People v. Parham

879 N.E.2d 1024, 316 Ill. Dec. 636, 377 Ill. App. 3d 721, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1305
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 14, 2007
Docket2-06-0292
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 879 N.E.2d 1024 (People v. Parham) 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. Parham, 879 N.E.2d 1024, 316 Ill. Dec. 636, 377 Ill. App. 3d 721, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1305 (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

JUSTICE BYRNE

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial, defendant, Marion H. Parham, was convicted of two counts of burglary for knowingly and without authority entering two separate motor vehicles with the intent to commit a theft therein, in violation of section 19 — 1(a) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Code) (720 ILCS 5/19—1(a) (West 2004)). The trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent terms of 5Va years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contends that (1) he was not proved guilty of burglary beyond a reasonable doubt, because the evidence was insufficient to establish that he entered the motor vehicles he was charged with burglarizing; (2) the trial court committed reversible error in its response to communications from the jury during deliberations; and (3) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to tender a lesser-included offense instruction on attempted burglary. We agree that defendant was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt as to count I, and we reverse outright defendant’s conviction under that count. We further find that the trial court committed reversible error in its response to the jury during deliberations as to count II, and we thus reverse defendant’s conviction under that count and remand for a new trial. Based on our decision, we need not determine whether trial counsel was ineffective.

BACKGROUND

The State filed a three-count indictment, charging defendant with burglary of three different vehicles. Count I charged defendant with burglarizing a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am owned by Mario Campos. Count II charged defendant with burglarizing a 1996 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck owned by Roberto Rodriguez. Count III charged defendant with burglarizing a 1989 Nissan owned by Hector Ochoa, but the trial court granted defendant’s motion for a directed verdict and dismissed that count.

At trial, Jose Corona testified that he lived at 954 Tobin Court in Waukegan. He was home watching television at 3 a.m. on September 23, 2005, when he heard a dog barking outside. He thought it was unusual for a dog to bark for such a long time at that hour. Corona looked out of his bedroom window and saw in the parking lot a man whom he thought was a friend but soon realized he did not recognize. Corona saw the stranger trying to open the doors of a black, four-door Honda Accord, but none of the doors opened. The stranger then attempted to open the doors of a Chevrolet Silverado located next to the Accord. Corona described the stranger as big and tall. Corona stated that the stranger was near a streetlight.

Corona testified that he telephoned his neighbor and friend, Yadir Nevarez. Corona went downstairs after he called Nevarez, but he was not able to see the stranger. After Nevarez came to Corona’s apartment, both Corona and Nevarez went outside to the front yard to investigate. Corona could not see the stranger at this point. Corona and Nevarez stood and waited in the yard because the stranger would have to go past them to leave the apartment complex. Shortly after, Corona saw the stranger near a Pontiac approximately two cars from the Silverado. Corona did not see anything else because it was dark.

Corona testified further that the stranger attempted to ride a bicycle to get away from Corona and Nevarez. Corona and Nevarez approached the stranger while he was on his bicycle but they could not catch him. The stranger then started to run away on foot and Corona and Nevarez grabbed him. The stranger told them to leave him alone. Corona observed that he was holding something under his sweater and, when Corona and Nevarez grabbed him, a car stereo fell to the ground. Corona recognized the car stereo from his uncle Mario’s Pontiac Grand Am. Corona never told the police that he recognized the car stereo. At trial, he claimed that he had been in the Grand Am many times and that his uncle had owned the car for five to eight years. Corona stated that the only person in the area that night other than himself, Nevarez, and the stranger, was a person named Orozco, who came outside later.

Corona testified that Nevarez called the police and that Corona held the stranger until they arrived. After taking the stranger into custody, the police interviewed other people in the neighborhood. Corona stated that he saw them interview his aunt Maria Campos and Jesus Nomar. Corona claimed that the Grand Am belonged to Maria and his uncle Mario. Corona was unable to make an in-court identification of defendant as the stranger. Corona further stated that he never saw any man, or defendant in particular, take anything from any vehicle.

Yadir Nevarez testified that he lives at 1220 Tobin Court in Waukegan. On September 23, 2005, at approximately 3 a.m., Corona telephoned him, telling him that there was a stranger trying to open vehicle doors in the parking lot near their complex. Nevarez went to Corona’s home after Corona called him. Nevarez saw a black male looking into vehicles in the parking lot, trying to open them. Nevarez saw the stranger going through a toolbox on the flatbed of a Silverado truck.

Nevarez explained how he and Corona waited for the stranger so they could catch him when he came from the parking lot. Nevarez saw the stranger get on a bicycle. When Nevarez and Corona approached the stranger, the stranger dropped his bicycle and began to run. Nevarez and Corona grabbed the stranger as he was trying to run away. As they grabbed him, a car stereo fell from underneath the stranger’s sweater. The stranger told them that somebody had sold him the stereo and that the stereo belonged to him. Nevarez identified defendant as the stranger. Nevarez testified that he did not see the stranger open any vehicles or take anything from any vehicle.

Rodriguez, the owner of the Silverado pickup truck, testified that he parked his truck in front of his home at 1141 Tobin Court on September 22, 2005, at 5 p.m. He stated that a large toolbox with two doors extending the box’s entire width was permanently mounted on the flatbed part of the truck. Rodriguez left the doors to the toolbox closed but not locked. He kept gardening equipment in the toolbox, including shovels, scissors, and shears. Rodriguez explained that, although the toolbox itself was completely enclosed, the flatbed was not enclosed and anyone could gain access to it without a key. Rodriguez did not give anyone permission to enter his truck or his toolbox after 5 p.m. on September 22, 2005.

The police awoke Rodriguez at approximately 3 a.m. on September 23, 2005, to ask him to inspect his truck. Upon examining his truck and toolbox, Rodriguez discovered that one of the lids to the toolbox was open. However, no items from the toolbox were missing or had been moved.

Valatwan Hayes, a Waukegan police officer, testified that she was dispatched to the 1110 block of Tobin Court at 3 a.m. on September 23. When Hayes arrived on the scene, she found two men holding another man, later identified as defendant. Hayes noticed bulges in defendant’s pockets and proceeded to pat him down. Hayes found several music compact discs (CDs) and a utility tool with a flashlight located at one end and a switch that released a razor at the other end. Over objection, the CDs and the tool were admitted into evidence.

Hayes testified that a majority of the artists on the CD labels were Latin artists.

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Related

People v. Smith
2014 IL App (1st) 123094 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
People v. Beauchamp
944 N.E.2d 319 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2011)
People v. Beauchamp
904 N.E.2d 1014 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
879 N.E.2d 1024, 316 Ill. Dec. 636, 377 Ill. App. 3d 721, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1305, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-parham-illappct-2007.