People v. Anderson

• Decision Date: 20 March 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1–15–0931,1–15–0931
• Citation: 102 N.E.3d 786,2018 IL App (1st) 150931
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Corey ANDERSON, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2018 IL App (1st) 150931

102 N.E.3d 786

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.Corey ANDERSON, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 1–15–0931

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, SECOND DIVISION.

March 20, 2018

Michael J. Pelletier, Patricia Mysza, and Patrick F. Cassidy, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Kimberly M. Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Annette Collins, Matthew Connors, and Riebana E. Sachs, Assistant State’s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

JUSTICE MASON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 On May 12, 2010, Corey Anderson and several companions (including codefendants Jabriel Anderson, no relation to Corey, and Jason Burns) went looking for Tomaras Qualls to fight him. The group saw a silver Monte Carlo pull up nearby, and Jabriel said, "That was them." Burns fired several times at the Monte Carlo. Qualls was not in the car, but Adam Martinez, Brian Lawson, and Robert Alvarado were, and Martinez was fatally shot.

¶ 2 The State sought to hold Corey accountable for the shooting based upon allegations that (i) the gun used in the shooting belonged to Corey, (ii) Corey threatened Qualls's mother earlier that evening, and (iii) when Jabriel pointed out the Monte Carlo, Corey reached for his gun before Burns grabbed it and fired. Following a jury trial, Corey was found guilty on an accountability theory of the first degree murder of Martinez, the attempted murder of Lawson and Alvarado, and aggravated discharge of a firearm at Lawson and Alvarado. Corey was sentenced to 95 years' imprisonment.

¶ 3 On appeal, Corey argues that he was denied a fair trial because (i) the State failed to prove up its assertion that Corey threatened Qualls, upon which it relied heavily in its argument to the jury, and (ii) the State improperly used prior consistent statements to bolster the credibility of Marquell Carter, the only witness who testified that Corey had a gun. We agree and reverse and remand for a new trial.

¶ 4 BACKGROUND

¶ 5 On the evening of May 12, 2010, Xavier Smith was hosting a party at his home in Park Forest. Also present were Jabriel, Qualls, and Carter. Jabriel and Qualls got into an argument that escalated into a fistfight. Qualls left the party. He returned 10 to 15 minutes later with two friends and tried to convince Jabriel to come outside and fight them. Jabriel refused, whereupon Qualls and his friends left and did not return.

¶ 6 Jabriel made a phone call to his friend Raymond Darden, asking Darden to come pick him up. Later that evening, six individuals in two cars arrived, including Darden, who was accompanied by Corey (whose nickname was "Lord"), Burns, Cortez Robinson, Darden's girlfriend Latoya Kelly, and Burns's girlfriend Jasmine Johnson. The women stayed in the cars while the four men exited. Carter saw a gun in Corey's waistband. Jabriel ran outside to meet the group and told them about his earlier fight with Qualls. Then Jabriel, Corey, Burns, Darden, and Robinson walked to Qualls's house. At trial, Darden testified that he intended to mediate the conflict by talking to Qualls's brother, but in his earlier sworn testimony before the grand jury and at Burns's trial,¹ he stated that the group went to fight Qualls.

¶ 7 According to Darden, when the five of them reached Qualls's house, Jabriel knocked on the door, and Qualls's mother answered. Darden claimed not to remember the conversation that followed. The State attempted to impeach him with his prior sworn testimony before the grand jury and at Burns's trial. Darden admitted stating before the grand jury that Jabriel said, "Tell your son I am going to f*** him up." The State then tried to elicit testimony about what Corey said:

"Q. Do you recall being asked this question on cross examination [during Burns's trial] and giving this answer: Question: ‘When they were in front of the door, Lord [Corey] said to B.D. [Jabriel ], quote, Get out of the way. I am going to fan their ass.’ Answer: ‘Yes.’

Do you remember being asked that question at the prior testimony on June 20th of 2012?

A. Yes."

On cross-examination, the defense also asked Darden about what Corey said:

"Q. Now, you testified that although you don't recall, in that prior proceeding in 2012 and at the police station, you said something to the effect about Corey stating he was going to fan their ass or something to that effect, do you remember that?

A. I don't recall."

¶ 8 After their confrontation with Qualls's mother, the five men left and walked back to Smith's house. As they neared Smith's house, a silver Monte Carlo drove past them and parked. Carter, standing in the doorway of Smith's house, heard someone say "That's the people? Is that them?" Carter saw Corey reach toward the gun in his waistband, but Burns snatched the gun from him and fired at the Monte Carlo.

¶ 9 Three days after the shooting, on May 15, 2010, Carter went to the Park Forest Police Department and identified Corey and Burns in photo arrays. On direct examination, the prosecutor presented Carter with the photo arrays and asked:

"Q. Did you make a notation, did you actually physically write something next to the photograph of Jason Burns?

A. Yes.

Q. And what did you write?

A. ‘This is the person I saw get the gun from Lord and shot at the Monte Carlo.’ "

The prosecutor then showed Carter the photo array in which he identified Corey and asked:

"Q. And can you tell the jury, what did you write on this photo array?

A. ‘This is the person I know as Lord. He told me his name was Lord. I saw a gun in his waistband. The other guy took the gun from Lord and shot at the Monte Carlo.’ "

The State displayed the photo arrays with Carter's annotations on a video screen for the jury to view, and Carter reconfirmed his handwritten statements about Corey and Burns.

¶ 10 On cross-examination, Carter admitted that on the day of the shooting, he was smoking marijuana, drinking, and taking ecstasy. The day after the shooting, Carter met with detectives and told them, falsely, that he did not know any of the people who came to reinforce Jabriel. Carter told the detectives that he saw a person with short hair shooting at the Monte Carlo (i.e. , Burns), but he did not tell them that Corey had a gun. The next day, May 14, Carter returned to the police station and said that he knew Darden and Robinson and that he saw a gun in Corey's waistband.

¶ 11 Carter appeared before the grand jury on May 17, but he asserted his fifth amendment right not to testify because he was on juvenile probation, and smoking and drinking violated the terms of his probation. On June 9, Carter appeared before the grand jury again and testified in exchange for immunity from prosecution for the probation violation.

¶ 12 Darden also testified about the shooting but claimed not to remember many of the details of what occurred. He was impeached with his prior sworn testimony, in which he said that when the Monte Carlo drove past, Jabriel said "That was them" and "Give me the cappa, give me the cappa" (i.e. , the gun). Around the same time, Darden saw Corey tugging at the waistband of his pants "as if he did have a pistol." At trial, Darden testified that he never actually saw Corey with a gun.

¶ 13 The Monte Carlo parked in the lot directly behind Smith's house. The group headed toward the car: Darden and Corey went around the right side of the house, while Jabriel, Burns, and Robinson took a more direct route through a gangway. Corey then reversed direction and went through the gangway with the others. Darden heard several gunshots and ran back to his car. The others came running back as well, and they got back in their vehicles and drove away. During the drive, Jabriel told Darden that Corey and Burns "let them n***** have it."

¶ 14 Jasmine testified that, as they drove away, she saw the black handle of a gun protruding from Burns's waistband. A few days after the shooting, Jasmine and Burns went to Corey's house, and Burns handed the same gun to Corey. On cross-examination, Jasmine stated that she saw Burns with that gun on one occasion prior to the shooting, when Burns put it under his mattress in his house.

¶ 15 Qualls was not in the silver Monte Carlo on the night of the shooting. Instead, the occupants were a group of friends who were not involved in the earlier fight between Jabriel and Qualls. Martinez was driving, Lawson was in the front passenger seat, and Alvarado and Andre Johnson were in the back. They were planning to go to Martinez's girlfriend's house, but first, they were planning to purchase marijuana from a friend in Park Forest. After Martinez parked the car, Alvarado noticed a group of individuals staring at them. "Who that?" he said. Lawson said, "I don't know who that is. Let's get out of here." Martinez put the car into reverse. Immediately, gunshots rang out, shattering the passenger-side window. Lawson crouched down with his head between his knees. He shook Martinez's leg, saying, "Why aren't we moving? Why are we still here?" Martinez did not respond. Lawson looked up and saw Martinez bleeding profusely from a wound in the side of his head.

¶ 16 Lawson, Alvarado, and Andre fled the car on foot. Lawson ran to a nearby house and asked the people inside to call the police. Police and paramedics responded to the scene, and Martinez was brought to the hospital, where he died. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head.

¶ 17 After the State rested, the defense moved for a directed verdict, which the trial court denied. The defense then stated:

"DEFENSE COUNSEL: Judge, I just have one thing to address before. The State has failed to perfect the impeachment as to the statement of Raymond Darden about Corey allegedly saying ‘I'm going to fan their ass.’ It was neither in the stipulation for the prior proceeding nor did they play the video where that was. It's not in the grand jury transcript. It was never perfected.

THE COURT: He admitted to it.

DEFE

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