People v. Redmiles

547 N.E.2d 724, 191 Ill. App. 3d 198, 138 Ill. Dec. 557, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1771
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 30, 1989
Docket4-89-0254
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 547 N.E.2d 724 (People v. Redmiles) 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. Redmiles, 547 N.E.2d 724, 191 Ill. App. 3d 198, 138 Ill. Dec. 557, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1771 (Ill. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

JUSTICE SPITZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant was charged with the unlawful possession of a hypodermic syringe or needle in violation of section 1 of “An Act to regulate the possession, delivery, sale or exchange of hypodermic syringes ***.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 22—50.) Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence. The court denied the motion and found defendant guilty of the offense. Defendant appeals the trial court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence.

At the suppression hearing, several officers testified. Officer James P. Hanko-Summers, a Champaign County police officer testified that on the morning of November 3, 1988, he was a member of the SWAT team that executed a narcotics search warrant at 51 East Bradley Street in Champaign. The residence was owned by Larry Hoffman. Nine to twelve police officers participated in the search.

Upon arriving at the house, one of the officers noticed someone, who later turned out to be defendant, standing in the backyard. Defendant ran into the house through the open rear door. The officers followed with guns drawn, also entering the house through the rear door. Once inside the house, Officer Hanko-Summers saw defendant standing in the kitchen, handcuffed him and asked him his name. Hanko-Summers along with Officer Murphy then conducted a pat-down search of defendant for weapons to ensure the officers’ safety. This, according to Officer Hanko-Summers, was standard procedure. Officer Hanko-Summers asked defendant if he had anything the officers might injure themselves on, such as needles or razor blades. Defendant responded by motioning his head towards his belt and stating “There’s a needle right here.” Officer Hanko-Summers found a hypodermic syringe underneath defendant’s belt buckle. The officer later found a spoon, some cotton, and a film canister on defendant.

The next officer to testify was police sergeant Scott Colclasure. Sergeant Colclasure testified that he had been on 20 to 25 narcotic search warrants over the last few years and that on most of the searches, he had encountered armed individuals or weapons present on the premises. The sergeant further stated that the officers found a small quantity of drugs at the house.

Officer Jeffrey Jolley testified next. Jolley testified that upon arriving at the residence and coming through an alley, he noticed defendant in the backyard of the premises, walking away from the door. When defendant noticed the police, he turned around and ran back into the house.

The final witness to testify was defendant Larry Redmiles. Red-miles testified that he was not in the backyard, but instead fixing a broken lock on the rear door of the premises when he saw the police come around the back. Defendant then closed the door, went in the house and told Larry Hoffman, the owner of the house, that the police were there. After the police came in, “they immediately asked me [Redmiles] my name, handcuffed me and then started reachin’ in my pockets.” The officers found a spoon, a film canister, and some cotton and then asked defendant if he had a syringe. Redmiles said he did not have a syringe but the officers threatened to strip search him and find one if he had it on him. It was only after this threat that defendant indicated where the syringe was.

Defendant Redmiles further testified that he used drugs and bought them on Bradley Street. However, defendant claims he did not know that Larry Hoffman dealt drugs.

The trial court specifically rejected claims by the State that the search was valid under section 107—14 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 107—14 (temporary questioning without arrest)). The court next discussed section 108—9 of the Code. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 108—9.) Section 108—9 states:

“In the execution of the warrant the person executing the same may reasonably detain to search any person in the place at the time:
(a) To protect himself (rom attack, or
(b) To prevent the disposal or concealment of any instruments, articles or things particularly described in the warrant.”

The court found no evidence that the search was valid under section 108—9(b) of the Code because defendant could not have concealed or disposed of anything since the police were right behind him as he entered the house. However, section 108—9(a) did validate the search as the officers conducted the search for their own safety.

The court further found that there was no mention of defendant in the search warrant; the police did not know defendant would be on the premises; there was no command in the warrant to search defendant; the police officers handcuffed defendant and conducted a pat-down search of him to protect themselves from attack; during this search, the officers asked defendant if he had any dangerous articles on him; and defendant indicated he did in fact have a syringe.

Defendant waived his right to a jury trial, and a stipulation was made that all evidence presented at the hearing except for defendant’s testimony was to be used at the bench trial. The court found defendant guilty and sentenced him to up to 90 days’ incarceration or until a bed became available in a residential treatment center for substance abuse and 12 months’ probation.

Defendant argues that the police lacked the requisite articulable suspicion or probable cause to believe that he was armed and dangerous. No probable cause existed because defendant was not named in the warrant, the officers did not expect to find defendant on the premises and defendant did nothing suspicious to create probable cause. Defendant further argues that the officers held no reasonable belief that he was armed and dangerous to permit a Terry frisk. Terry v. Ohio (1968), 392 U.S. 1, 20 L. Ed. 2d 889, 88 S. Ct. 1868.

The United States Supreme Court in Ybarra v. Illinois (1979), 444 U.S. 85, 62 L. Ed. 2d 238, 100 S. Ct. 338, held that independent probable cause is required to search a person on a premises being searched if that person is not named in the warrant. In Ybarra, police obtained a warrant authorizing them to conduct a search of a bar and its bartender for controlled substances. Seven or eight police officers entered the tavern to search the premises. One of the officers conducted a pat down of each of the 9 to 13 customers in the bar. The officer frisking defendant felt what he believed to be a cigarette package with objects in it. The officer later retrieved the package from defendant’s pocket and found small packets containing heroin. The trial court found the search to be valid under the authority of section 108—9(b) of the Code. The United States Supreme Court reversed, finding that no independent probable cause existed to search defendant. The warrant did not mention defendant as a possible violator; the police did not know defendant and had no reason to believe that he had committed, or was committing, an offense; there was no movement suggesting any criminal conduct; and defendant said nothing suspicious in nature.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
547 N.E.2d 724, 191 Ill. App. 3d 198, 138 Ill. Dec. 557, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1771, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-redmiles-illappct-1989.