People v. Williams

Decision Date24 August 2009
Docket NumberNo. 1-06-3063.,1-06-3063.
Citation914 N.E.2d 641
PartiesThe PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alvin WILLIAMS, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois

Marvin J. Leavitt, Andrew G. Schultz, Grund & Leavitt, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Appellant.

Anita M. Alvarez, Cook County State's Attorney, James E. Fitzgerald, Annette Collins, Janet C. Mahoney, Assistant State's Attorneys, Chicago, IL, for Appellee.

Justice HALL delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Alvin Williams, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Cook County denying his application for leave to file a successive postconviction petition. The defendant maintains that the court erred when it denied his application for leave to file a successive petition. For reasons set forth below, we disagree with the defendant and affirm the order of the circuit court.

I. BACKGROUND
A. The Defendant's Direct Appeal

Following a bench trial, the defendant was convicted of first degree murder in connection with death of Joyce Battles (Joyce). The defendant's conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by a majority of this court. See People v. Williams, No. 1-00-2556, 335 Ill.App.3d 1193, 297 Ill.Dec. 207, 836 N.E.2d 938 (2002) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).1

In order to place the defendant's contentions on appeal in perspective, a review of the pertinent facts is necessary. In the order disposing of the defendant's direct appeal, this court set forth a detailed account of the facts as revealed by the evidence at trial. The following pertinent facts are taken from our order disposing of his direct appeal.

In the early morning hours of October 13, 1998, Stuart and Tracy Avis were walking their dog when Stuart noticed a man trying to place a person (Joyce) on the back end of a white, four-door Lincoln automobile. Stuart told Tracy to call the police while he went over to see if everything was okay. Stuart observed as the man, later identified as the defendant, tried to place Joyce on the car, but she fell to the ground. Stuart did not see the defendant strike or kick Joyce and heard no screaming. He acknowledged that he may have told police that the defendant kneed Joyce in the stomach; he was not aware he told police that the defendant beat Joyce into unconsciousness.

Tracy Avis testified that while she was on the telephone to the police, she told them that the "man" was doing something to Joyce. She told the 911 operator that the defendant was kicking Joyce, but she acknowledged that she did not actually see his foot moving. Both Tracy and Stuart admitted they had been drinking alcohol prior to making these observations.

Dr. Joseph Lawrence Cogan, an assistant medical examiner, testified that he observed the following external injuries to Joyce: both eyelids were swollen and discolored; there was a two-to-three-inch area of swelling and bruising between the right side of her face and right ear; there were injuries to the inside of her upper and lower lips; her right hand was swollen; and there was a bruise on her upper right arm.

The most severe injury was to her head. Joyce's brain was swollen on the left side. There was bruising over the frontal portion of her brain as well as over the right and left temporal lobes. Her brain was swollen to the point it was herniated. There was blood in the right and left ventricles and in the aqueduct, indications of "a more closed head trauma." Williams, slip order at 12. There may have been some skull fracturing but no big fractures. Some kind of blunt force trauma was applied to Joyce's head that was so severe that it shook the brain and produced contusions and much internal damage.

According to Dr. Cogan, Joyce died as a "`consequence of cerebral injury, subdural hematomas as the result of blunt force trauma to the head as a result of a beating.'" Williams, slip order at 12-13. There appeared to be a minimum of three and perhaps more incidents of force which caused Joyce's injuries because of the different areas of damage. He opined that the cause of death was homicide.

On cross-examination, Dr. Cogan agreed that, in an automobile accident, a person not wearing a seatbelt could sustain blunt force trauma and that Joyce did suffered a large subdural hematoma that could be consistent with one blow. Some of Joyce's injuries could have come from the procedures performed on her at the hospital. The wounds on her hands could have been offensive ones.

Initially, the defendant told the police that Joyce and he had been drinking at a bar with a friend. Upon leaving the bar, Joyce fell in the parking lot, striking her head. The defendant placed her in the car. When he opened the car door, she fell out. He denied being angry or upset with her or that they argued. He did not see any injuries on Joyce when she fell out of the car. He tried picking her up and placing her on the trunk of the car, but she fell off. He was trying to pick her up again when the police arrived. The officer who wrote the defendant's statement acknowledged that the defendant was impaired and smelled of alcohol.

Later on the morning of October 13, 1998, the defendant gave a statement to assistant State's Attorney (ASA) Dawn Welke. After being advised as to his Miranda rights, the defendant told ASA Welke that Joyce and he had been at a bar and that Joyce had fallen outside the car and injured herself. After ASA Welke advised the defendant that his statement was not supported by the physical evidence, the defendant stated that he wanted "`to get if off his chest.'" Williams, slip order at 16. The defendant was again advised as to his Miranda rights. He then dictated his statement to ASA Welke. After giving the statement, he reviewed it with ASA Welke and both of them signed each page.

According to the defendant's statement, as he was driving Joyce home from the bar, Joyce made a remark about the defendant's attentions to the female bartender. The defendant accused Joyce of cheating on him with her old boyfriend. Joyce struck the defendant. The defendant grabbed Joyce by the hair, pulled her toward him and then pushed her back. The defendant described Joyce as "`put[ing]' her head against the piece of the car between the doors." Williams, slip order at 17. Joyce yelled and struck the defendant again. The defendant again pulled Joyce's hair and pushed her away. Joyce hit her head again. At that point, they arrived at Joyce's residence. When the defendant opened Joyce's door, she fell out. As the defendant tried to help her up, he noticed the blood. A man came up and told the defendant that the police were on their way.

Testifying in his own defense, the defendant acknowledged that before going to Joyce's residence that night, he had consumed a couple of beers and smoked two or three rocks of crack cocaine. He had four or five beers at Joyce's residence. At the bar, Joyce and he drank rum and coke with shots of tequila. After a friend, Ray Nielsen, joined them, the defendant noticed that Joyce and Ray were holding hands. The situation made the defendant angry, but he did not confront them.

As the defendant was driving Joyce home, he told her he did not like the fact that she was holding Ray's hand. Joyce struck the defendant and told him she was sleeping with her former boyfriend. The defendant grabbed her by the hair and pushed her back toward the passenger side door. Joyce hit her head somewhere in the car. The defendant was so aggravated he did not know how hard he pushed her. As the argument continued, Joyce struck him again. Again the defendant grabbed her by the hair, pulled her and then shoved her back; her head hit somewhere on the passenger side of the car. According to the defendant, it was at that point that he lost control of the Lincoln; the car went over a curb and bounced off.

By the time they arrived at Joyce's residence, Joyce was slumped over. When the defendant opened Joyce's door she fell out. When the defendant's efforts to pick her up failed, he dragged her over to the back of the car and tried to set her on top of the trunk. The defendant denied that Joyce and he struggled outside of the Lincoln, and he denied slamming Joyce's head against the windshield. Where there were injuries to his hands, he could have gotten them from the roofing job he did that morning. While acknowledging that he had "`lost it,'" during the argument with Joyce, he did not intend to hurt or kill her. Williams, slip order at 29. The only thing he intended to do was to make Joyce stop striking him. Williams, slip order at 29.

The defendant admitted that he had lied to police when he told them Joyce had fallen in the parking lot, but he had been scared and nervous. He was still "pretty drunk" when he gave his first statement. Williams, slip order at 29.

On cross-examination, the defendant acknowledged that "he was both a drug addict and out of control" when these events occurred. Despite his intoxication, the defendant insisted he remembered everything that happened in the Lincoln during his fight with Joyce. Williams, slip order at 29.

In convicting the defendant of first degree murder, the trial court found that the defendant was not a credible witness and that his testimony was inconsistent with the physical evidence. The court rejected the defense argument that the defendant was acting under a sudden and intense passion.

While not set forth in our order, we note that at his sentencing hearing, the defendant addressed the trial court, stating as follows:

"Your Honor, I am not denying there is no way for my actions, for this tragic death. The incident was caused by me who was not in the right state of mind. Looking back I know I could have taken different measures to avoid this incident. I know I made a very bad judgment, one I will have to live with the rest of my life."

The defendant then stated to the court that he was ready to take responsibility for his...

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