People v. Butler
| Decision Date | 17 December 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1-17-1400 |
| Citation | 2021 IL App (1st) 171400,192 N.E.3d 135,455 Ill.Dec. 718 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Donquila BUTLER, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, and Kathryn L. Oberer, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg and Louis C. Longhitano, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 Defendant, Donquila Butler, appeals his conviction of two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and one count of kidnapping after a bench trial. On appeal, defendant contends (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence where the police arrested him without probable cause that he committed a crime; (2) alternatively, the trial court should have suppressed the fruits of his arrest where he was seized pursuant to a police investigative alert; and (3) the cause should be remanded for a hearing pursuant to People v. Krankel , 102 Ill. 2d 181, 80 Ill.Dec. 62, 464 N.E.2d 1045 (1984), where the trial court failed to inquire into defendant's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court's judgment that probable cause existed for police to arrest defendant but remand the matter for the trial court to conduct a Krankel hearing.
¶ 3 The trial court denied defendant's motion to reconsider on May 30, 2017. Defendant filed a notice of appeal on June 5, 2017. Accordingly, this court has jurisdiction pursuant to article VI, section 6, of the Illinois Constitution ( Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 6 ) and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 603 (eff. Feb. 6, 2013) and Rule 606 (eff. July 1, 2017), governing appeals from a final judgment of conviction in a criminal case entered below.
¶ 5 Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence wherein he argued that his arrest without a warrant and without probable cause violated his constitutional rights. At the hearing on the motion, Blue Island Police Officer David Stone testified that on April 29, 2011, he was assigned to patrol. At the roll call, detectives informed the officers that defendant was wanted in connection with several sexual assault cases. They were advised to look for a black 1999 Lincoln Continental with three-spoke chrome rims bearing the license plate H716863. The detectives showed them a photograph of defendant.
¶ 6 Later that day, Stone was on patrol when he spotted a 1999 black Lincoln Continental with three-spoke chrome rims in the area of 127th Street and Vincennes Road. He checked the license plate and confirmed it was a match. Stone stopped the car and observed that the driver was the same person depicted in the photograph at the police station. He radioed for assistance and detained defendant, who was not free to leave. Detective Jeff Werniak and his partner responded to Stone's call, and defendant was transported to the Blue Island police station. Stone did not have an arrest or a search warrant for defendant.
¶ 7 Werniak testified that on April 25, 2011, he was assigned to investigate a sexual assault against S.J. He interviewed her briefly at the hospital and then interviewed her at her home the following day. She told him that on April 25, 2011, in the late evening, she was walking southbound on Western Avenue when she noticed a black four-door car that kept passing her northbound and southbound on Western Avenue. The driver stared at her as he passed. She described the driver as a black male who was the only person in the car. She felt uncomfortable so she turned off Western Avenue and walked one block west to Artesian Avenue, heading south toward her home. S.J. was then assaulted on Artesian Avenue.
¶ 8 S.J. believed that her assailant was the same person she saw driving the black car. She described her attacker as a black male in his upper twenties, with a light caramel complexion and a thin goatee-style beard, which was nicely trimmed. She described the car as a four-door sedan similar to a Buick. The car was black with a power moon roof and very distinctive "3-bladed" chrome rims. S.J. pointed out the rims when shown different types of rims on the Internet. Werniak referred to the rims as "wishbone rims." A picture of this type of rim was included in an investigative alert to fellow officers. S.J. described her assailant to an investigator, who created a composite sketch. This sketch was also included in the alert.
¶ 9 Werniak went to Thornton's gas station in the area of the attack to see if their surveillance video captured anything useful to the investigation. He viewed the video, which showed S.J. walking southbound on Western Avenue and cutting through the Thornton's parking lot. Right after she cut through the lot, a black four-door car with a power moon roof and chrome wishbone rims pulled into the gas station. The video showed a black male, who Werniak identified as defendant, get out of the car and go into the store. Inside, video showed that defendant purchased condoms with a credit card. Thornton's corporate security records revealed that defendant's name was on the card used to purchase the condoms. Werniak obtained a driver's license photo of defendant and recognized him as the person he saw on the video getting out of the black car and going into the Thornton's store to purchase condoms.
¶ 10 The following day, April 29, 2011, Werniak attended a roll call meeting at the Blue Island police station where he advised patrol officers that he was looking for defendant in connection with three sexual assaults in Blue Island. They also should look for a black four-door Lincoln with a power moon roof and chrome wishbone rims bearing license plate number H716863. Werniak showed officers defendant's driver's license photo. Later that day, Werniak responded to a traffic stop near 127th Street and Vincennes Road. He saw defendant in the back of Stone's car and, directly behind, he saw a black four-door Lincoln with a power moon roof and chrome wishbone rims. He recognized defendant as the same man he saw in the video surveillance tape from Thornton's. Defendant was transported to the Blue Island police station and placed in a cell.
¶ 11 On cross-examination, Werniak stated that the wishbone rims were distinctive and "very rare." Also, defendant was not free to leave when he saw him sitting in back of Stone's police car. Werniak acknowledged that S.J.’s description of her attacker was a fairly general description.
¶ 12 The trial court denied defendant's motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence, finding that "there was more than probable cause to arrest this Defendant at that time and location." Defendant also filed a motion in limine to bar DNA evidence, which the court denied after hearing arguments.
¶ 13 At the bench trial, S.J. testified that on the night of April 25, 2011, she was 18 years old. Around 10 p.m., S.J. walked her friend from her home to the bus stop at 119th Street and Western Avenue. After her friend got on the bus, S.J. walked on Western Avenue to go home. She walked about half a block when she noticed a black sedan pass her as it drove toward 123rd Street. The car had distinctive Y-shaped rims. The car passed her and then turned around, driving past her again going in the other direction toward 119th Street. The car repeated this pattern, driving past S.J. at least three times. S.J. became nervous because she thought the car was following her. She turned at 121st Street at the Thornton's gas station and walked toward Artesian Avenue, the next street over.
¶ 14 S.J. did not see anyone on Artesian Avenue but as she walked, she heard footsteps behind her. She looked back and saw a man about a half block behind her. She walked faster, but the man behind her began to walk faster too. S.J. looked back again and the same man was right behind her, about three feet away. She described him as African-American, with a stocky build and about 5 feet, 9 inches, tall. He was wearing a black hoody pulled up over his head but not covering his face. S.J. identified defendant as the man who walked behind her that night.
¶ 15 S.J. testified that defendant grabbed her around her neck with his arm. He told her not to refuse. He said, "do you want to die, it's just some p*** or something like that." S.J. continued to resist, and she tried to look at the attacker's face. He then hit her in the eye with his fist. Defendant pulled her away from the street to the side of a house, next to a black garbage bin and some bushes and rocks. S.J. tried to call the police with her cell phone, but defendant told her to give it to him. When she refused, defendant grabbed it from her as he kept his arm around her neck. S.J. was having trouble breathing.
¶ 16 Defendant told S.J. to take off her pants, and when she refused to comply, he pulled down her pants and underwear. He forced her to bend over and then he touched her vagina with his hand. He tried to insert his penis into her vagina, but he could not do so. Defendant then forced S.J. to the ground. As she lay on her back, S.J. tried to look at defendant's face but he told her to cover her face. She covered her face with her hands, but she peeked through her fingers to see him. Defendant penetrated her vagina with his penis. S.J. did not consent and the penetration was painful. She was scared because she thought she was going to die. Before he penetrated her, S.J. heard something that sounded like a plastic wrapper. She thought it was a condom wrapper.
¶ 17 After defendant completed the assault, he got up and ran toward Artesian Avenue. S.J. waited briefly to make sure he was gone, and then she ran home. She told her aunt what happened, and they called 911....
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