People v. Sadder-Bey

2023 IL App (1st) 190027, 228 N.E.3d 253
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 28, 2023
Docket1-19-0027
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2023 IL App (1st) 190027 (People v. Sadder-Bey) 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. Sadder-Bey, 2023 IL App (1st) 190027, 228 N.E.3d 253 (Ill. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

2023 IL App (1st) 190027

SECOND DIVISION March 28, 2023

No. 1-19-0027

IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

) THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the ) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County. ) v. ) No. 18 MC1 210837 ) CORDARO DEANDRE SADDER-BEY, ) Honorable ) Adrienne Davis, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding. _____________________________________________________________________________

JUSTICE ELLIS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Presiding Justice Fitzgerald Smith and Justice Howse concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 In September 2018, the police pulled over Cordaro Deandre Sadder-Bey, the defendant

here, for a minor traffic violation. When an officer asked him for his license and proof that his

car was insured, Sadder-Bay was less than cooperative. He refused to give the officers his

license, argued that he was not “under their jurisdiction,” and was generally obstinate. After

about 45 seconds of relatively polite but forceful disagreement, Chicago police officer DeYoung

ordered defendant to get out of his car.

¶2 Defendant refused multiple times, so DeYoung pulled out his Taser and pointed it

through the cracked driver’s side window, again demanding that defendant get out of the car.

After about a minute of more arguing, DeYoung reached in through the cracked car window to No. 1-19-0027

try and open the door from the inside. The window went up slightly, then immediately down.

DeYoung opened the door, and another police officer—there were at least five on scene—came

over and took hold of defendant’s arm. Defendant continued to verbally protest and still refused

to get out. Finally, the officer who had him by the arm politely but firmly gave defendant a

choice: he could get out of the car, or the officer would pull him out of it. Faced with this,

defendant said he would get out of his own accord and did. Officers cuffed him, then searched

his car.

¶3 The State charged defendant with possession of marijuana, resisting a peace officer, and

various traffic offenses. Prosecutors dropped the drug charge before trial, and the circuit court

convicted defendant of resisting arrest and driving without insurance after a bench trial. He

appeals, arguing that while he did not obey the officer’s orders immediately, his acts during the

traffic stop were not enough to convict him of resisting a peace officer. We agree and reverse

that conviction.

¶4 BACKGROUND

¶5 We elicit the following facts from defendant’s bench trial. On September 29, 2018,

Officer DeYoung (he never gave his first name) testified that he was on routine patrol driving an

unmarked squad car on 79th Street at around 1 p.m. Around that time, he saw a black BMW go

over the center line of the road and decided to pull the car over. After the car stopped, DeYoung

approached the driver’s side of the BMW while his two partners went to the other side of the car.

Defendant was driving, and DeYoung requested his driver’s license and proof the car was

insured. Defendant did not cooperate, however, and DeYoung said he repeated his request

numerous times. Still, defendant did not obey, DeYoung said. He then asked defendant multiple

times to exit the BMW, but defendant refused and “stated that [DeYoung] did not have

-2- No. 1-19-0027

jurisdiction over him and that [defendant] was simply traveling, he did not need to provide any

driver’s license to [DeYoung].”

¶6 DeYoung said he reached into the vehicle to unlock the door, but defendant rolled the

window partway up on DeYoung’s arm. DeYoung withdrew his arm and, “as a preventative

measure and for [his] own safety[,]” drew his Taser because he believed defendant’s refusal

“could be because there [was] some contraband or a weapon involved.” Two other officers then

approached the driver’s side and opened the door. Another officer continued to ask defendant to

exit the vehicle. That officer placed his arm on defendant to guide him out of the BMW, but

DeYoung said that defendant “stiffened his arms and once again refused.” After being asked

several more times to step out of the vehicle, defendant complied.

¶7 DeYoung testified that defendant was placed into custody upon exiting the vehicle and

that his driver’s license was found after a custodial search. Police seized the vehicle, and inside it

they found “narcotics” associated with the passenger, along with “paperwork that defendant

attempted to give [the police] regarding his status as a sovereign citizen.” DeYoung did not find

any evidence that the car was insured.

¶8 The parties stipulated to the State’s admission into evidence of a video clip from a police

body camera. DeYoung testified that the footage depicted the stop and was from the body

camera of another officer. The footage was played for the court.

¶9 That video is included in the record on appeal. But we note the exhibit is a data disc with

seven separate video files on it—but the trial judge only saw two videos of the incident. At trial,

neither party specified which files the court saw. Although we do not know which videos the

trial court saw, because the parties all agree the videos accurately depict the stop, we have

reviewed them all.

-3- No. 1-19-0027

¶ 10 The videos depict the entirety of the stop, including when DeYoung got out of his car and

approached defendant’s windows. When police stopped defendant, at least five officers in two

separate cars surrounded defendant. Police parked a large, unmarked SUV in front of defendant’s

sedan, while DeYoung parked his unmarked car behind it. DeYoung approached the driver’s side

window, while at least two or three other officers approached the passenger’s side. All were in

standard blue Chicago police duty uniforms. All wore body cameras, and they depict the entirety

of the stop from multiple angles.

¶ 11 DeYoung tapped on defendant’s car window, which was tinted. DeYoung asked

defendant at least twice to roll down the window; defendant did, but only about two inches.

Through the cracked window, defendant asked why he had been stopped, and DeYoung told him

he had been speeding, going more than 40 miles per hour in a zone where the speed limit was 30.

(We note the discrepancy between what DeYoung told defendant at the stop and what DeYoung

said at trial.) Meanwhile, on the other side of the car, passenger Amber Baker had rolled her

window nearly completely down and two police officers were speaking with her. Both could

clearly see defendant on the other side of the car.

¶ 12 Approximately 40 seconds after he stopped defendant, DeYoung asked him if he had a

driver’s license or insurance twice. What defendant said in response is unintelligible, but

DeYoung immediately told defendant he “needed to step out of the vehicle” for “failing to

produce a driver’s license or identification.” Defendant seemingly said something to the effect

that he was just “travelling” and did not need to show his license, to which DeYoung told him

that was “not a thing” and “we don’t deal with that B.S.”

¶ 13 DeYoung then again asked defendant to get out of the car or “I’m gonna call a supervisor

to the scene and we’re gonna pull you out of the car.” Defendant continued to argue—albeit it

-4- No. 1-19-0027

politely—with DeYoung, and the officer responded by telling defendant numerous times to “step

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2023 IL App (1st) 190027, 228 N.E.3d 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-sadder-bey-illappct-2023.