People v. O'Dell

• Decision Date: 21 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. 5-07-0682.,5-07-0682.
• Citation: 392 Ill. App. 3d 979,913 N.E.2d 107
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Randy O'DELL, Defendant-Appellant.

913 N.E.2d 107

392 Ill. App. 3d 979

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Randy O'DELL, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 5-07-0682.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District.

July 21, 2009.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Daniel M. Kirwan, Deputy Defender, Michelle A. Zalisko, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Mt. Vernon, IL, for Appellant.

Edward C. Deters, State's Attorney, Effingham County Government Center, Effingham, IL, Patrick Delfino, Director, Stephen E. Norris, Deputy Director, Erin T. Piscitelli, Staff Attorney, Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Mt. Vernon, IL, for Appellee.

Presiding Justice WEXSTTEN delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Effingham County, the defendant, Randy O'Dell, was convicted on two counts of unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle (625 ILCS 5/4-103(a)(1) (West 2006)). On appeal, he argues that his convictions should be vacated because the circuit court erred in denying his motion to suppress. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

On January 10, 2007, at approximately 3 a.m., Sergeant Ryan Shoemaker of the Illinois State Police was traveling south on the Dieterich/Clay City blacktop in rural Effingham County, when he observed an approaching truck traveling "unusually slow." The truck was a 2004 Dodge Dakota occupied by the defendant, a resident of Louisville, Illinois. As the truck neared, Shoemaker saw that it was pulling a trailer carrying another truck. Shoemaker later described the trailer as a 1983 single-axle "homemade trailer" of the type commonly used to haul ATVs, lawn mowers, "or any other kind of lightweight cargo." After turning around to follow the defendant, Shoemaker "noticed that the trailer was weaving somewhat recklessly from side to side as if it were overloaded." He also saw a dragging chain that was emitting sparks as it bounced off the road. At that point, Shoemaker stopped the defendant for equipment violations (see 625 ILCS 5/12-101, 15-110 (West 2006)).

When Shoemaker exited his squad car and approached the 2004 Dakota, he noticed that the truck on the trailer was a "brand new" 2007 Dakota with an attached window sticker listing its price as $33,025. The 2007 Dakota was not chained or strapped to the trailer, and Shoemaker thought it odd that such a nice truck was being transported unsecured on a "decrepit, lightweight junk trailer" in the middle of the night. He also found it curious that the new truck had no license plates or temporary registration. When Shoemaker advised the defendant why he had stopped him and told him that the truck on the trailer seemed suspicious, the defendant told Shoemaker that he "got [the truck] today." The defendant claimed that he had purchased the new truck from J Wilderman Autoplex in Mt. Carmel, the dealership listed on the window sticker. The defendant further claimed that he was transporting the new truck to Effingham. Shoemaker then returned to his squad car, ran the defendant's name and driver's license information, and checked the registration information on the trailer and the 2004 Dakota that the defendant was driving. Shoemaker learned that the defendant had multiple theft-related convictions, including prior convictions for unlawful possession of a stolen motor vehicle, and that, earlier that night at 12:06 a.m., the Mt. Carmel police department had also checked the registration information on the 2004 Dakota. He also learned that the trailer was registered to a business in Mt. Carmel. Shoemaker then contacted the Mt. Carmel police department and was advised that, when its registration had been run in Mt. Carmel at 12:06 a.m., the 2004 Dakota had not been pulling a trailer or another truck. Shoemaker asked the Mt. Carmel police to help him determine whether the 2007 Dakota had been stolen, and they agreed to attempt to contact employees of J Wilderman Autoplex. Shoemaker then returned to the defendant's truck, had him exit the vehicle, and patted him down for weapons. He and the defendant then returned to his squad car, where the defendant sat in the front passenger's seat. Approximately 20 minutes had passed since the defendant was initially stopped.

In the squad car, Shoemaker questioned the defendant about the 2007 Dakota and candidly stated that he believed that the vehicle was stolen. The defendant repeatedly admitted that the situation looked suspicious, and he indicated that, if he were Shoemaker, he, too, would want to investigate the matter further. When Shoemaker asked the defendant at what time he had purchased the new truck, the defendant stated that he had done so sometime between 1:30 and 2 p.m. the prior day. The defendant indicated that he had then gone to Flora to work a factory shift that began at 3 p.m. and that, at around 11:30 p.m., he headed back to Mt. Carmel to pick up the new truck. Because it is approximately 60 miles from Flora to Mt. Carmel, Shoemaker thought that it was impossible for the defendant to have left Flora at 11:30 p.m. and been in Mt. Carmel by 12:06 a.m. Shoemaker also thought it suspicious that the defendant had not taken possession of the new truck when he bought it. When Shoemaker asked the defendant who had sold him the truck, the defendant stated, "Jimmy Hendrix," as if he had "just pulled the name out of the air." Although he had no documents indicating that he had, in fact, recently purchased the 2007 Dakota, the defendant did produce a business card of "Jimmy Winship," a salesman at J Wilderman Autoplex. When Shoemaker asked the defendant why he was headed to Effingham, the defendant stated that he was dropping the new truck off at his girlfriend's house on Sixth Street in Effingham. This, too, made Shoemaker suspicious, because he did not believe that there was a Sixth Street in Effingham. The defendant also indicated that his girlfriend had the paperwork for the new truck. The defendant further advised that he had paid $33,025 for the vehicle, and Shoemaker thought it "very unusual for somebody to write a check for exactly what is on the sticker of a brand new automobile."

In the meantime, the Mt. Carmel police department had called Shoemaker and informed him that they were attempting to contact the owner of J Wilderman Autoplex and were going to arrange for him to meet them at the dealership. Shoemaker subsequently told the defendant that he would find out sooner or later whether the new truck had been stolen. While waiting for the Mt. Carmel police department to get back to him, Shoemaker wrote the defendant warnings for various equipment violations and discussed the violations with him. He then told the defendant that he was going to let him go after he obtained the new truck's vehicle identification number (VIN). He had the defendant exit the squad car and stand by while he opened the new truck's driver's door and wrote down the truck's VIN. While obtaining the VIN, he noticed that a piece of plastic trim missing from around the driver's door of the new truck was lying on its backseat floorboard. He then looked inside the 2004 Dakota, and on its backseat floorboard, he saw a crowbar with paint transfer on it. The color of the paint transfer matched the color of the 2007 Dakota. Shoemaker also observed a pair of bolt cutters, a saw, an assortment of ball hitches, and an assortment of truck-trailer "electrical connections" in the 2004 Dakota. He subsequently had the defendant sit inside the 2004 Dakota and wait. Approximately 60 minutes had passed since the defendant was initially stopped.

Eventually, additional officers arrived at the scene, and the Mt. Carmel police department called Shoemaker back again. The Mt. Carmel police told him, inter alia, that one of the buildings at J Wilderman Autoplex had been broken into. Shoemaker also spoke with the owner of the dealership, Jim Wilderman. Wilderman stated that, although he had been unable to contact salesman Jimmy Winship, he had spoken with the dealership's finance manager, who advised that there had been no transaction regarding the 2007 Dakota, as the defendant had claimed. At that point, the defendant was handcuffed and placed under arrest for possessing a stolen truck, a stolen trailer, and burglary tools. After Shoemaker read the defendant his Miranda rights (Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966)), the defendant admitted that he had stolen the 2007 Dakota. Approximately 90 minutes had passed since the defendant was initially stopped, and the entire stop was captured on video by a camera mounted in Shoemaker's squad car.

On January 17, 2007, an Effingham County grand jury indicted the defendant for the charges on which he had been arrested. Thereafter, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained during the January 10, 2007, traffic stop. His motion alleged, inter alia, that Sergeant Shoemaker had detained him for investigatory purposes without reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime.

On September 27, 2007, the Honorable James R. Harvey held a hearing on the defendant's motion to suppress. After hearing Shoemaker's testimony and watching the videotape recording of the traffic stop, Judge Harvey denied the motion, ruling as follows:

"The Motion to Suppress will be denied. The question here is whether or not[,] under the circumstances this officer was dealing with on the night in question[,] he acted appropriately * * *. I find simply that he did.

Specifically, I think the law requires that I consider, and I do, * * * whether or not the officer had reasonable suspicion. It's apparent in watching the tape that all the information which eventually led to [the] defendant's arrest didn't fall out of the sky or come tumbling out of the radio in one chunk. The officer saw something that looked suspicious. When he stopped the vehicle[,] he saw a little something else that looked suspicious. And as he kept asking...