence is insufficient, citing People v. Wilson, 66 Ill. 2d 346, 362 N.E.2d 291 (1977), and People v. Ash, 102 Ill. 2d 485, 468 N.E.2d 1153 (1984), in which the supreme court concluded that corroborative evidence of what happened during a crime, as opposed to corroborative evidence of who committed the crime, was insufficient to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The supreme court has given additional guidance which is applicable to the present case. Indeed, in Wilson, one of the cases cited by defendant, the court noted that “whether accomplice testimony, corroborated or uncorroborated, is a satisfactory basis for conviction goes to the weight of the evidence and is, therefore, in the province of the jury or the court.” People v. Wilson, 66 Ill. 2d 346, 349, 362 N.E.2d 291, 292 (1977).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
708 N.E.2d 430, 303 Ill. App. 3d 671, 236 Ill. Dec. 844, 1999 Ill. App. LEXIS 101, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-morrow-illappct-1999.