People v. Whitfield

573 N.E.2d 1267, 214 Ill. App. 3d 446, 158 Ill. Dec. 82, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 721
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 3, 1991
Docket1-90-0116
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 573 N.E.2d 1267 (People v. Whitfield) 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. Whitfield, 573 N.E.2d 1267, 214 Ill. App. 3d 446, 158 Ill. Dec. 82, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 721 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE LaPORTA

delivered the opinion of the court:

On November 6, 1989, Travis Whitfield was convicted of possession of a stolen motor vehicle and possession of burglary tools. On appeal he contends: (1) the trial court abused its discretion in permitting the State to reopen its case in chief in order to cure a deficiency in its evidence which defendant pointed out in his motion for a directed finding of not guilty, and (2) defendant’s waiver of jury after the State rested its case was not knowing and intelligent where, after the waiver, the trial court permitted the State to reopen its case and introduce highly damaging evidence against defendant which resulted in the court’s finding of guilty.

Defendant was arrested October 23, 1988, and charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of burglary tools. Following a bench trial, he was found guilty of both charges and sentenced to 36 months’ probation. The following information was adduced at trial.

Illinois State Police Trooper Edward Gonzalez testified that he tried to pull over a black Nissan on Interstate 94 because the car was driving under the speed limit and the license plates on the car were registered to a different vehicle. Gonzalez testified that he pursued the driver and apprehended him after the driver fled the vehicle and a short chase followed. Gonzalez identified defendant as the driver and testified that after defendant was in custody, he recovered a black bag with wire cutters, screwdrivers, vise grips and rug cutter which he saw the defendant discard.

Gonzalez testified that the car was still running when he returned to the car. He testified that there was no key in the ignition but there was a hole in the steering column. Gonzalez testified that he radioed in to the station the vehicle identification number on the car and was told the registered owner, King Nissan in Niles, had reported it stolen.

Illinois State Police Trooper Anthony Richard testified that he inventoried a 1987 Nissan and black bag at the scene where defendant was arrested, noting damage done to the vehicle and items left inside the car. He testified that he found a tube of touch-up paint, two four-way wrenches, five pairs of wire cutters, two pairs of vice grips, a jack, a rug cutter and a screwdriver. He said he found no key at the scene, inside or outside the car.

On cross-examination Richard testified that if he had observed a hole in the steering column, he would have included that in his report. He acknowledged that his report made no mention of a hole in the steering column. On redirect examination Richard testified that he never looked for a hole in the steering column.

King Nissan general manager Graham Grimes testified that the defendant worked for King Nissan for about a year in 1986. He testified that a 1987 Nissan with a vehicle identification number of JN1CZ14S7HX153047 was stolen from his lot in June 1987. Grimes testified also that a 1985 black Nissan was stolen from King Nissan in July 1986 and that the defendant had been in that car when it was recovered.

On cross-examination Grimes acknowledged that the defendant had been working for the car dealership in 1986 at the time Grimes reported the 1985 Nissan as stolen. On redirect Grimes acknowledged that car porters such as defendant had access to the dealership’s key-making machine and that the 1985 Nissan was found with the key inside. On re-cross-examination he admitted that defendant would not have had access to keys or the key-making machine at anytime when the 1987 Nissan was on the dealership’s lot.

Illinois State Police Trooper Alex R. Szram testified as an expert witness in the field of auto theft investigation. He identified four ways to start a Nissan without the key, including using a screwdriver in the steering column. On cross-examination Szram testified that he had never seen the car involved in this investigation. On redirect examination he testified that Trooper Gonzalez phoned him the morning of defendant’s arrest to discuss ways a Nissan could be started without the key. He testified that a vice grip could be used to enter the car and wire cutters used to splice wires together to start a car. On re-cross-examination he testified that Gonzalez told him two other cars were stolen from King Nissan the same week and later recovered by police.

Chicago police officer Stephen Shoup testified that in December 1986 while investigating allegations that the defendant possessed a stolen 1985 black Nissan from King Nissan in Niles, he found the Nissan near defendant’s home with license plates on it registered to defendant’s 1987 Toyota. Shoup testified that he saw defendant exit his home, enter the car with a key and drive away. Shoup testified that he followed defendant and that defendant pulled over and stepped out of the car. Shoup testified that he asked defendant if they could speak together but defendant said “No, that’s OK” and ran away. Shoup testified that defendant was later arrested for possession of a stolen motor vehicle.

The parties stipulated that Grimes will testify “that the vehicle in question, specifically a 1987 black Nissan Datson [sic], vehicle identification number JN1CZ145HX153047 [sic], was owned by that company, Nissan Datson [sic] after it was reported stolen. He would testify that their insurance carrier was Traveler’s Insurance Company, and he would testify that on the 23rd of October at the time that the vehicle was recovered after the defendant, Travis Whitfield, was placed under arrest, the title had been transferred on that vehicle to Traveler’s Insurance.” The parties further stipulated that Traveler’s never gave defendant permission to use the vehicle and that the incident occurred in Chicago, Hlinois. No written stipulation was entered into evidence.

The State rested its case, and the court granted defendant’s waiver of his jury right over the State’s objection. The defense moved for a directed verdict on the ground that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the car defendant was apprehended with was the car stolen from King Nissan. The defense tendered a copy of People v. Hope (1979), 69 Ill. App. 3d 375, 387 N.E.2d 795, to the court and argued that in that case the court directed a verdict for defendant after the State failed to establish that the car driven by the defendant was also the car reported stolen by the dealership involved.

The State argued that it had sufficiently connected the stolen car to the car found in defendant’s possession because Gonzalez testified that he ran the vehicle identification number on the car at the scene and found it registered to the Nissan dealership. In response the defense argued that the facts in Hope were very similar and the court still found the identification insufficient.

The court recalled and dismissed the jury and then took the directed verdict motion under advisement. When court reconvened, the court noted that the court reporter was not available to determine exactly what the parties had stipulated to with regard to the vehicle identification number of the car recovered. The State was allowed to reopen its case over defense objections, and Gonzalez returned to testify as to the actual vehicle identification number on the car recovered from defendant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
573 N.E.2d 1267, 214 Ill. App. 3d 446, 158 Ill. Dec. 82, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 721, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-whitfield-illappct-1991.