People v. Zinnamon

639 N.E.2d 1296, 203 Ill. Dec. 477, 266 Ill. App. 3d 671, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1652
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 5, 1993
Docket1-90-2411
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 639 N.E.2d 1296 (People v. Zinnamon) 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. Zinnamon, 639 N.E.2d 1296, 203 Ill. Dec. 477, 266 Ill. App. 3d 671, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1652 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE GORDON

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant, James Zinnamon, was convicted of aggravated battery and armed violence. The jury found defendant not guilty on an attempted murder charge. The aggravated battery conviction was merged with the armed violence conviction, and defendant was sentenced to nine years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. On appeal, defendant seeks reversal of his conviction. In the alternative, defendant seeks a reduction in his sentence or remand for a new sentencing hearing. Defendant contends that (1) the trial court erred in denying motions to quash his arrest and suppress evidence resulting from the arrest because there was no probable cause for the arrest; (2) he was deprived of a fair trial because of ineffective assistance of counsel; and (3) the trial court erred in denying his request for a continuance at the sentencing hearing.

FACTS

On August 25, 1988, Robert McClaurin was approached in a park by three men. One of the men, Steve Zinnamon, was known to Mc-Claurin. One of the other men asked McClaurin about a motorcycle stolen from Steve Zinnamon. After McClaurin told the man he knew nothing about the motorcycle, the man hit him in the head with a club-like object and then shot him three times as he attempted escape.

Defendant was later arrested and charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, and armed violence. Prior to his jury trial, defendant moved to quash his arrest and suppress statements and an identification made after the arrest. Detective Higgins of the Chicago police department testified at the hearings on those pretrial motions. He stated that he interviewed the victim at the hospital after the shooting. The victim, Robert McClaurin, told him that he was accosted in the park by three men, one of whom was Steve Zinnamon, defendant’s brother. According to Detective Higgins, McClaurin described the man who shot him as a black male, age 32, about 6 feet tall, weighing about 210 pounds, who he believed was Steve Zinnamon’s older brother. He did not know who the third man was.

Detective Higgins also testified that he interviewed two witnesses to the shooting. They told him that the man who shot McClaurin was a black male in his early thirties, about 6 feet tall and weighing 210 to 220 pounds. The witnesses were not close enough to identify the man’s face. The three men fled in an orange GM automobile with an off-white vinyl top.

Detective Higgins further testified that he visited Steve Zinnamon’s home and spoke with his sister, who told him that Steve did not have an older brother fitting the description given by McClaurin and the two witnesses. Detective Higgins later observed an orange Chevrolet with an off-white roof on the block where Steve Zinnamon lived. He traced the license and discovered that the car was registered to defendant, who lived on the same block. He left a card with defendant’s mother at defendant’s address, asking that defendant call him. Defendant later called Detective Higgins and acknowledged that he owned an orange Chevrolet with an off-white roof. He indicated he would meet with Detective Higgins.

According to Detective Higgins’ testimony, defendant went to the police station the next day. Detective Higgins, observing that defendant fit the description given by McClaurin and the two witnesses, arrested defendant. After being advised of his constitutional rights, defendant was photographed. While defendant was still at the police station, McClaurin identified defendant from a photographic array shown him at the hospital. After being told of the identification, defendant gave a signed statement to the State’s Attorney, admitting that he hit McClaurin with a hammer handle, then shot him three or four times. Defendant stated that he did not intend to kill McClaurin.

On cross-examination, Detective Higgins acknowledged that, although the original report contained the physical description recited on direct examination, his partner’s notes indicated that the person who shot McClaurin was age 30 to 35, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and weighed 200 pounds.

The court found that there was probable cause to arrest defendant and that defendant’s statement had been voluntary. At trial, Anthony Smith and Victor Davis testified that they witnessed the incident between McClaurin and three men, one of whom they knew to be Steve Zinnamon. After the shooting, they observed the three men leave in a burnt orange Buick or Chevrolet with a white vinyl roof. Davis testified that he gave police a description of the man who shot McClaurin, although he did not see the man’s face. He thought he had described the man as of stocky build, and about 6 feet 1 inch tall. Detective Higgins’ trial testimony was the same as Ms testimony during the pretrial motion hearings.

McClaurin also testified at trial. He identified defendant as the man who shot him. McClaurin stated that Steve Zinnamon was one of the men who accosted him, and that Steve punched him in the face and asked him for Steve’s motorcycle. On cross-examination, Mc-Claurin said that he told police the man who shot him was 5 feet 7 inches or 5 feet 8 inches tall, dark, weighing 175 to 180 pounds. When asked if on the day of the shooting he told police that Steve Zinnamon’s brother had shot him, he replied, "No, I did not, sir.” Over the State’s objection, McClaurin denied on cross-examination that he was a drug dealer and that Steve Zinnamon owed him money for drugs. He also denied stealing Steve Zinnamon’s motorcycle and threatening to accuse defendant of the shooting if defendant did not pay his brother’s debt.

On redirect examination, the following exchange took place:

"Q. You never saw him before the night he shot you in the park, is that correct?

A. That’s correct.

Q. And you did not know him that night?

A. No, I didn’t.

Q. When you talked to the police, you weren’t sure whether he was Steve Zinnamon’s brother or not, were you?

A. No, I didn’t. I didn’t know.

Q. Therefore, you didn’t tell the officers you knew for sure he was the brother of Steve Zinnamon, correct?

A. Correct.”

The State moved to bar the defense from presenting testimony of Christine Guider and defendant’s sister, Stephanie Miller, regarding the victim’s being a drug dealer. After a hearing outside the presence of the jury, during which the two women testified, the court found their testimony was not relevant to the issues. The court stated it was granting the motion to bar the testimony of Christine Guider and Stephanie Miller as to alleged drug sales by the complainant during the month of August 1988. The court then indicated that the jury would be instructed to disregard any questions about alleged sales of drugs by McClaurin.

The trial resumed in the presence of the jury. Defendant, his sister, and his wife all testified for the defense that defendant was at a party at his sister’s home at the time of the shooting.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
639 N.E.2d 1296, 203 Ill. Dec. 477, 266 Ill. App. 3d 671, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1652, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-zinnamon-illappct-1993.