People v. Beltran

• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois
• Writing for the Court: OPINION
• Citation: People v. Beltran, 2011 IL App (2d) 90856, 956 N.E.2d 1021, 353 Ill.Dec. 893 (Ill. App. 2011)
• Decision Date: 14 September 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2–09–0856.,2–09–0856.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee,v.Christina BELTRAN, Defendant–Appellant.

2011 IL App (2d) 090,856

956 N.E.2d 1021

353 Ill.Dec. 893

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

v.Christina BELTRAN, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 2–09–0856.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

Aug. 23, 2011.As Modified Upon Denial of Rehearing Sept. 14, 2011.

Thomas A. Lilien (Court-appointed), Deputy Defender, Darren E. Miller (Court-appointed), Office of the State Appellate Defender, for Christina Beltran.Robert B. Berlin, Du Page County State's Attorney, Lisa Anne Hoffman, Assistant State's Attorney, Lawrence M. Bauer, Deputy Director, Jay Paul Hoffman, Sally A. Swiss, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, for People.

OPINION

Justice SCHOSTOK delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Following a jury trial, the defendant, Christina Beltran, was convicted of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9–1(a)(2) (West 2006)) for killing her five-year-old daughter, Evelyn. The defendant was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. On appeal, the defendant argues that (1) the trial court erred in denying her motion to suppress certain statements; and (2) she was deprived of a fair trial due to certain improper prosecutorial comments. We affirm.

¶ 2 On July 14, 2007, the defendant was charged by criminal complaint with first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9–1(a)(2) (West 2006)). The complaint alleged that the defendant killed the victim by repeatedly slamming her head on the ground.

¶ 3 On October 23, 2007, the defendant filed a motion to suppress statements that she gave to the police on July 7 and July 13, 2007. The motion alleged that on July 6, 2007, the defendant drove her daughter to the hospital. After she learned that her daughter had died, the defendant suffered an acute psychological breakdown. Hospital staff subdued the defendant by injecting her with Haldol and placing her in four-point leather restraints. While at the hospital on July 7, the police questioned her regarding the victim's death. The police then improperly elicited statements from her prior to informing her of her Miranda rights. The motion further alleged that police elicited statements from her at the Du Page County Children's Center on July 13 in violation of her Miranda rights.

¶ 4 On August 28 and 29, 2008, the trial court conducted a hearing on the defendant's motion. Dr. Guy Miller testified that on July 6, 2007, he was treating the defendant in the emergency room when she began “violently thrashing about and appeared to be under extreme duress.” The defendant believed that she was pregnant and 15 years old. Dr. Miller noted that the defendant “appeared to be seeing things in the room and pointing to things in the room that were not there, and she appeared to be talking to herself.” At one point, the defendant attempted to “strangle herself with a bed sheet,” and Dr. Miller had to physically restrain her. Dr. Miller opined that the defendant had an acute psychotic breakdown. Dr. Miller placed her in four-point leather restraints and sedated her by giving her five milligrams of Haldol.

¶ 5 Dr. Miller described Haldol as an “anti-psychotic and sedative.” He treated the defendant with Haldol at about 9 p.m. on July 6, 2007. The half-life of Haldol is 18 hours, meaning that, 18 hours after a person takes a dose of Haldol, half of that dose remains in that person's system. After the defendant was injected with Haldol, Dr. Miller observed that she was more calm and coherent. On July 7, 2007, the defendant was committed at Linden Oaks Hospital, the mental health treatment center for Edward Hospital.

¶ 6 On July 7, 2007, at 5:45 a.m., Robert Holguin and Investigator Easton, both investigators with the Du Page County State's Attorney's office, Sergeant Price of the Du Page County sheriff's office, and Detective Barr of the Woodridge police department arrived at Edward Hospital to serve a search warrant and interview the defendant. Prior to entering the defendant's room, Holguin talked with the “charge nurse” to see if the defendant was lucid and if it would be okay to talk with her. The nurse said it would be fine and gave the officers and investigators permission to enter the defendant's room.

¶ 7 Holguin spoke with the defendant during the July 7 interrogation, which was recorded on video and audio. The transcript from the recording reveals that Holguin told the defendant that they had a search warrant. Holguin then informed her, “you don't have to talk to us, you don't have to talk to us if you don't want to, okay.” He then told her that her brother, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's family were very worried about her. Holguin then asked the defendant who caused the injuries that led to the victim's death. The defendant said that she had hit the victim, and Holguin and the defendant discussed how the defendant struck the victim. The defendant said that she did not hit the victim hard, and Holguin told the defendant to “remember that we talked to Victor” (Jimenez, the defendant's live-in boyfriend and the father of her twin sons). Later during the interrogation, the defendant said that it was she, not Jimenez, who had caused the victim's injuries.

¶ 8 After the defendant asked Holguin if it was wrong to tell him what had occurred, Holguin replied that it was fine. Holguin told the defendant that she was not detained, but he wanted to know what transpired “because we're here for your protection.” Holguin additionally stated that, because they were there to protect the defendant, he was going to read her rights to her. Holguin then read to the defendant her Miranda rights.

¶ 9 The defendant subsequently signed and initialed a Spanish Miranda waiver. During the reading of the waiver, when the defendant was told of her right to counsel, the defendant said, “But I don't have an attorney.” Holguin responded that the defendant could “ask for one at a point,” but “[f]or right now” he just wanted to “clarify what happened.”

¶ 10 After executing the written waiver, the defendant asked, “So [unintelligible] I can't talk to you guys right now?” Holguin replied that the defendant did not have to speak with them, but that it was important to determine what happened. Holguin asked the defendant if she wished to continue speaking with him, and the defendant replied, “No.” Holguin asked the defendant again if she wanted to speak with the officers, and the defendant replied, “I don't know.” Holguin told the defendant that they had already spoken with her brother and Jimenez. Holguin said that there would be an autopsy and that the police would determine “what happened and why [the victim] died.” Holguin asserted that, if they did not know the defendant's version, there would be “no explanation why you did what you did with [the victim].” Holguin stated, “We need to hear it from you.” He reminded the defendant that she had “started real well talking to us” and that she had already “explained to us the things you did to [the victim].” When Holguin asked what the defendant thought, she said, “Nothing.”

¶ 11 Holguin continued by telling the defendant that she had to “think about her children.” He asked her if she had “gotten some good rest,” to which she replied, “No.” Holguin again asked the defendant if she wanted to continue speaking with them. The defendant replied, “You say to.” Holguin responded, “[n]o,” and the defendant said, “[y]ou say it's important.” Holguin said that it was important for the defendant to talk and that he wanted her to agree to talk. He asked her again if she would talk, and the defendant replied, “yes you say it's important.” Thereafter, the defendant spoke with Holguin.

¶ 12 On cross-examination, Holguin stated that he had no reason why he waited to read the defendant her Miranda rights. He later testified that he continued to question the defendant because he felt that she was not in custody.

¶ 13 As to the July 13 interview, Holguin testified that he was aware that the defendant was going to be released from Linden Oaks that day. He and Investigator Easton drove Jimenez, who had agreed to wear a recording device pursuant to a court-authorized overhear, to pick up the defendant from the mental hospital. The investigators drove Jimenez and the defendant from Linden Oaks to the Du Page County Children's Center. The defendant and Jimenez were left alone in an interview room, where they engaged in a conversation that was recorded. At some point, the defendant got up and began to open the door. Holguin then approached the defendant and told her that he needed to speak with her. Holguin told the defendant that he needed “a minute,” and he left the defendant alone in the room for a couple of minutes before he and Easton returned. Holguin asked the defendant if she would agree to speak with him, and the defendant so agreed. Holguin's July 13 interview with the defendant was recorded on video and was transcribed into English.

¶ 14 The transcript reveals that, at the start of her interview with Holguin, she said, “Oh my babies. Oh, my little babies.” Holguin asked defendant to sit down, and she replied that she did not want to sit. Holguin told the defendant that he needed her to sit down “because these rooms are recorded.” The defendant agreed to sit, and Holguin asked if she recalled everything they had talked about. The defendant responded that she remembered “[s]ome of it.” Holguin told the defendant that “we're in our office now” and that he was grateful that she agreed to speak with him.

¶ 15 Holguin told the defendant that the only way to “fix this is talking with the truth.” Holguin told her that, although they had spoken with Jimenez and had been investigating the case all week, the nature of the victim's injuries was still unclear. At this point, Holguin told the defendant that he and Easton were “like police officers, normally for your protection, our protection, we read you rights.” Holguin informed the defendant that “[i]t doesn't mean anything,” and told her that the rights were...