People v. Woodard

658 N.E.2d 55, 276 Ill. App. 3d 242, 212 Ill. Dec. 878, 1995 Ill. App. LEXIS 910
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 5, 1995
DocketNo. 5—94—0248
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 658 N.E.2d 55 (People v. Woodard) 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. Woodard, 658 N.E.2d 55, 276 Ill. App. 3d 242, 212 Ill. Dec. 878, 1995 Ill. App. LEXIS 910 (Ill. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE HOPKINS

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Robert Lewis Woodward, was convicted by a jury of aggravated battery (720 ILCS 5/12 — 4(b)(6) (West 1992)) and unlawful possession of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 1992)). He was sentenced to concurrent prison terms of three years for aggravated battery and one year for the drug offense. He was also assessed $500. (See 720 ILCS 570/411.2 (West 1992).) On appeal, defendant contends that the court abused its discretion in allowing the State to impeach his credibility with a misdemeanor theft conviction because (1) the prejudice outweighed the probative value as it arose out of a sequence of events that led to defendant’s convictions in the case at bar; (2) the court failed to give a limiting instruction at the time the theft conviction was admitted into evidence; and (3) there is no relationship between defendant’s theft conviction and his testimonial credibility as a witness. On appeal, defendant also contends that he is entitled to $500 credit toward his assessment for the 114 days spent in jail prior to sentencing.

The record on appeal indicates that on October 24, 1993, gasoline was pumped into a pickup truck in Johnson County, Illinois, and the truck left without someone paying for the gasoline. The clerk notified police, and a high-speed chase ensued along the interstate highway. State police caused a semitrailer truck to be placed across two lanes of traffic, which stopped the pickup truck in Pulaski County. Defendant was the driver of the pickup truck. One other person was in the pickup truck. In defendant’s shirt pocket, a pipe which contained cocaine was found. Defendant was unruly and uncooperative. He was taken to State Police Headquarters, where the officers attempted to take his picture in order to learn his identity; however, defendant would stick out his tongue and make faces. When Officer Norman Hinkle, who was holding the camera, got within 18 inches of defendant’s face, defendant spit on him. Defendant denied that he spit on Hinkle. Prior to trial, defendant was convicted of misdemeanor theft and several traffic offenses in Johnson County. The Johnson County theft conviction was used to impeach defendant’s credibility as a witness in the Pulaski County trial.

People v. Montgomery (1971), 47 111. 2d 510, 518, 268 N.E.2d 695, 698, mandates that the trial court weigh the probative value of the evidence of a prior conviction against its potential for unfair prejudice. Montgomery provides for the admission of a prior conviction for purposes of impeachment where (1) the conviction involved a crime which is punishable in excess of one year or involves dishonesty or a false statement, and (2) the trial judge determines that the probative value of the conviction outweighs the prejudicial effect. (People v. Whitelow (1991), 215 Ill. App. 3d 1, 7, 574 N.E.2d 253, 257.) In People v. Spates (1979), 77 Ill. 2d 193, 201-04, 395 N.E.2d 563, 568, our supreme court held that theft is a crime involving dishonesty, which is admissible to impeach the credibility of a witness. (White-low, 215 Ill. App. 3d at 7, 574 N.E.2d at 257.) This court is without authority to overrule or modify the decisions of our State supreme court. (Village of Deerfield v. Greenberg (1990), 193 Ill. App. 3d 215, 220, 550 N.E.2d 12, 16.) After hearing argument of counsel, the court allowed the State to impeach defendant with the theft conviction. After all witnesses testified, a certified copy of defendant’s theft conviction, which consists of the criminal charge, defendant’s signed guilty plea, and the certification of the Johnson County circuit clerk, was admitted into evidence. The prior conviction involves a crime which is probative of defendant’s veracity and honesty as a witness, and the evidence was admitted solely for that reason. The trial court exercised its discretion in determining that the theft conviction was admissible, and the wide latitude afforded the trial court in making that determination will not be disturbed by this court on appeal as we find no abuse of the trial court’s discretion in this matter. See Whitelow, 215 Ill. App. 3d at 7, 574 N.E.2d at 257.

Defendant’s primary argument is that defendant should not have been impeached with the theft conviction because it is based on facts which are a part of the same sequence of events involved in the offenses for which defendant is on trial. Defendant attempts to analogize from cases which have excluded from impeachment those convictions which are for the same offense as the crime for which defendant is on trial because the risk of prejudice is greater in that type of case, as jurors are more likely to view similar past convictions as proof of propensity to commit the crime charged, rather than as a means of evaluating veracity. (See People v. Elliot (1995), 274 Ill. App. 3d 901, 654 N.E.2d 636 (and cases cited therein).) This court sees no logic to the defendant’s argument. There is no similarity between theft and aggravated battery. One is a crime involving dishonesty; the other is a crime involving violence. The jury was adequately instructed, and this court does not doubt the jury’s ability to properly follow the trial court’s instructions and to differentiate between the two offenses. The evidence of defendant’s guilt was overwhelming; therefore, even if this court found improper impeachment, we would find the error harmless. See Elliot, 274 Ill. App. 3d at 912, 654 N.E.2d at 644.

After defendant testified, an in-chambers discussion was had on the manner in which defendant’s theft conviction could be presented to the jury. Defendant now contends that the court should have given the jury a limiting instruction immediately after the conviction was entered into evidence. The State’s Attorney asked the court: "Do you want to give a limiting instruction?” The court did not reply, and defense counsel did not ask that a limiting instruction be given prior to the jury being completely instructed or raise the issue in a post-trial motion; therefore, the issue is waived. (See People v. Enoch (1988), 122 Ill. 2d 176, 186, 522 N.E.2d 1124, 1130.) Among the complete jury instructions is Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 3.13 — Impeachment-Defendant-Offenses (3d ed. 1992).

•4 Defendant further argues that the State’s Attorney should not have been allowed to cross-examine defendant about the facts of the theft and the chase. Defendant filed a motion in limine to prevent the State from "introducing information about traffic offenses, and other offenses which the State has previously dismissed.” The court denied the motion to the extent that the State would be allowed to introduce evidence of defendant’s theft conviction in Johnson County for impeachment purposes.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
658 N.E.2d 55, 276 Ill. App. 3d 242, 212 Ill. Dec. 878, 1995 Ill. App. LEXIS 910, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-woodard-illappct-1995.