People v. Standley

835 N.E.2d 945, 359 Ill. App. 3d 1096, 296 Ill. Dec. 592, 2005 Ill. App. LEXIS 945
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 22, 2005
Docket4-03-0872
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 835 N.E.2d 945 (People v. Standley) 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. Standley, 835 N.E.2d 945, 359 Ill. App. 3d 1096, 296 Ill. Dec. 592, 2005 Ill. App. LEXIS 945 (Ill. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

JUSTICE TURNER

delivered the opinion of the court:

In May 2003, the State charged defendant, Shawn R. Standley, with two counts of home invasion (720 ILCS 5/12 — 11(a)(3) (West 2002)). After an August 2003 trial, a jury found defendant guilty of home invasion. At a joint hearing in October 2003, the trial court denied defendant’s posttrial motion and sentenced him to 21 years’ imprisonment.

Defendant appeals, asserting (1) the State’s evidence was insufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the 15-year sentence enhancement mandated by Public Act 91 — 404 (Pub. Act 91—404, § 5, eff. January 1, 2000 (1999 Ill. Laws 5126, 5131) (codified at 720 ILCS 5/12 — 11(c) (West 2002))) for violating section 12— 11(a)(3) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Criminal Code) (720 ILCS 5/12 — 11(a)(3) (West 2002)) is unconstitutional; and (3) if the sentence enhancement is unconstitutional, “the judicially imposed portion of his sentence” should be allowed to remain. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

At around midnight on April 28, 2003, two males armed with guns kicked in the back door of a home at 2757 North Church Street, Decatur, Illinois, and entered the home. The home belonged to Gary Lewis, Sharon Conaway, and their then eight-year-old son Garrett Lewis, who were all home at the time. During the incident, one of the men hit Gary with a gun. On May 23, 2003, the State charged both defendant and Michael Joyner with two counts of home invasion.

In August 2003, the trial court held a jury trial on defendant’s charges. The evidence relevant to the issues on appeal is set forth below.

Decatur police officer Lonnie Lewellyn testified he arrived at the Church Street residence at 12:41 a.m. on August 28, 2003, in response to a report of a home invasion. There, he spoke with Gary, Sharon, and Garrett. Gary and Sharon were able to give descriptions of the two individuals, and Gary was also able to provide nicknames by which he knew them. He did not recall Gary mentioning defendant had facial hair but did recall Gary recognized the hair, eyes, and voice of both suspects. Officer Lewellyn did note Gary and Sharon told him that both suspects had taken off their bandanas.

Gary testified that around 12:15 a.m., he heard several loud booms coming from the kitchen area, which is attached to the back porch that contains an exterior door. Gary entered the kitchen, turned the lights on, and saw the door leading to the porch fly open. Two men then entered the kitchen with guns pointed at him. In court, Gary identified defendant as the first man who entered Gary’s home. When defendant entered the home, he was wearing a bandana around his face that began right under his eyes and covered his mouth and nose. He was also wearing a hooded sweatshirt or jacket with the hood up.

Defendant ordered Gary to the floor, and Gary laid stomach down on the floor. He tried to keep his head up and observe what was taking place. After four or five demands for money and drugs, defendant told Gary to stand up and moved Gary to a recliner in the front room. The other man brought Garrett into the front room, where Sharon was already located. According to Gary, he was in the kitchen about 7 to 10 minutes after seeing defendant, and the kitchen lights were on the entire time.

In the front room, defendant held a gun to the center of Gary’s forehead for about 5 to 10 minutes and continued to demand money. During that time, defendant was directly in front of Gary and less than an arm’s length away. The lights and television were on in the front room.

At some point, defendant asked Gary for his wallet, and Gary indicated it was in the bedroom. While still holding the gun to Gary’s head, defendant walked Gary to the bedroom. The other man brought Sharon and Garrett into the bedroom. The lights were also on in there. Gary opened a drawer, and defendant removed the wallet. Defendant threatened to come back and shoot Gary if he was lying about not having money or drugs. Defendant then hit Gary across the face with a gun, knocking Gary unconscious. The men were gone when Gary regained consciousness.

Prior to April 28, 2003, Gary had seen defendant a few times through mutual friends. About three to four weeks before the incident, Gary had spoken a few words to defendant at the AIW Hall. Gary first had a notion defendant was the perpetrator when they entered the front room. When they reached the dresser in the bedroom, he got a good look at him because they were face-to-face, eye-to-eye. He observed defendant had two eyebrow rings over one of his eyes, but he was unsure of which eye. He also noted defendant’s bandana slipped down several times during the encounter but never got below his nose. Gary testified he was “very certain” and “positive” that defendant was the first man to enter his kitchen.

Gary acknowledged he had a prior felony for possession of a controlled substance and two new charges pending against him. He stated the State had not promised him leniency or a reward in exchange for his testimony.

Sharon testified she got a good look at the two men shortly after they entered the house and had not yet seen her. One was a white male, and the other was a mixed-race male. They were both wearing black hooded jackets and bandanas on their faces. She could not recall if the kitchen light was on. When the white male brought Gary into the living room, she was able to get a closer look at the white male. The lights were on in the living room. She identified defendant as the white male in her home. Sharon was “very sure” and “had no doubt” it was defendant. Sharon noted that during the incident, she was able to see defendant’s face from the tip of his nose to his forehead, including the front of his hair. Defendant had two eyebrow rings on the portion of the left eyebrow closest to the ear. She also noted the mixed-race male took off his bandana after it had fallen down. She further testified the lights were on in the bedroom as well. The closest she was to defendant was about five feet away.

According to Sharon, the entire incident lasted 20 to 25 minutes. She too had seen defendant a couple times before the incident and recalled Gary talking to him at the AIW Hall two or three weeks before the incident. During the incident, she recognized his voice. When the police officer arrived, she and Gary told the officer the mixed-race male was known as “mixed Mike” and the white male was “Shawn.” Later, both she and Gary picked defendant’s picture out of a photograph lineup as the white male that entered their home. Additionally, Sharon acknowledged she was currently on probation.

Decatur police officer Chad Ramey testified that on May 1, 2003, he met with Gary and Sharon and conducted a photograph lineup. He first showed the lineup to Gary, who pointed to defendant’s photograph “rather quickly.” He then showed the lineup to Sharon, who also pointed to defendant’s picture “rather quickly.” According to Officer Ramey, Sharon was unable to see Gary’s identification of defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
835 N.E.2d 945, 359 Ill. App. 3d 1096, 296 Ill. Dec. 592, 2005 Ill. App. LEXIS 945, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-standley-illappct-2005.