People v. Williams

558 N.E.2d 261, 200 Ill. App. 3d 503, 146 Ill. Dec. 298, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 913
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided June 22, 1990·No. 1-88-1197·Published·Cited by 33 cases

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE COCCIA

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Shelton Williams was charged by information with one count of possession with intent to deliver more than 30 grams of cocaine, a Class X felony (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 56^2, par. 1401(a)(2)), and with one count of possession with intent to deliver between 30 and 500 grams of cannabis (marijuana), a Class 3 felony (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 56V2, par. 705(d)). Following a 1988 bench trial, defendant was found guilty of both offenses. He was sentenced to concurrent terms of seven years’ imprisonment on the cocaine charge and four years’ imprisonment on the cannabis charge. He was also fined $120. On appeal, defendant asks this court to modify his convictions to reflect a reduction in the charges against him and to remand the case to the trial court for resentencing. He contends that the State proved only that he possessed 2.93 grams of cocaine (a Class 4 felony) and 88.67 grams of marijuana (also a Class 4 felony), and failed to prove his intent to deliver these substances. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 56x/2, pars. 1402(b), 704(d).) For reasons which follow, we affirm.

The record reveals that defendant was arrested at approximately 6:50 a.m. on December 12, 1986, in a second-floor apartment at 1620 South Komensky in Chicago. It is undisputed that a quantity of suspected narcotics was recovered from the kitchen of the apartment, along with an O’Haus triple-beam scale, and was inventoried and subjected to analysis by a Chicago police department chemist. It is also undisputed that defendant, who admitted police officers into the apartment through the back door, and his codefendant, Donnette Welch, had been on the premises for at least several hours prior to their arrest. Williams and Welch were tried together before the court on the same charges. No pretrial motions were filed relating to the defendant’s arrest or the suppression of any evidence seized. At the close of the State’s case, the trial judge granted Welch’s motion for a directed finding of not guilty. Williams was found guilty as charged at the close of all the evidence. After the court denied his motion for a new trial, he brought this appeal.

Chicago police officer Pete Rogers testified for the State. Rogers recalled that he and his partner, Fernando Garcia, went to a two-flat building at 1620 South Komensky on December 12, 1986, at 6:50 a.m. The officers were there in response to a call that a murder suspect was believed to be hiding on the second floor. Rogers stated that he and Garcia, dressed in uniform, walked up the back stairs to the second-floor rear entrance, where they encountered a steel door. After Rogers knocked on the door, Williams came to the door and opened it. Rogers asked defendant if he owned the apartment, and Williams stated that he did. Defendant also stated, in response to Rogers’ question, that two other persons were inside. Officer Rogers further testified that the steel door opened into a kitchen, where he observed a stove with a scale on it, and a table. On the stove, “right next to the scale,” Rogers also observed a clear bag of white powder. Next to the white powder were two bags containing crushed green plant material. He then placed defendant under arrest.

Rogers further stated that Donnette Welch came into the kitchen from the living room at the front end of the apartment. Her arms were stretched out in front of her as she walked toward the stove. Rogers testified that Welch twice ignored his orders to stop and continued until she was about two feet from the stove. At this point, Rogers placed Welch under arrest. A third person, found sleeping fully clothed in the bedroom, was also arrested.

Officer Rogers further described the apartment where the suspect substances were seized. He stated that both the rear and front doors were steel doors. The front door was also barred. All of the glass windows in the apartment were painted black. In a utility closet, Rogers observed a round hole, about a foot in diameter, through which one could see the first-floor apartment below. He also testified that the second-floor apartment was sparsely furnished, with only the stove and a table in the kitchen, a one-piece sofa and a television in the front room, and a cot in the bedroom. There was no refrigerator and no clothing in any of the closets. There were also no papers or documents indicating who resided in the apartment.

On cross-examination, Rogers explained that when he and Officer Garcia knocked on the back door of the apartment, other police officers were stationed outside the front door. Rogers acknowledged that he had no arrest warrant and that the murder suspect had been described only as a black male. After knocking once, defendant came to the door and asked who was there. Rogers responded that it was the police. Williams immediately opened the door and asked what the officers wanted. When Rogers explained that they were looking for a murder suspect, defendant responded that he was not that person. Rogers further stated that this conversation took place while the officers were on the back porch and defendant was standing in the door. The witness could not recall if he had his revolver drawn at the time. He stated that defendant had nothing in his hands.

Officer Rogers also described the suspect materials, which he stated were about five feet away from where he was standing when Williams invited the officers inside. The packages he observed were “rolled up *** like a ball” on the stove. After bringing the other man from the bedroom into the kitchen, Rogers approached the packages and examined them more closely. He testified that there were two items which appeared to be marijuana sticks, about “five inches around,” and about five to six inches long, wrapped in plastic bags. Next to the sticks were two clear plastic bags of white powder which appeared to be cocaine, each containing numerous smaller packages. He further stated that all of this material was in plain view on the stove. Rogers acknowledged that he did not see Williams deliver any controlled substances at any time while he was on the premises. He further testified that defendant gave Rogers the three keys needed to unlock the front door of the apartment from the inside. Defendant retrieved the keys from his pants pocket after Rogers asked for them. Rogers stated that he used the keys to open the front steel door and the burglar gates on the inside and outside of that door in order to admit the other police officers to the apartment. Rogers further testified that Williams told him that he lived at 1606 South St. Louis, but also said that he had many addresses. The defendant told Rogers that the apartment was “his place.” On redirect examination, Rogers testified that in his “police report” for the case, he listed 1620 South Komensky as defendant's address. However, on re-cross-examination, Rogers acknowledged that in his “arrest report,” he listed 1606 South St. Louis as defendant’s address.

Philip Somerville, a Chicago police department chemist, testified by stipulation that he performed a series of chemical analyses and observations upon the. crushed green plants and white powder confiscated by Officer Rogers. The two plastic bags containing the plant material were weighed and were found to weigh 88.67 grams. Somerville’s opinion, after performing the tests and analyses on the crushed green plant material, was that the material was in fact cannabis.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

People v. Williams, 558 N.E.2d 261, 200 Ill. App. 3d 503, 146 Ill. Dec. 298, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 913 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

558 N.E.2d 261 (People v. Williams) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

People v. Sherrer
2024 IL App (3d) 230001-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2024)
People v. Bennett
2023 IL App (4th) 220325-U (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2023)
Orsa v. The Police Board of the City of Chicago
2016 IL App (1st) 141904 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
People v. Hunter
2016 IL App (1st) 141904 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2016)
People v. Ulloa
2015 IL App (1st) 131632 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
People v. Jones
2015 IL App (1st) 121016 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2015)
People v. Harden
2011 IL App (1st) 92309 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)
People v. Hill
803 N.E.2d 138 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)
People v. Besz
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003
People v. Washington
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003
People v. Rucker
803 N.E.2d 31 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2003)
People v. Coleman
704 N.E.2d 690 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1998)
Gavery v. McMahon & Elliott
670 N.E.2d 822 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996)
Gavery v. Elliott
Appellate Court of Illinois, 1996
People v. Robinson
657 N.E.2d 1020 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1995)
People v. Williams
642 N.E.2d 814 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Bonslater
633 N.E.2d 830 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1994)
People v. Brown
627 N.E.2d 340 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
People v. Valdez
595 N.E.2d 1245 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)