People v. Smith

596 N.E.2d 789, 232 Ill. App. 3d 121, 173 Ill. Dec. 165, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1097
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided July 10, 1992·No. 1-90-2546·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE LORENZ

delivered the opinion of the court:

The State appeals under Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1) (134 Ill. 2d R. 604(a)(1)), from two rulings of the trial judge quashing the arrest of defendant, Danny Smith, and suppressing the lineup and in-court identifications of him. We consider: (1) whether this court has jurisdiction when the State filed its notice of appeal more than 30 days after the judge found that there was no probable cause for defendant’s arrest and suppressed the lineup and in-court identifications of him and (2) whether it was manifestly erroneous for the trial judge to rule that (a) the police did not have probable cause to arrest defendant; (b) the lineup identifications of defendant were not attenuated from his illegal arrest; and (c) the in-court identifications did not have an independent basis. For the following reasons, we affirm.

Defendant was arrested and charged with armed robbery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 18 — 2(a)). Three witnesses to different armed robberies identified defendant in lineups. Prior to trial, he moved to quash his arrest and suppress the lineup and in-court identifications of him. During a hearing, the following testimony was presented.

Antonio Robinson testified that on July 18, 1988, at about 3 or 4 p.m., he was in defendant’s home with defendant, Diane Todd, Glodine Jordan, and two children. They were in the kitchen when Robinson saw two unmarked police cars pull up in the alley. At that time, Jordan left the kitchen to answer a knock at the front door. Without being invited in and without consent, four officers in plain clothes entered the kitchen and handcuffed defendant. Robinson asked some questions and one of the officers pointed his finger in Robinson’s face, said “you look familiar,” and handcuffed him. Four or five other officers entered the house through the front door with their guns drawn. The officers never showed an arrest or search warrant, but they searched the house and Todd’s car. The officers took defendant and Robinson to the police station and told them they were being taken because of a car accident. A couple of hours later, Robinson was placed in 9 or 10 lineups and eventually released without being charged.

Glodine Jordan testified that she answered the knock at the front door. Two officers in plain clothes, who did not identify themselves, asked her about defendant. Jordan did not speak to them. Although she did not invite them in, she opened the door for them and they followed her inside.

Diane Todd, defendant’s fiancee, testified that the officers searched the house without a warrant and without permission. When an officer wanted to search the basement where Todd kept her dog, he said to her, “Get the damned dog out of the basement or I’ll kill the mother.” They also searched her car.

Detective Michael McDermott testified that on July 8, 1988, he interviewed Maurice Smith while he was under arrest for committing an armed robbery and suspected of committing several others. Smith said that he learned his trade from defendant, his uncle, who had committed numerous armed robberies in the Chicago area. He also stated that defendant had been convicted of armed robbery in the past. Smith said defendant lived with Todd and gave McDer-mott Todd’s address. Smith also identified Theodore Brunson as defendant’s “close associate” who may have committed robberies with defendant. Smith never provided information to the police before and he subsequently pled guilty to eight or nine robberies. McDermott did a background check on defendant which showed two felony convictions for armed robbery.

McDermott also interviewed Brunson on July 8, who stated that he believed defendant committed numerous armed robberies but he knew of only one specifically. Brunson told McDermott that on May 28, 1988, he drove defendant to a pet store near 103rd and Long-wood Avenue and when defendant returned, he said he just “stuck up the place” and showed Brunson a handgun and money. Brunson claimed he did not know defendant would rob the store. Brunson described defendant as a black male, dark complexion, 6 feet 3 inches tall, and in his thirties.

McDermott found a case report of an armed robbery at a pet store on May 28, 1988, at that location. In the report, the victim described the offender as a black male, in his thirties, 5 feet 9 inches tall, 150 pounds, short black hair, and a mustache.

McDermott testified that he first went to an address listed in defendant’s parole information but no one was home. At about 6:15 p.m., on July 18, 1988, McDermott and four other officers went to Todd’s house to verify defendant’s address and arrest him if he was there. While two officers were at the back of the house, McDermott and Detective George Basile knocked at the front door. They identified themselves for the woman who answered the door and asked whether defendant was there. The woman stated that defendant was not there and that he came by “on and off.” She opened the screen door and invited them inside. Within a few seconds, the two officers who were stationed at the back of the house entered the kitchen with defendant, who was handcuffed. Robinson, who was drunk, was arrested because he was interfering. The officers did not search the house or the car and took defendant and Robinson to the police station. During the next three to four hours, they were placed in several lineups.

Detective Michael Cummings testified that he went with McDer-mott and three other officers to Todd’s house to verify defendant’s address which was necessary for an arrest warrant. Cummings and Detective James Boylan went to the back of the house. As they approached the back door, defendant, who was not wearing shoes or a shirt, ran out of the house. They arrested and handcuffed him and brought him inside the house to put clothes on. Robinson was arrested because he was interfering with the police. Cummings testified that the officers did not search the house or the car.

In defendant’s arrest report, he was described as a black man, 34 years old, 6 feet tall, 180 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, dark complexion, and not wearing glasses. It also stated that defendant was arrested at 6:15 p.m.

On March 23, 1990, the trial judge found that the officers did not have probable cause to arrest defendant and suppressed the lineup identifications of him. The judge rejected the officers’ testimony that they went to Todd’s house only to verify defendant’s address and found that defendant was arrested as a pretext for a lineup identification. The judge set another hearing on the issue of whether the State could prove by clear and convincing evidence that the in-court identifications of defendant had an independent basis from the illegal lineups.

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People v. Smith, 596 N.E.2d 789, 232 Ill. App. 3d 121, 173 Ill. Dec. 165, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1097 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

596 N.E.2d 789 (People v. Smith) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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