People v. Carpenter
| Decision Date | 17 April 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 103616.,No. 103857.,No. 103856.,103616.,103856.,103857. |
| Citation | 228 Ill.2d 250,888 N.E.2d 105 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Derrick CARPENTER, Appellee. The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Sergio Garibaldi, Appellee. The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Ignacio Montes-Medina, Appellee. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (Gary Feinerman, Michael A. Scodro, Solicitors General, Michael M. Glick, Leah C. Myers, Assistant Attorneys General, all of Chicago, and James E. Fitzgerald, Alan J. Spellberg, Sang Won Shim, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People in No. 103616.
Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender, Pamela Rubeo, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellee in No. 103616.
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (Gary Feinerman, Michael A. Scodro, Solicitors General, Michael M. Glick, Leah C. Myers, Assistant Attorneys General, all of Chicago, and James E. Fitzgerald, Alan J. Spellberg, Sang Won Shim, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People in Nos. 103856, 103857.
Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender, Pamela Rubeo, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellees in Nos. 103856, 103857.
Following a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant, Derrick Carpenter, was found guilty of having a false or secret compartment in a motor vehicle, in violation of section 12-612 of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Code). 625 ILCS 5/12-612 (West 2004). Defendant was subsequently sentenced to two years' imprisonment. On appeal, the appellate court declared section 12-612 unconstitutional as violative of substantive due process guarantees, concluding that the statute sweeps too broadly, potentially encompassing innocent conduct. Carpenter, 368 Ill.App.3d 288, 305 Ill.Dec. 746, 856 N.E.2d 551. This court granted the State's petition for leave to appeal as a matter of right pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 612(b) (). The cause was docketed as No. 103616.
Thereafter, in reliance upon the published opinion in Carpenter, the circuit court of Grundy County separately dismissed single-count indictments against defendants Sergio Garibaldi and Ignacio Montes-Medina, both of which charged offenses under section 12-612(a) of the Code. Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 603 (134 Ill.2d R. 603), the State appealed both cases directly to this court (Nos. 103856 and 103857). As they present common issues, all three cases have been consolidated for disposition.
Prior to oral argument, the State filed a motion for vacatur and remand, based upon our decision in In re E.H., 224 Ill.2d 172, 309 Ill.Dec. 1, 863 N.E.2d 231 (2006). Relying upon E.H., the State contended that the lower courts in these consolidated cases improperly declared section 12-612 unconstitutional without first addressing alternative grounds that could have resolved the cases. We denied the State's motion on May 15, 2007, and the causes proceeded to oral argument.
Before this court, the State argues that "the lower court orders should be vacated and the cases remanded for consideration of nonconstitutional grounds that were not addressed by those courts." Alternatively, the State contends that "the false or secret compartment statute * * * is constitutional on its face."
Section 12-612 of the Code provides in pertinent part:
"(a) Offenses. It is unlawful for any person to own or operate any motor vehicle he or she knows to contain a false or secret compartment. It is unlawful for any person to knowingly install, create, build, or fabricate in any motor vehicle a false or secret compartment.
(b) Definitions. For purposes of this section, a `false or secret compartment' means any enclosure that is intended and designed to be used to conceal, hide, and prevent discovery by law enforcement officers of the false or secret compartment, or its contents, and which is integrated into a vehicle. For purpose[s] of this Section, a person's intention to use a false or secret compartment to conceal the contents of the compartment from a law enforcement officer may be inferred from factors including, but not limited to, the discovery of a person, firearm, controlled substance, or other contraband within the false or secret compartment, or from the discovery of evidence of the previous placement of a person, firearm, controlled substance, or other contraband within the false or secret compartment." 625 ILCS 5/12-612(a), (b) (West 2004).
Defendant Carpenter was charged by information with the offense of "false or secret compartment in a motor vehicle" in that he "owned or operated a motor vehicle * * * which he knew to contain a secret compartment," in violation of section 12-612 of the Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/12-612 (West 2004)). The following evidence was adduced at defendant's bench trial.
Chicago police officer Edmund Szudy and his partner, Erin Petrulis, were on routine patrol when they were flagged down by Sergeant Sherry. Sherry informed Szudy that he had received a complaint from a female regarding two men who had allegedly tried to lure her into a white van near the intersection of 39th Street and King Drive. According to the unidentified female, a firearm was displayed during the incident. A hearsay objection was interposed to the foregoing evidence, and it was ultimately admitted for the limited purpose of showing why the officers went to the named intersection, rather than for the truth of the out-of-court statement. In response to that information, Szudy and Petrulis drove to a motel parking lot near 39th Street and King Drive and saw a white van matching Sergeant Sherry's description. Defendant was sitting in the driver's seat of the van and defendant's brother was sitting in the passenger's seat.
As Szudy approached the van on the passenger side, he saw defendant reach toward the dashboard as if to "shut something or grab something." At that point, Szudy drew his gun and ordered defendant to raise his hands and step out of the vehicle. When Szudy looked into the van, he saw the butt end of what appeared to be a handgun sticking out from an open compartment in the dashboard. While Szudy and Petrulis placed defendant and his brother in custody, another officer, who had responded in a backup capacity, retrieved the gun from the open compartment and determined it was "just a BB gun." An owner's manual for the vehicle was also found inside the compartment. No contraband, drugs, or firearms were recovered from the vehicle. The compartment was open when Szudy first approached defendant's vehicle, and upon further inspection, Szudy was unable to find any mechanism controlling its operation.
After Szudy's testimony, it was stipulated that defendant was the owner of the vehicle. In addition, the State introduced, without objection, three photographs of the van's interior, two showing the compartment with its lid open, and one showing it with its lid closed. Also admitted was a photograph of the BB gun found in defendant's vehicle. Thereafter, the State rested, and a motion for directed verdict was made and denied.
Defendant testified that he purchased the van three weeks before his arrest, and he had not made any changes to it. There was no air bag in the compartment when he purchased the van. Defendant said he used the compartment "to keep important papers in there and the manual that came to [sic] the car." On cross-examination, defendant admitted that he also put his BB gun in the compartment. Defendant initially stated that he knew the compartment was where the air bag was supposed to be. When asked again if he knew the compartment was supposed to contain an air bag, he responded, "Not really."
On the foregoing evidence, the trial court found defendant guilty. The court subsequently sentenced defendant to two years' imprisonment.
Defendants Sergio Garibaldi and Ignacio Montes-Medina were ultimately charged by separate indictments filed in the circuit court of Grundy County with violations of section 12-612 of the Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/12-612 (West 2004)). The indictments arose out of a single incident occurring on February 13, 2006. One indictment charged that defendant Garibaldi, on that date, "operated" a 2001 Ford Focus that "he knew contained a secret compartment." The other indictment charged that defendant Montes-Medina "owned" a 2001 Ford Focus that "he knew contained a secret compartment." Both defendants initially filed motions to quash arrest and suppress evidence, and later filed motions to dismiss based on the appellate court's finding in Carpenter that section 12-612 is unconstitutional. A copy of Carpenter was attached to defendants' motions to dismiss.
On November 6, 2006, a hearing was held on those motions. No evidence was adduced at that hearing, but the parties referred to testimony that had been given at a preliminary hearing, noting that a large amount of currency had been found in the air bag compartment of defendants' vehicle and that the compartment had been modified with, among other things, an electronic device to open and close the cover.
The circuit court ultimately granted defendants' motions to dismiss. The judge concluded that he could not rule contrary to the holding in Carpenter, even if he were otherwise disposed. He stated: The order initially entered by the circuit court states that the court "must follow the decision of the appellate court" in Carpenter; and...
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