People v. Rivera

627 N.E.2d 294, 255 Ill. App. 3d 1015, 194 Ill. Dec. 178, 1993 WL 382467, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1506
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided September 30, 1993·No. 1-91-0407·Published·Cited by 21 cases

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE MANNING

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Luis Rivera was charged by indictment No. 89 — CR— 13493 with the murder of decedent George Faulkner. After a jury trial defendant was convicted of murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1 (West 1992)) and sentenced to 30 years in prison. This appeal followed.

The record reveals that both parties agreed to proceed by stipulation to information contained in the autopsy report as it related to the description and location of wounds on decedent’s body. Additionally, defense counsel filed a pretrial motion requesting the court to determine the admissibility of the medical examiner’s description of a tattoo that appeared on decedent’s body. This information was included as part of the post-mortem report prepared by the medical examiner. Defense counsel asserted that, if admissible, he would also include the presence of the tattoo on decedent’s person as part of the stipulation. The court denied defendant’s motion and explained that evidence of decedent’s gang affiliation could be offered through other testimony. After the denial of defendant’s pretrial motion, the following evidence was presented at trial.

Michelle Ariaza testified that about 10 p.m. on June 4, 1989, while in her backyard on Maplewood in Chicago, she heard a commotion coming from the front of her building. She walked to the front of the building, where she saw defendant and his brother Roberto standing on Le Moyne and Maplewood. Ariaza, who was defendant’s neighbor, had known him for four months. Ariaza testified that there were also about 10 other black men standing on the street in front of her home.

Ariaza testified that she heard a conversation between defendant and George (George Faulkner, a/k/a Forty Ounce) in which George asked defendant if he could borrow a bicycle, to which defendant replied no. Ariaza testified that George asked defendant why, and defendant replied, “You can’t use it you damn nigger.” George then asked defendant why he made the racial slur and defendant stated, “If you want to start trouble with me, I’m going to give you trouble.” Ariaza testified that defendant then pulled out a knife and stabbed George in the midsection. George did not have anything in his hands at that time. The two men began fighting for a few seconds, when defendant’s brother Roberto came out and asked defendant what was going on, retrieved a bat, and followed after George as he fled toward a construction site on Campbell Street.

Ariaza stated that George was known by the name of “Forty Ounce” and was a member of a street gang, the Maniac Latin Disciples. Ariaza testified that as George ran toward the construction site Roberto ran inside the house, returned with a bat, and chased after George. Ariaza stated that defendant remained behind, showed her the knife he used to stab George, and said “I stabbed the damn nigger.”

Ariaza stated that she saw Roberto and George fist fighting again near the construction site. She stated that Roberto hit George over the head with the bat, and George fell to the ground. George stood up and ran as Roberto and defendant chased after him. Ariaza testified that at the time Roberto chased George to the construction site, defendant’s brother Elpedio was engaged in a fight with several other men.

Ariaza testified on cross-examination that defendant did not tell George to leave. She stated that she did not remember telling the police that defendant said, “Get out of here, you damn nigger.” Ariaza testified that she did not hear George yell to the other men present, “Folks, Folks, [I’ve] been shot.” However, she testified that she did hear George yell something as he ran, but did not recall what he said. This all occurred while defendant’s brother Elpedio was fighting with the several other men. Ariaza testified that when George got to the construction site he reached for a metal pipe.

State witness Miguel Rodriguez testified that about 10 p.m. on June 4, 1989, he was watching television with his wife when he heard commotion outside his home. He looked out the window and saw a black man lying on the ground and an Hispanic man hunched over him, hitting and punching the black man in the face. He testified that the Hispanic man stood up with a knife in his hand and said to the black man “[don’t] fuck with me nigger.” Rodriguez testified that he was about 10 feet away from the men at that time. He saw a second black man with a bat walk across the street and come over to assist the man lying on the ground.

Yolanda Garay testified for the State that on June 4, 1989, about 10 p.m. she was at her home at 1511 North Campbell when she heard noise outside. She looked out of her window and saw a black man and Hispanic man fighting. The black man was lying on the ground. She stated that she did not know if the black man said anything, but the Hispanic man called the black man a “nigger.” At the same time, the Hispanic man continued to hit the black man in the face. Garay stated that she then called the police. On cross-examination Garay testified that she did not know how the fight started.

Michael Conley, a Chicago police officer, testified that on June 4, 1989, he was assigned to a gang mission in the fourteenth district. He went to 1511 Campbell Street, where he observed a black man lying on the ground bleeding from his chest. Conley testified that the area was lighted by a streetlight. Conley stated that he did not recover any weapons in the area. On June 5, 1989, Conley went to a hospital where he arrested defendant and conducted a pat-down search. Conley recovered a fold-down knife from defendant’s person. Defendant was taken to Area 5 police headquarters.

Detective Halvorsen testified for the State that on June 4, 1989, he was assigned to investigate a homicide that occurred at 1511 North Campbell Street. Halvorsen identified defendant in court as the person he talked with on June 5, 1989. He testified that defendant was advised of his Miranda rights and defendant agreed to make a statement. Detective Halvorsen testified that defendant told him that on June 4, 1989, he was with his brothers Roberto and Elpedio in front of Roberto’s apartment when George walked up and asked to borrow a bicycle that was on the sidewalk. Roberto refused to let George use the bicycle and he became angry. Elpedio told George to go away and leave them alone. He stated that George slapped Elpedio in the face. Roberto observed the incident and told George the problem was between Roberto and George. Defendant stated that he felt there was going to be trouble, so he went back to his home, got a knife and came back to Roberto’s apartment.

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People v. Rivera, 627 N.E.2d 294, 255 Ill. App. 3d 1015, 194 Ill. Dec. 178, 1993 WL 382467, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1506 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

627 N.E.2d 294 (People v. Rivera) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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