People v. Thompson

2016 IL App (1st) 133648, 50 N.E.3d 706
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 8, 2016
Docket1-13-3648
StatusUnpublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2016 IL App (1st) 133648 (People v. Thompson) 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. Thompson, 2016 IL App (1st) 133648, 50 N.E.3d 706 (Ill. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

2016 IL App (1st) 133648 No. 1-13-3648 Opinion filed March 8, 2016 Second Division

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

FIRST DISTRICT

) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, of Cook County. ) ) Plaintiff-Appellee, ) No. 10 CR 11194 ) v. ) ) BRIAN THOMPSON, The Honorable ) Stanley J. Sacks, ) Defendant-Appellant. Judge, presiding. ) )

JUSTICE HYMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Justices Neville and Simon concurred in the judgment and opinion.

OPINION

¶1 In 2010, Joshua Evans and Daniel Crockett, Jr., were shot in front of their home in

Chicago by two men who drove up in a black Audi. Joshua Evans survived, but Daniel Crockett,

Jr., did not. Crockett's brother Ryheam Crockett eventually informed police (through his father,

Daniel Crockett, Sr.) that he recognized the two shooters as "Brian" (defendant Thompson) and

"Ant" (codefendant Anthony Nance), whom he knew from the neighborhood. Evans, Ryheam,

and Ryheam's mother Colleen Crockett eventually identified both Thompson and Nance as the

shooters. The two men were tried simultaneously by separate juries; both were convicted of first 1-13-3648

degree murder and attempted first degree murder. Thompson was sentenced to a total of 60

years of imprisonment.

¶2 Thompson alleges the State's eyewitnesses (Joshua Evans, Ryheam, and Colleen

Crockett) were unreliable and, hence the evidence against him insufficient to convict. We

disagree, as the potential problems with the identifications were presented to the jury. Thompson

also alleges that the trial court erred in admitting Ryheam's prior consistent statement to his

father identifying Thompson and Nance as the shooters. We hold that the statement was

admissible when testified to by Ryheam as a statement of identification. But, a police officer's

testimony regarding the statement should not have been admitted, but any error was harmless.

¶3 Thompson also alleges that the trial court committed plain error in allowing the State to

make improper opening statements and closing arguments. While some of the State's remarks

rely on questionable advocacy, we do find that they rise to the level of clear and obvious error.

¶4 Finally, Thompson maintains, and the State agrees, that he is entitled to an additional 10

days of credit towards his sentence based on his time in pretrial custody. We agree as well.

¶5 BACKGROUND

¶6 Opening Statement

¶7 The State began its opening statement by focusing on Colleen's experience of the crime:

how she would "never forget the sound of those bullets" and "the voice of her 15 year old

nephew. Auntie, I've been hit." The State asked, "What could be worse than witnessing your 15

year old nephew being shot, racing him to the hospital praying all the way that he doesn't die?"

The State then answered that question with, "her own son had been shot by that spray of bullets.

Her nephew would be lucky enough to live to tell about that bloody day. Her son wouldn't be so

lucky."

-2- 1-13-3648

¶8 The State described the defendants' actions and the charges against them, and returned to

focusing on Colleen, describing her activities on the day of the murder. "And the next moments

would change Colleen's life forever and the next moments would end her son's." The State then

described what Colleen witnessed, and ended with a description of her son's death at the hospital:

"[W]hile she was there with her nephew, the emergency personnel brought in her son. The

doctors began to work on him and in a little while Colleen would be taken to that little room to

hear the words every parent dreads; your son didn't make it." The State described the physical

evidence and the police investigation, including the eyewitness identifications of the

codefendants.

¶9 Trial Testimony

¶ 10 Colleen Crockett testified that on March 26, 2010, she was living at 1927 South St. Louis

in Chicago with her husband, Daniel Crockett, Sr., her sons, Daniel Crockett, Jr. and Ryheam

Crockett, and her nephew Joshua Evans. She had parked on the street next to the house and was

talking to Joshua and Ryheam, who were outside her car. A number of other people from the

neighborhood mingled outside, including several friends of Joshua and Ryheam. A black Audi

automobile pulled up next to Colleen's car and two men emerged. She saw the men's faces and

heard gunshots. Colleen did not know these men and had never seen them before. She heard her

nephew Joshua yell that he'd been shot, and Colleen saw one of the men shooting. The two men

got back into the Audi and drove off. Colleen and her husband put Joshua into her car and drove

toward the hospital. On the way, she passed an ambulance heading towards her home and

stopped; the ambulance personnel told her that another victim had been shot, so Daniel Sr.

returned to the house while Colleen went to the hospital with Joshua. Her son Daniel Jr. was

brought to the same hospital.

-3- 1-13-3648

¶ 11 On April 9, 2010, Colleen viewed a photo array and identified one photo. On April 12,

she viewed a physical lineup and identified Brian Thompson as the driver of the Audi and one of

the shooters; she identified Anthony Nance as the other shooter, who emerged from the

passenger seat of the Audi, at another lineup on May 20. After the shooting, Colleen and her

family received money from the state to move out of the neighborhood.

¶ 12 On cross-examination, Colleen admitted that the entire incident happened quickly and

unexpectedly, and did not remember whether the Audi's windows were tinted or whether its tires

screeched when it pulled up. Colleen had described the shooters to police as black males

between 20 and 30 years old, but could not describe their heights, facial hair, or clothing.

¶ 13 Joshua Evans testified that in 2010 he was 16 years old. On the day of the shooting, he

was talking to his aunt Colleen as she sat in her car; nearby on the sidewalk was his cousin

Ryheam. Suddenly, Evans heard tires screech from an alley three houses away, and saw a black

Audi pull up in front of Colleen's car. There were three people in the car; Thompson emerged

from the driver's side and Nance from the passenger's side. Evans recognized them from around

the neighborhood, and knew Nance's brother, but did not know their full names. Nance aimed a

gun at Evans and started shooting, while Thompson began shooting the opposite way, but Evans

did not see who Thompson was shooting at. Evans heard gunshots that sounded like they had

come from two different weapons. Evans saw his cousin Daniel Jr. running away, and Evans

ran, too, towards his house, until he realized he had been shot and called for help.

¶ 14 Evans took a bullet to the leg and spent a few days in the hospital. He testified that he

was "kind of" afraid of the shooters. On April 12, he viewed a lineup and identified Thompson

as the man who emerged from the driver's side of the Audi and fired a weapon. On April 28, he

-4- 1-13-3648

identified a photograph of Nance. On May 20, he viewed another lineup and identified Nance as

the person who had fired a weapon towards him.

¶ 15 On cross-examination, Evans testified that he had never seen the Audi before the

shooting and there was nothing unusual about it. The shooting happened quickly.

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Related

People v. Johnson
2026 IL 131337 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2026)
People v. Smith
2017 IL App (1st) 143728 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)
People v. Thompson
2016 IL App (1st) 133648 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 IL App (1st) 133648, 50 N.E.3d 706, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-thompson-illappct-2016.