People v. Allen
| Decision Date | 24 February 2022 |
| Docket Number | 1-19-0158 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Stanley ALLEN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
2022 IL App (1st) 190158
201 N.E.3d 164
460 Ill.Dec. 506
The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Stanley ALLEN, Defendant-Appellant.
No. 1-19-0158
Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, FOURTH DIVISION.
Filed February 24, 2022
James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, Michael Gomez, and Stephen L. Gentry, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Enrique Abraham, David H. Iskowich, and Tyler J. Cox, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
JUSTICE ROCHFORD delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.
¶ 1 A jury returned verdicts convicting defendant, Stanley Allen, of the first degree murders of Karif Thomas and Nakesha Johnson, but the jury also separately found in response to a special interrogatory submitted for sentence enhancement purposes that he did not personally discharge the firearm that proximately caused their deaths. The trial court sentenced defendant to a mandatory term of natural life imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contends (1) the jury verdicts finding him guilty of first degree murder but not guilty of personally discharging the firearm that proximately caused the victims’ deaths are inconsistent; (2) the trial court erred by failing to respond to the jury's written question, propounded by it during its deliberations, regarding the definition of the word "act" as contained in Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 7.02 (4th ed. 2000) (hereinafter IPI Criminal 4th); (3) the trial court failed to properly admonish the venire pursuant to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b) (eff. July 1, 2012); and (4) the trial court erred by admitting defendant's recorded phone call from jail to his mother and grandmother under the tacit admission rule. For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
¶ 2 At trial, Antwon Fields, defendant's friend of about 10 years, testified for the State. Fields had a pending charge of possession of a firearm without a concealed carry license or valid Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card and a prior conviction for retail theft.
¶ 3 On the morning of August 10, 2013, Fields (whose nickname is Man-Man) was "hanging out" with defendant, Thomas, and Johnson in the driveway of Thomas's house at 126th Street and Loomis Street. At about 2 a.m., Fields went to a liquor store with another person named Josh and purchased a pint of Hennessy. They returned to Thomas's driveway, and Josh left about a half hour later.
¶ 4 Fields continued to socialize with defendant, Thomas, and Johnson. Fields stated that he was positioned closest to the street, defendant was to his left, and Thomas was to defendant's left. Johnson was on the other side of the driveway. They were drinking and talking about their children and "getting along just fine." Fields stated that he was "buzzed" but was not drunk.
¶ 5 At about 3 a.m., Fields's girlfriend, Ashley Robinson, called and told him that she was getting off work and was driving over to pick him up. Fields saw Robinson's vehicle about three or four houses away, and he got up to walk to the automobile. Fields was also planning on giving defendant a ride back to his home, so he motioned to defendant that it was time to go. As Fields began walking, he heard a gunshot coming from close behind him, looked
back, and saw that Thomas was "laid back" on the ground. About three seconds later, Fields heard a second gunshot from close behind him and saw a "quick flash." Fields ducked down and went to Robinson's vehicle to get away from the gunfire. Fields subsequently learned that both Thomas and Johnson had been shot and killed. Fields testified that, in his opinion, defendant "had to have been" the shooter because "nobody else [was] out there." However, Fields stated that he never saw defendant with a gun in his hand.
¶ 6 After Fields entered the passenger's side of Robinson's vehicle and they began driving, he saw defendant walking across the street. Fields told Robinson to stop the automobile, and he called to defendant to get in the vehicle. Fields explained that he called out to defendant because "he was like a brother to me," and Fields wanted an explanation for why defendant had fired the shots.
¶ 7 Soon after defendant entered the automobile, Fields saw a police vehicle pulling them over. Fields then told defendant to get out of the automobile. Defendant got out and "[took] off." Defendant had nothing in his hand when he exited the vehicle.
¶ 8 The officer approached the automobile and asked Fields why defendant had run away. Fields said that he did not know, and the officer "let [them] go." They drove to his sister Tameka's house, and Fields went inside and stored some bags of marijuana in a closet. Then they drove to his cousin Quinton's house, and Fields told him and Robinson about the shooting. Fields began receiving texts from some of his friends about the shooting, asking him how he was doing because they knew he had been in the area where the shooting occurred. Fields decided to go to the police to tell them what he knew. Robinson drove him to the police station where he gave a videotaped statement and spoke with an assistant state's attorney (ASA) about the shooting.
¶ 9 The parties stipulated that if called to testify, ASA Lisa Mateck would state that she and Investigator John Daley interviewed Fields at about 8 a.m. on August 10, 2013. Clips from the video recording of the interview were subsequently published to the jury. In the video, Fields tells ASA Mateck that after hearing the first gunshot and seeing Thomas lying dead, he saw defendant shoot Johnson "out of my peripheral [vision]."
¶ 10 Robinson testified that at about 3 a.m. on August 10, 2013, she got off work and called Fields to let him know that she was driving over to pick him up at Thomas's house. As she was driving up Loomis Street and approached the house, she heard two gunshots. She came to a stop and saw Fields walking toward her automobile. He entered the passenger side. Then Robinson saw defendant walk over to her vehicle with a bottle in his hand and he entered the back seat. Robinson asked them if they had heard the gunshots, but neither defendant nor Fields responded. Instead, Fields told Robinson to take him to his sister Tameka's home.
¶ 11 Robinson began driving. A few moments later, a police officer activated her sirens to pull them over. When Robinson stopped her vehicle, defendant exited and ran away in the direction of a nearby hardware store. Robinson and Fields remained inside the vehicle. The officer pulled up alongside and asked Robinson why defendant had run away. Robinson responded that she did not know. The officer then spoke with another officer on her "walkie," after which she told Robinson that she was free to go.
¶ 12 Robinson drove to Tameka's house, where they stayed for only about two minutes.
Then Robinson drove to Quinton's house where she heard Fields and Quinton discuss the shooting. A couple of hours later, Robinson drove Fields to the police station and dropped him off. About an hour later, Robinson returned to the police station and gave a videotaped statement.
¶ 13 Officer Asia Blackman testified that at about 3 a.m. on August 10, 2013, she was on uniformed patrol in a marked squad car in the area of 127th Street and Loomis Street. Her partner, Officer Jerald Nettles, was in a separate unmarked vehicle at that time. Officer Blackman was parked in a parking lot at 127th Street and Bishop Street when she heard two gunshots coming from somewhere north of where she was parked.
¶ 14 Officer Blackman left the parking lot and traveled north on Bishop Street. When she arrived at 126th Street and Bishop Street, Officer Blackman spoke with two people and then continued south on Loomis Street and saw Robinson's vehicle parked on the west side of the street. Officer Blackman saw defendant run from the east side of the street toward Robinson's vehicle. Defendant entered the rear driver's side seat.
¶ 15 Officer Blackman activated her emergency lights and stopped the vehicle, at which point she saw defendant open the rear driver's side door, exit the automobile, and run across the street in the direction of a hardware store. Defendant was holding a bottle in his left hand and was holding up his pants with his right hand as he ran. Officer Blackman eventually lost sight of defendant.
¶ 16 Officer Blackman pulled up next to Robinson's vehicle and asked her why defendant had run away. Robinson said, "I don't know, I think he has some weed on him or something." Officer Blackman heard over the police radio that Officer Nettles was in distress and needed help, so she left to assist him. She drove to Ada Street, where she saw defendant and Officer Nettles wrestling in an alley. Officer Blackman exited her vehicle, went over to them, and helped pull defendant off Officer Nettles. The officers handcuffed defendant.
¶ 17 After defendant was handcuffed, Officer Blackman recovered from inside of his pants a Smith & Wesson...
To continue reading
Request your trial