People v. Ammons
| Decision Date | 16 September 2021 |
| Docket Number | Appeal No. 3-15-0743 |
| Citation | 2021 IL App (3d) 150743,193 N.E.3d 53,456 Ill.Dec. 85 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Melvin AMMONS Jr., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Thomas A. Lilien, and April D. Kentala, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Elgin, for appellant.
James W. Glasgow, State's Attorney, of Joliet (Patrick Delfino, David J. Robinson, and Dawn Duffy, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 After a jury trial, the defendant, Melvin Ammons Jr., was convicted of aggravated battery of a police officer ( 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05(d)(4)(i) (West 2014)) and sentenced to three years in prison. On appeal, Ammons argues that his conviction should be reversed because (1) the trial court erred when it gave the jury instructions pertaining to resisting arrest, (2) in the alternative, the trial court instructed the jury on resisting arrest as a lesser-included offense but failed to provide complete instructions and verdict forms applicable to that offense, (3) the trial court failed to provide a supplemental instruction in response to questions that the jury submitted to the court during deliberations, (4) the prosecutor made several inappropriate remarks during his closing argument, and (5) Ammons's trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. Ammons further argues that, if his conviction and sentence are upheld, he is entitled to credit for time served in the amount of $145.
¶ 3 On December 16, 2014, Joliet police officers David Wall and Mark Murphy were on patrol when they were informed by dispatch that an individual had fled from a traffic stop. The officers drove to the scene of the traffic stop. Joliet police officer Jeffrey Haiduke subsequently arrived at the scene. Wall heard a woman yelling "get out of here" very loudly and walked toward the direction of her voice. As he walked, Wall passed an individual, later identified as Ammons, walking on the sidewalk wearing a brown coat and a stocking cap. Wall was eventually flagged down by a woman standing at the rear door of her house, and Wall asked her why she was yelling. She responded that someone had been "hiding" or "crouching" on her porch. The woman described the individual as a "male black wearing a brown coat and black hat," and she told Wall the direction where the man went. Wall believed that the individual he had previously walked past was either the person who fled the traffic stop or someone otherwise involved in criminal activity. Wall returned to Murphy and Haiduke and explained his interaction with the woman.
¶ 5 As the officers tried to get him inside, Ammons was "trying to push off the squad car" and was pulled to the ground by Wall and Murphy. Murphy testified that Ammons's head hit the ground and Murphy "probably" made contact with Ammons's head at some point during the altercation. However, Murphy stated that he did not pull Ammons's hood over his head. Haiduke stated that Ammons was flailing his arms and legs as the officers tried to restrain him. Wall stated that there was "a lot of thrashing" and that he heard people yelling at Ammons to "stop fighting, put his hands behind his back." Murphy testified that Ammons "kept trying to get up" as the officers tried to grab his limbs and that he kneed Ammons in the upper back twice to restrain him. As Murphy tried to control Ammons's right arm, Ammons bit Murphy's finger very hard through his glove. Ammons's grip caused his head to move as Murphy tried to remove his hand from Ammons's mouth. Murphy was able to slide his hand out of the glove, which remained in Ammons's teeth, and he kicked Ammons's left shoulder with his foot. During the struggle, Ammons ripped a Taser and some ammunition from one officer's uniform. Haiduke then fired his Taser into Ammons's back, and Ammons was handcuffed. Joliet police officer Benjamin Grant testified that, once Ammons was in the squad car, he was "pulling away from the backrest area like he was trying to bite—bite me or Officer Murphy, so we had to push him against the backrest while we seat belted him in." When they arrived at the police station, Ammons's emotions were "high at times," and he was uncooperative.
¶ 6 Ammons gave a very different account of the incident. He testified that the officers approached him as he was talking to McDonald and Jones. According to Ammons, initially his hands were not in his pockets, but when the officers asked if he had ID, he responded "of course," put his hands in his pockets, and asked the officers why they wanted it. The officers told him that "some lady said you were hiding under her porch." One officer began to walk behind Ammons, and Ammons turned and stated "don't touch me." Ammons believed that the officers were going to grab him, and feeling threatened, he stepped away from them. They then grabbed Ammons's arms, dragged him into the street, and took him to the ground. Murphy pulled Ammons's hood over his head, started striking his head against the asphalt, and stated "next time don't fucking run." Wall and Haiduke were holding Ammons's limbs as Murphy continued to strike Ammons's head on the ground and also kneed and kicked him "at the end." He did not remember the officers asking him to take his hands out of his pocket. Ammons felt "disrespected" and did not want to be "handled" or "grab[bed]" by the officers. Ammons admitted that he bit Murphy. However, he claimed that he did it because Murphy "had his hands on [Ammons's] head and he was striking it against the asphalt." Ammons also testified, The State objected to the statement, and the trial court sustained the objection and instructed the jury to "disregard the last statement." A photo of the bite mark on Murphy's finger and a photo of the abrasions on Ammons's forehead and marks on his back from the Taser prongs were admitted into evidence.
¶ 7 Ammons was charged with aggravated battery for biting Murphy's finger. To prove Ammons guilty of aggravated battery, the State had to prove that he (1) knowingly made physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature with Murphy, (2) knew Murphy to be a peace officer, and (3) knew Murphy was engaged in the execution of his official duties.
¶ 8 Ammons sought to raise the affirmative defense of self-defense and asked the trial court to instruct the jury on self-defense in accordance with People v. Sims , 374 Ill. App. 3d 427, 428-36, 312 Ill.Dec. 753, 871 N.E.2d 153 (2007). The State argued that self-defense instructions should not be given, citing People v. Wicks , 355 Ill. App. 3d 760, 761-64, 291 Ill.Dec. 567, 823 N.E.2d 1153 (2005). The court determined that Ammons had presented "slight" evidence to support a theory of self-defense and that a resisting arrest instruction was therefore appropriate. Over the State's objection, the trial court gave the jury the Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction on self-defense, which provides that "[a] person is justified in the use of force when and to the extent that he reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself against the imminent use of unlawful force." Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 24-25.06 (4th ed. 2000) (hereinafter IPI Criminal 4th, No. 24-25.06).
¶ 9 The State argued that, if the court gave a self-defense instruction, it must also instruct the jury on resisting arrest to support the State's theory that the officers used only the amount of force necessary to effect the arrest, not excessive force, while Ammons was resisting arrest. Ammons objected, arguing that (1) he had presented evidence that the officers had used excessive force and (2) he had been charged with aggravated battery, not with resisting arrest. The court concluded that the jury should also be instructed on resisting arrest "based upon the testimony of the officers that [Ammons] was placed under arrest" and because Ammons was taken into custody for resisting...
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