People v. Snyder

904 N.E.2d 625, 387 Ill. App. 3d 1094, 328 Ill. Dec. 436, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 15
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 13, 2009
Docket4-07-0145
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 904 N.E.2d 625 (People v. Snyder) 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. Snyder, 904 N.E.2d 625, 387 Ill. App. 3d 1094, 328 Ill. Dec. 436, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 15 (Ill. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

JUSTICE APPLETON

delivered the opinion of the court:

On December 26, 2006, defendant, Amanda J. Snyder, was convicted of unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 550/5(e) (West 2004)), unlawful possession of cannabis (720 ILCS 550/4(e) (West 2004)), and unlawful calculated criminal cannabis conspiracy (720 ILCS 550/9(a) (West 2004)). The trial court sentenced her to 36 months’ probation and ordered her to pay various fines, fees, and costs. Defendant appeals, alleging the court erred by denying her motion to suppress evidence. She also challenges the court’s award of only two days of credit toward her fines, as she claims she was in pretrial custody for three days. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 19, 2005, the State filed a three-count information against defendant charging her with the following: (1) unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 550/5(e) (West 2004)) (count I); (2) unlawful possession of cannabis (720 ILCS 550/ 4(e) (West 2004)) (count II); and (3) unlawful calculated criminal cannabis conspiracy (720 ILCS 550/9(a) (West 2004)) (count III).

On September 27, 2006, defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence. She claimed the police officer that had stopped her vehicle did not have probable cause and/or a reasonable suspicion to believe that a traffic violation had occurred sufficient to justify the stop or sufficient reason to prolong her detention during the course of the stop.

On November 7, 2006, the trial court conducted a hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress. Joshua Dean Pharis, a Mt. Pulaski police officer, testified that on October 12, 2005, at approximately 7 p.m., he received a telephone call from a confidential source advising him that two females from Lincoln would be traveling to Decatur to pick up three to four pounds of cannabis. Pharis told the source that the limited information was insufficient to conduct any type of investigation. The source called Pharis back approximately 45 minutes later with a description of the vehicle and license-plate number. He told Pharis that in approximately 20 minutes, the vehicle would be stopping at the Corn Crib tavern in Latham to drop off a male passenger. The male passenger had parked his car in the tavern parking lot. He said the suspect vehicle would then continue southbound on Route 121. The confidential source did not say that he had witnessed any criminal activity nor did he reveal the basis for his information.

Officer Pharis testified that he was outside of his jurisdiction when he received the telephone calls from the confidential source. He contacted Logan County sheriff deputy Michael Block with the information. At approximately 10 p.m., Pharis arrived at a location “just outside” Latham, approximately one mile from the Corn Crib. He sat in his squad car with “a clear view” of the lighted parking lot. He discovered that the vehicle expected at approximately 8 p.m. had not yet arrived at the Corn Crib. Pharis said he used his binoculars and spotted, in the parking lot, the male passenger’s vehicle described by the source. Pharis knew the male passenger and identified his car in the lot. Deputy Block arrived at Pharis’s location shortly after Pharis arrived.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., the officers observed the vehicle, a white four-door Chevrolet, pull into the tavern’s parking lot. A male passenger got out of the car. Pharis positively identified the male passenger as the person identified by the informant. The suspect vehicle pulled out of the lot and proceeded south on Route 121. Once the vehicle passed the officers, Deputy Block began following it with Officer Pharis behind him. Officer Pharis was unable to see the suspect vehicle. At approximately 10:40 p.m., as Pharis was returning to Mt. Pulaski, Deputy Block called him and informed him that he had stopped the suspect vehicle. Pharis telephoned the Logan County canine officer, Bob Spickard, and proceeded to the traffic stop to assist. While assisting with the stop, Pharis received a telephone call from the confidential source informing him that the quantity of cannabis was expected to be 21k to 3 pounds. Pharis asked the informant the basis of his knowledge. He told Pharis “he was going to keep that pretty much to himself.”

Officer Pharis said that Deputy Block conducted the questioning of the occupants of the vehicle, as he was there only to assist. Pharis said defendant was driving with Haley Kindred as passenger. Deputy Spickard, the canine officer, arrived in approximately 20 minutes.

On cross-examination, Officer Pharis said he had met the confidential source “on countless occasions.” This source was responsible for approximately 15 arrests; however, he had provided inaccurate information on five or six occasions. Pharis said that during the informant’s third telephone call during the traffic stop, the informant also said there was a scale in the vehicle. A search of the vehicle revealed 21k pounds of cannabis and a scale.

On redirect examination, Officer Pharis testified that although the source had provided information to effectuate 15 prior arrests, “[t]his was on a much larger scale.” This was the first felony arrest with the informant’s assistance. Pharis also testified that his second telephone call was most likely between 9:30 and 10 p.m., not 7:45 p.m. Pharis remembered that he received the call as he was coming into Latham.

Defendant next called Deputy Block to testify. He corroborated Officer Pharis’s testimony regarding the facts leading up to the observation of the described suspect vehicle. The two officers watched the suspect vehicle pull into the Corn Crib parking lot. They observed the male passenger exit the vehicle. The suspect vehicle pulled out of the parking lot and proceeded south on Route 121. Deputy Block testified that he followed the vehicle. He confirmed the license-plate number, the color and make of the vehicle, and the number of occupants. Block said he “was basically wanting to gain some sort of probable cause to stop the vehicle initially.” He followed the vehicle for approximately five miles and then observed the driver fail to properly signal a turn. Block admitted he had made a pretextual stop, as he did not have “enough information” to stop the vehicle without a subsequent violation.

After stopping the vehicle, Deputy Block approached the driver, later identified as defendant. Kindred was the front-seat passenger. Deputy Block testified that the traffic stop was videotaped, and the video was played for the trial court.

The following is a summary of Deputy Block’s testimony as defendant’s attorney questioned him while the video played in open court. At 10:43 p.m., Deputy Block stopped the vehicle, approached the driver, and went back to his squad car. Officer Pharis arrived and informed Block that the informant had just called to advise that the vehicle contained a scale and 21!% pounds of marijuana. Pharis said he had called the canine officer.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
904 N.E.2d 625, 387 Ill. App. 3d 1094, 328 Ill. Dec. 436, 2009 Ill. App. LEXIS 15, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-snyder-illappct-2009.