People v. Coleman

• Decision Date: 05 August 1977
• Docket Number: No. 63222,63222
• Citation: 51 Ill.App.3d 499,366 N.E.2d 1026,9 Ill.Dec. 515
• Parties: , 9 Ill.Dec. 515 PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Maurice COLEMAN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1026

366 N.E.2d 1026

51 Ill.App.3d 499, 9 Ill.Dec. 515

PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Maurice COLEMAN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 63222.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

Aug. 5, 1977.

James J. Doherty, Public Defender, Chicago, for defendant-appellant; Gail Moreland, Chicago, of counsel.

Bernard Carey, State's Atty., Chicago, for plaintiff-appellee; Laurence J. Bolon, Renee G. Goldfarb, Michael W. Ward, Chicago, of counsel.

WILSON, Justice.

Following a jury trial defendant was found guilty of armed robbery and aggravated battery and was sentenced to serve 5 to 10 years in the penitentiary for armed robbery. On appeal he contends that: (1) he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; and (2) a statement by the prosecutor in closing argument was prejudicial and deprived him of a fair trial. We affirm.

The following pertinent evidence was adduced at trial:

FOR THE STATE:

THE VICTIM--CHICAGO POLICE OFFICER EBBERT GENE GREENWOOD:

Officer Greenwood testified that at some point between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. on October 27, 1973, he entered Vern's Friendly Lounge, a tavern located at 1258 South Pulaski Road in the City of Chicago. He was off duty at that time and was dressed in a sport coat, shirt and pants. Under the sport coat he carried his snub-nosed service revolver in a shoulder holster on his left side. The revolver was loaded with six rounds of ammunition. The tavern was situated on the northwest corner of the block and he had parked his 1970 Ford Maverick in the bus stop area directly in front of the tavern. Martha Marshall had telephoned him while he was at the Continental Lounge, located at Fifth Avenue and Tripp Street in the City of Chicago, and asked him to pick her up at Vern's and take her home. After entering Vern's he saw Martha Marshall talking to a barmaid, so he ordered a drink and then went to the washroom. Previously, at the Continental Lounge, he had had something to drink but he did not recall the exact number of drinks he consumed. After leaving the washroom, he looked through the window of the tavern at his car and discovered that he had a flat tire. He informed Miss Marshall that he was going out to change the flat and suggested that she should come out when she was ready to leave. The tavern closed at 2 a.m. and it was shortly before 2 a.m. when he went out to change the tire. He went to the car, opened the trunk, took out the jack and spare, and started jacking the car up and taking the lugs off the wheel with the flat tire. During the next ten minutes the tavern closed, its customers departed and Miss Marshall came out and stood on the curb next to his car. Five or ten minutes after the tavern closed he suddenly heard someone come up behind him and say something which he did not understand and then a gun was put behind his right ear. He asked, "Are you the man, a policeman?" The other person said, "Yes," and he responded, "Well, I am too, my identification is in my back pocket." While he was saying this the person took his service revolver out of its holster and his identification out of his back pants pocket. He looked over his shoulder and saw the person's face. Then he heard a click behind his ear, the sound of a misfire. At this point in the trial he identified the defendant as the assailant. When he heard the misfire he was standing up by his car and after hearing it he turned to his left and began to run north on Pulaski. He ran two or three feet before he was shot twice, once in his left leg and once in his left arm. He than ran to the Fillmore Police Station, which was two blocks from the tavern, and reported that he was a police officer and that he had just been shot. A squad car took him to the University of Illinois Hospital. He remained there for three days. After he got out of the hospital, his star case, containing his identification card and star, was returned to him.

On cross-examination, the victim admitted he was not in uniform at the time of the robbery and shooting and stated that he wore nothing on the night of the incident which would indicate that he was a policeman. He further stated that Martha Marshall knew that he might be at the Continental Lounge. It was not unusual for him to be there on a Friday night or for her to call him there. However, nothing had been prearranged before he got the call from her on the night in question. The only reason he parked in the bus stop area was because he did not plan to be there long. He planned to drop Miss Marshall off at her home and then go home himself. He admitted that when he saw that the tire was flat he did not like it. He was not dressed in tire changing clothes, and having to get his jack, spare and lug wrench out, jack up the car and change the tire while Miss Marshall was waiting for him was not pleasing to him. He was perturbed. He was loosening lug nuts when the man came up to him. Miss Marshall was the only person he had thought was around at that time. He felt defendant's weapon and stood up. He did not know if defendant asked for his money. Defendant had said something; he did not understand what was said. He had his money in a clip in his right front pants pocket. Defendant pushed him across the hood of the car, took the officer's revolver, went through his coat pockets and then took the simulated leather star case from his back pants pocket. He did not mention anything about defendant going through his coat pockets before because he was not asked whether defendant did so. He turned around and saw the barrel of defendant's weapon. Then he heard the misfire. The weapon defendant had to his head was the one that misfired. He admitted that he had testified before the Grand Jury in January of 1974, and had related a sequence of events different from that recounted in his trial testimony; but he stated that the sequence testified to at trial was correct. The weather on October 27, 1973, was dry and rather warm. He had never seen defendant before the incident.

On redirect examination he stated that at the Grand Jury hearing he responded to most of the State's Attorney's questions with either a "Yes," or a "No" answer. He further stated that he only glimpsed the barrel of defendant's weapon during the incident and he could not describe it.

MARTHA MARSHALL:

Miss Marshall testified that she arrived at Vern's about 9:10 p.m. on October 26, 1973, and remained there until approximately 2 a.m. At approximately 12 p.m. she called Officer Greenwood at the Continental Lounge and asked him to pick her up at Vern's. The victim arrived at Vern's between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. He was dressed in civilian clothes. He ordered a drink and then went to the men's room. After he came out of the men's room, he picked up his drink and walked to the front of the tavern. In a few moments he came back and told her he had a flat tire and said that when she was ready to leave, he would be outside changing the tire. It was very close to the 2 a.m. closing time when the victim went outside to change the flat. During this period of time other patrons were leaving. She left the tavern, walked to the curb and stood behind Officer Greenwood. She noticed the flat and saw Officer Greenwood taking lugs off a wheel. A man came by, brushed into her, and headed for the officer. As he went by her she noticed that he was taking a gun out of his pocket with his right hand and that he was wearing a dark, waist-length jacket with lighter pants and a big, floppy, furry hat. She yelled to Officer Greenwood that the man had a gun. The officer started to stand up and asked, "Are you the man?" and the person said, "Yes, I am the man." The victim responded, "Well, I am the man too. My identification is in my back pocket." She saw the man take the officer's identification. Officer Greenwood was spread-eagled on the car and the man was frisking him while they were having this conversation. She had seen the assailant in Vern's earlier in the evening before the victim arrived. At this point in the trial she identified defendant as the assailant. The gun she saw defendant holding was flat looking and the back end of it stuck out over his hand. She saw defendant remove the officer's gun before he took the identification. The victim turned around and took a couple of steps; then she heard two shots and saw Officer Greenwood fall. She did not see what happened to the victim after he fell because defendant turned toward her with a gun in each hand and she was watching him. One of the guns had a cylinder and the other was flat. Defendant held the one with the cylinder in his left hand. He looked across Pulaski, then looked at her again and then ran west on 13th Street. She screamed and banged on Vern's window in an attempt to gain entrance and call the police. Then Officer Butler arrived and they were admitted to Vern's and called the police. The police arrived and took her to Illinois Research Hospital where she saw Officer Greenwood. Thereafter she went to a police station and then she went home. Later that day detectives came to her home and she looked at photographs. The next day she went to the police station, viewed a lineup and identified defendant as the assailant. At that time he was wearing the same clothing he wore on the night of the shooting.

On cross-examination, the witness admitted that she had known Officer Greenwood for about six years prior to the incident, that she had gone out with him during that period and that they were friends. She did not have a date with him on the night in question but she had spoken to him earlier and he expected her to call him at the Continental Lounge since they had agreed that he would pick her up and drop her off at home. She regularly called and had him take her home. During the incident, Officer Greenwood was spread-eagled with his hands on the car. Defendant patted the victim down and then took the officer's revolver with his left hand....