People v. Willis

950 N.E.2d 265, 409 Ill. App. 3d 804, 351 Ill. Dec. 109, 2011 Ill. App. LEXIS 459
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided May 13, 2011·No. 1-08-2609·Published·Cited by 20 cases

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE FITZGERALD SMITH

delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Justice Joseph Gordon concurred in the judgment and opinion.

Justice Howse concurred in part and dissented in part, with opinion.

OPINION

After a jury trial, defendant Priest Willis was convicted of delivery of less than one gram of heroin within 1,000 feet of a school. The trial court sentenced defendant, based on prior criminal history, as a Class X offender to eight years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conviction, but contends that: (1) the trial court’s failure to strictly comply with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b) (eff. May 1, 2007), requires reversal and remand for a new trial; (2) he was prejudiced by the State’s allegedly improper comments during closing arguments; and (3) his sentence is excessive in light of the nonviolent nature of the crime and the existence of mitigating factors. Defendant also contends, and the State properly agrees, that he was entitled to an additional four days of credit for time served and he is entitled to a reduction in the total amount of fees assessed against him.

On May 21, 2010, this court affirmed defendant’s conviction and sentence and modified the mittimus. People v. Willis, 402 Ill. App. 3d 47 (2010). On January 26, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court denied Willis leave to appeal, but entered a supervisory order directing this court to vacate its judgment and reconsider the appeal in light of People v. Thompson, 238 Ill. 2d 598 (2010). People v. Willis, 239 Ill. 2d 587 (2011) (table). Accordingly, we vacate our prior judgment and reconsider Willis’s appeal. For the following reasons, we again affirm Willis’s conviction and sentence and modify the mittimus.

BACKGROUND

Defendant’s conviction arose from a drug transaction which occurred less than 300 feet from an elementary school on August 2, 2007, and was witnessed by various narcotics task force officers of the Chicago police department. The task force was composed of Officers Evangelides, Lopez, Srisuth, Flores, Dobek, Pentimone, Rivera, and Padar. Officer Evangelides served as the undercover buy officer and purchased drugs from two dealers that morning. The first dealer was a man named Keith Adams, who was 6 feet tall and 210 pounds, and the second was defendant, who was 5 feet 8 inches tall and 180 pounds.

Officer Evangelides testified that he saw defendant standing at 4936 West Maypole. Defendant asked Officer Evangelides if he was looking for “blows,” which is the street term for heroin. Officer Evan-gelides exchanged a prerecorded $20 bill for two plastic baggies with black scorpion logos on them. The substance inside was later determined to be heroin. After the purchase, Officer Evangelides walked two blocks to his undercover vehicle from which he radioed the rest of his team to inform them of the purchase.

Officer Rivera testified that he detained defendant while Officer Pentimone detained Adams. Officer Evangelides identified both men. Officer Rivera recovered $70 from defendant, including the prerecorded $20 bill. Police searched the area and found a rock across the street with bags containing what was later determined to be heroin beneath it.

The State rested, and the defense presented evidence by way of defendant’s testimony. Defendant testified that he fixed friends’ and neighbors’ cars for a living and was paid in cash for doing so. He testified that, on August 1, 2007, he put new brakes on Adams’ car. Adams instructed defendant to meet him the following day to collect the $20 he was owed. On August 2, 2007, defendant met Adams at 4936 West Maypole Street, and Adams paid defendant with a single $20 bill. Then, defendant and Adams stood on the sidewalk for about 15 minutes, discussing the condition of Adams’ car. During that time, nobody else approached Adams, and defendant testified that Adams was not selling drugs. Defendant denied knowing of any drug sales in the area. Soon, the police arrived. Defendant and Adams were arrested. Defendant denied he had been selling drugs.

Defense rested. On this evidence, the jury found defendant guilty. Defendant appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. Rule 431(b)

On appeal, defendant first contends that he was denied his right to a fair and impartial jury because the trial judge failed to question the prospective jurors regarding the four principles enumerated in People v. Zehr, 103 Ill. 2d 472 (1984), and codified in Rule 431(b). Under that rule, the trial court must ask jurors whether they understand and accept that: (1) defendant is presumed innocent of the charges against him; (2) the State must prove defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (3) defendant is not required to present evidence on his behalf; and (4) defendant has the right not to testify and his failure to do so cannot be held against him. Ill. S. Ct. R. 431(b) (eff. May 1, 2007). Specifically, defendant argues that he was prejudiced where the trial court failed to admonish the potential venire regarding defendant’s right not to testify. Defendant also argues that he was prejudiced where the trial court gave only 20 of the 32 prospective jurors that were admonished as to the remaining Zehr principles an opportunity to respond to whether or not they understood and accepted the principle regarding defendant’s right not to present evidence. Defendant maintains that the trial court’s error requires automatic reversal. The State does not dispute that the trial court failed to strictly comply with Rule 431(b), but responds that the court’s substantial compliance with the rule does not warrant automatic reversal.

This issue is controlled by our supreme court’s decision in People v. Thompson, 238 Ill. 2d 598 (2010). We begin by noting that defendant forfeited review of this issue by failing to object to it at trial or raise it in a timely filed posttrial motion. Thompson, 238 Ill. 2d at 611-12 (failure to properly preserve an alleged error by both an objection at trial and a written posttrial motion constitutes a procedural default of that error on review (citing People v. Enoch, 122 Ill. 2d 176, 186 (1988))). Defendant admits that he failed to properly preserve this issue for appeal, but urges us to review the error under both the first prong of the plain error exception because the evidence was closely balanced, as well as the second prong of the plain error exception because the error itself was so serious that he was denied a substantial right and thus a fair trial, requiring automatic reversal. Ill. S. Ct. R. 615; People v. Herron, 215 Ill. 2d 167, 186-87 (2005) (plain error rule permits consideration of errors even though technically waived for review where the evidence is closely balanced or where the claimed error is of such magnitude that there is a substantial risk that the defendant was denied a fair and impartial trial).

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People v. Willis, 950 N.E.2d 265, 409 Ill. App. 3d 804, 351 Ill. Dec. 109, 2011 Ill. App. LEXIS 459 (Ill. Ct. App. 2011).

950 N.E.2d 265 (People v. Willis) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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People v. Willis
950 N.E.2d 265 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2011)