People v. Roby

523 N.E.2d 631, 169 Ill. App. 3d 187, 119 Ill. Dec. 875, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 623
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 3, 1988
Docket5-86-0031
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 523 N.E.2d 631 (People v. Roby) 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. Roby, 523 N.E.2d 631, 169 Ill. App. 3d 187, 119 Ill. Dec. 875, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 623 (Ill. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

JUSTICE WELCH

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Christian County, defendant-appellant, Willie C. Roby, was convicted on January 2, 1986, of three counts of offense relating to motor vehicles and was sentenced to concurrent terms of four years’ imprisonment, fined $500 and ordered to pay $700 restitution. Defendant raises three issues on appeal: (1) that the State’s failure to disclose the fact that one of the State’s witnesses was a paid informant for the Illinois Secretary of State denied him the right to a fair trial; (2) that the trial court erred in imposing upon him a $500 fine while at the same time ordering him to pay $700 restitution without a finding that defendant had the ability to pay the $500 fine and without specifying the time limit or method of making the $700 restitution; and (3) that the defendant is entitled to a $5-per-day credit against his fine for each of the 21 days he spent in the county jail prior to posting bond.

The sequence of events leading to defendant’s arrest and conviction consisted of the theft of one automobile, the purchase of a similar automobile of lesser value, and the substitution of the vehicle identification number (VIN) from the automobile of lesser value to the vehicle of greater value. After substituting the VIN from the automobile purchased for $200 to the stolen vehicle, the stolen vehicle was sold for $700. Testimony adduced at trial included the following.

Marty Smith, the owner of Marty’s Auto Salvage, testified that on December 31, 1984, he sold a silver 1977 Camaro to the defendant for $200. Although Claudious Brooks signed the title to this vehicle, the $200 was paid to Mr. Smith by the defendant.

John Falkenhein, owner of the red 1976 Camaro, testified that the vehicle had been stolen on December 27, 1984. He testified that he was able to identify the vehicle because he had repaired a rusted area on the hood of the automobile, had replaced a passenger door, had replaced a section of the metal on a rear quarter panel, and had installed a custom spoiler.

James Krouse, a convicted felon acquainted with the defendant, testified that on December 27, 1984, he saw the defendant and a red Camaro at Claudious Brooks’ garage. On that date the defendant asked him if he knew of a place where defendant could get a title and a VIN. During the first week of January 1984, he again saw the defendant and the red Camaro at Claudious Brooks’ garage and observed an unknown black man remove the dashboard from the red Camaro and replace it with a different one.

John King, a trooper with the Illinois State Police, testified that the VIN mounted on the dashboard of the red, 1976 Camaro did not appear to be factory installed. He based his conclusion on the facts that one corner of the YIN was bent, and the YIN plate was loose to the touch, with one rivet missing and one rivet improperly attached. Trooper King also testified that the YIN in the dashboard of the red 1976 Camaro was actually the YIN from the silver 1977 Camaro purchased from the salvage by the defendant.

Connie Emerson testified that Claudious Brooks and the defendant came to her. home, aware that Mrs. Emerson’s daughter was interested in purchasing a Camaro, and offered to sell her the red 1976 Camaro. She stated that Mr. Brooks told her the vehicle actually belonged to the defendant, but his (Claudious Brooks) name appeared on the title because the defendant was going through a divorce. After some negotiation, the defendant accepted $700 as the selling price for the vehicle. Tim Emerson, Connie Emerson’s husband, testified that the bank from which he borrowed the money to pay for the car drafted a check in the name of Claudious Brooks and that Mr. Brooks cashed the check and gave an unknown amount of money to the defendant.

At the close of the evidence, the jury deliberated and returned a guilty verdict on all counts. Prior to the hearing on post-trial motions and sentencing, defendant’s attorney discovered that Mr. Smith, the owner of the auto salvage who testified for the State, was a paid informant for the Illinois Secretary of State. It was stipulated that neither the prosecution nor the defense was aware, prior to or during the trial, that Mr. Smith had been paid to provide information to the Secretary of State in cases not related to the case at bar. The trial court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial and sentenced defendant to concurrent terms of four years’ imprisonment and two years of mandatory supervised release. Additionally, defendant was fined $500 plus costs and was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $700.

Defendant’s first contention on appeal is that the State denied his right to a fair trial by failing to disclose all material or information in its possession or control tending to negate the guilt of the accused as to the offense charged. (107 Ill. 2d R. 412(c).) While the State counters that it cannot be expected to disclose evidence of which it has neither knowledge nor possession (see People v. Spurlark (1979), 74 Ill. App. 3d 43, 57, 392 N.E.2d 214, 224), defendant asserts that had the State used diligent good-faith efforts to discover and disclose that Mr. Smith had acted as a paid informant for the Illinois Secretary of State (107 Ill. 2d Rules 412(f), (g)), this information could have been used by the defense to impeach Mr. Smith’s testimony. Such an impeachment, argues the defendant, could have raised a reasonable doubt as to defendant’s guilt and resulted in his acquittal. We disagree.

Brady v. Maryland (1963), 373 U.S. 83, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215, 83 S. Ct. 1194, established that the State’s failure to disclose, upon request, evidence favorable to the defendant is a violation of defendant’s due process rights where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the State. Illinois courts have construed Brady as imposing a due process requirement that the State disclose impeachment evidence which tends to discredit the credibility of a State’s witness. (In re Hatfield (1979), 72 Ill. App. 3d 249, 260, 390 N.E.2d 453, 462; People v. Winchel (1987), 159 Ill. App. 3d 892, 906, 512 N.E.2d 1298, 1306.) The omission of this potentially impeaching evidence must be evaluated in the context of the entire record, and if there is no reasonable doubt about guilt, whether or not the additional evidence is considered, there is no justification for a new trial. People v. Bouska (1983), 118 Ill. App. 3d 595, 600, 455 N.E.2d 257, 261.

According to the record in the present case, the State and defense stipulated that neither party was aware, prior to or during the trial, that Mr. Smith had acted as a paid informant for the Secretary of State. Further, the committee comments following the disclosure statute provide that paragraph (g) of the statute “avoids placing the burden on the prosecutor, in the first instance, of canvassing all governmental agencies which might conceivably possess information relevant to the defendant.” (107 Ill. 2d R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
523 N.E.2d 631, 169 Ill. App. 3d 187, 119 Ill. Dec. 875, 1988 Ill. App. LEXIS 623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-roby-illappct-1988.