People v. Vega

620 N.E.2d 1189, 250 Ill. App. 3d 106, 189 Ill. Dec. 872, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1082
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 16, 1993
Docket1-91-1960
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 620 N.E.2d 1189 (People v. Vega) 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. Vega, 620 N.E.2d 1189, 250 Ill. App. 3d 106, 189 Ill. Dec. 872, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1082 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE McNAMARA

delivered the opinion of the court:

On April 2, 1987, defendant, Mark Vega, was convicted by a jury of the murder of Christine Special (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 9 — 1(a)) and the attempted murder of Ida Caram (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 8 — 4), and was sentenced to 30 years for each offense, the sentences to run concurrently. On his first appeal to this court, defendant contended that the trial court erred in denying his motions to quash arrest and suppress evidence because an illegal seizure occurred prior to a formal arrest and because no probable cause existed for an arrest. We reversed, finding that defendant was arrested without probable cause. (People v. Vega (1990), 203 Ill. App. 3d 33, 560 N.E.2d 983.) We remanded the matter for a hearing as to whether there was sufficient attenuation to purge defendant’s later inculpatory statements of the taint of the illegal arrest.

In accordance with our instructions, the trial court conducted an attenuation hearing. After considering the evidence presented and the arguments of counsel, the trial court found that the events which occurred after 1 p.m. on April 3, 1986, when the illegal arrest took place, did not sufficiently attenuate the taint of the arrest. The court consequently ordered that defendant’s inculpatory statements be suppressed and that he be granted a new trial. It is from this order that the State now appeals.

In light of the issue presently before us, the facts recited in the first opinion need repeating. On March 13, 1986, 16-year-old Special was shot and killed while driving with Caram in Chicago. Caram told police that two young men had been involved in the shooting, and she gave broad descriptions of the men. Robert Sanchez, the shooter, later pled guilty to the crimes.

On October 1, 1986, a hearing was held on defendant’s first motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence.

Maria Medina, defendant’s mother, testified that at 12:40 p.m. on April 3, 1986, she received a phone call from Detective Terrence Thedford of the Chicago police department. Thedford told Medina that he and Detective Steve Peterson were coming over to ask defendant some questions about the shooting. Medina told Thedford, “Fine,” and wakened defendant. Twenty minutes later, the officers arrived. Medina allowed them into her home, and when defendant entered the room, Thedford “told him to get his jacket.” Medina asked why he had to get his jacket if they were going to question him there. Thedford responded that “they could ask the questions better at the station.” They did not ask defendant if he wanted to go to the station, nor did they inform Medina that she could go along. They did not tell Medina that defendant was not required to accompany them. The officers said nothing to defendant while they were inside the house. They told Medina that defendant would be home before she left for work at 3 p.m. Thedford gave Medina his business card with the telephone number for Area 4 headquarters in case she had questions.

Medina told her son to go with the police because “[i]f I know that it’s got something to do with the police, you just do what the police say.” She did not tell the officers that she did not want her son to talk to them or that she wanted him to have a lawyer. She did not think she could accompany her son to the police station.

Medina’s father had telephoned her at work sometime between March 13 and April 3 and told her that the police wanted to speak with defendant. She telephoned the police and asked why they were looking for defendant. They told her that they wanted to ask him some questions about the Special murder. An officer later telephoned and told her that defendant was at the station being questioned. Defendant was subsequently released. After that, Thedford and Peterson came to Medina’s home and asked for a photograph of defendant, which she gave them.

Medina told Thedford and Peterson of this earlier questioning when they came to question defendant on April 3, and asked them why he had to be questioned again. They told her that tactical officers did not know how to ask questions and that they knew how to ask them.

Medina watched the officers take defendant to the car. According to Medina, “[t]hey had my son by his arm,” and they opened the car door for him. After 3 p.m., Medina telephoned Area 4 several times from her place of employment. She asked to speak with Thedford but was told he was out on the street. Thedford returned her call at approximately 4 p.m. and told her that defendant was not cooperating, and he asked if she could talk him into taking a lie detector test. Thedford said defendant could then go home. Medina spoke with defendant and told him to cooperate so he could go home. She told him if he had no involvement with the homicide, he should take the test. Defendant did not tell Medina whether he was going to take the test. At that point, “he didn’t know.” Thedford got back on the telephone and asked what defendant had said to her. Early on the following morning, Medina was told that defendant had made a statement concerning his involvement in the shooting.

Defendant, who was 16 years old at the time of the shooting, testified that sometime around March 24, 1986, the police stopped him on the street and asked about the shooting of a young girl. Subsequently, on April 3, 1986, at approximately 1 p.m., his mother woke him and said the police were coming to talk to him. He did not ask his mother why the police wanted to talk to him, and she did not offer any information. He did not know they wanted to talk about the shooting.

When the officers arrived, they told defendant to put on his coat. Defendant went with the police because “I felt like I didn’t have a choice.” He felt compelled to go “[b]ecause the tone of voice was deep and they said, you know, get your coat. I obeyed them.”

Thedford grasped defendant’s arm before they walked out the door. Defendant was between the two officers. While walking down the stairs, defendant told the officers he did not want to go. He had not said that to his mother. The officers responded, “You’re going.”

Outside, at the unmarked police car, the officers searched defendant after making him stand with his legs spread apart, but they did not handcuff him. Defendant was placed in the back seat of the car, where there were no handles inside the doors. During the 15-minute ride, the officers never told him he was under arrest. Defendant stated that when they got in the car, he discovered that they wanted to question him about the shooting.

At the station, he was placed in an interview room alone. The police said nothing to him. The door was closed and he heard what, sounded like a dead bolt engaging. The door had no handle.

Approximately two hours after arriving at the station, defendant spoke with his mother on the telephone. He told her he did not want to stay at the station, and she told him to obey the officers and he could come home. He repeated that he wanted to go home.

Thedford testified for the State that on March 17 or 18, 1986, he went to defendant’s home.

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Related

People v. Jackson
869 N.E.2d 895 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2007)
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630 N.E.2d 1158 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
620 N.E.2d 1189, 250 Ill. App. 3d 106, 189 Ill. Dec. 872, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1082, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vega-illappct-1993.