People v. Drum

• Decision Date: 28 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. 4-98-0803.,4-98-0803.
• Citation: 718 N.E.2d 302,240 Ill.Dec. 821,307 Ill. App.3d 743
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Charles C. DRUM, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

718 N.E.2d 302

307 Ill. App.3d 743

240 Ill.Dec. 821

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Charles C. DRUM, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 4-98-0803.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Argued September 23, 1999.

Decided September 28, 1999.

C. Steve Ferguson (argued), State's Attorney, Coles County, Charleston, for the People.

Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, Stephen R. Ryan (argued), of counsel, Office of State Appellate Defender, Sup. Court Unit, Springfield, for Charles C. Drum.

Justice STEIGMANN delivered the opinion of the court:

In January 1997, the State charged defendant, Charles C. Drum, with first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1996)). In September 1998, the trial court denied the State's pretrial motion under section 115-10.2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Code) (725 ILCS 5/115-10.2 (West 1998)) to admit certain hearsay statements at defendant's trial, and the State brings this interlocutory appeal from that order (145 Ill.2d R. 604(a)(1)). Because we lack jurisdiction to hear this appeal, we dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND

In January 1997, the State filed first degree murder charges against defendant, his brother, Thomas Drum, and their friend, Marcus Douglas, alleging that the three men had killed a man named Shane Ellison. Thomas and Marcus were tried separately in August 1997 and February 1998 respectively. Each testified in his own defense and acknowledged that they were involved in Ellison's death. However, they each attempted to characterize their involvement as minimal and claimed that defendant was the primary aggressor. Marcus testified in Thomas' trial but Thomas refused to testify in Marcus' trial. Juries convicted both men of first degree murder.

In April and May 1998, the State filed two pretrial motions in defendant's case, entitled "Motion For Admission of Tom Drum's Testimony at the Trial of Charles Drum" and "Motion for the Admission of Marcus Douglas' Testimony at the Trial of Charles Drum," in which the State asked the trial court to find that Thomas' and Marcus' prior testimony met the requirements for the new statutory residual hearsay exception contained in section 115-10.2 of the Code (725 ILCS 5/115-10.2 (West 1998)). In September 1998, the court conducted a hearing on the State's motions and denied them, finding that Thomas' and Marcus' testimony lacked sufficient trustworthiness to be admissible under section 115-10.2. The State filed a notice of appeal, and defendant has moved to dismiss this appeal.

II. APPELLATE JURISDICTION UNDER SUPREME COURT RULE 604(a)(1)

The State contends that we have jurisdiction pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1) (145 Ill.2d R. 604(a)(1)). We disagree and instead hold that when (1) the State files a motion in limine that seeks the admission of evidence and (2) the trial court enters a discretionary ruling— that is, a ruling that we would normally review deferentially—denying that motion, then (3) Rule 604(a)(1) does not confer jurisdiction on this court to hear an interlocutory appeal of that ruling. As the following discussion illustrates, the interplay between (a) the availability of interlocutory review under Rule 604(a)(1), (b) motions in limine, and (c) the nature and scope of deferential review compels our conclusion.

A. The Availability of Interlocutory Review under Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1)

The State's ability to appeal in a criminal case is restricted to those situations described in Rule 604(a)(1). People v. Truitt, 175 Ill.2d 148, 151, 221 Ill.Dec. 862, 676 N.E.2d 665, 667 (1997). That rule provides, in pertinent part, as follows: "In criminal cases the State may appeal only from an order or judgment the substantive effect of which results in * * * suppressing evidence." 145 Ill.2d R. 604(a)(1).

Originally, Rule 604(a)(1) conferred appellate jurisdiction to review only trial court orders suppressing illegally obtained evidence. See People v. Van De Rostyne, 63 Ill.2d 364, 366, 349 N.E.2d 16, 18 (1976). However, in 1980, the supreme court rejected that restrictive view of appellate jurisdiction, citing concerns that too many important legal questions were going unaddressed. People v. Young, 82 Ill.2d 234, 244-45, 412 N.E.2d 501, 506, 45 Ill.Dec. 150 (1980). The court explained its decision as follows:

"Although the need for interlocutory review may be the most pressing in regard to search-and-seizure and involuntary-confession cases, due to the frequency with which those cases arise and the need of law-enforcement agencies for reliable guidelines, similar considerations also indicate the value of allowing interlocutory review of orders suppressing otherwise probative and admissible evidence. In some instances when trial courts erroneously interpret constitutional or statutory provisions to require the suppression of evidence, those rulings will affect the development of police practices. [Citation.] More importantly and more frequently, however, erroneous exclusionary rulings frustrate the primary purpose of the trial: to ascertain the truth of the charges. Social policies embodied in statutory or constitutional provisions may justify encumbering the fact-ascertaining process, but the exclusion of otherwise probative and admissible evidence based solely upon an incorrect interpretation of those provisions serves neither the policy represented by the provision nor the public's interest in an accurate resolution of the factual questions involved in the litigation. Permitting such decisions to escape review encourages their proliferation and denies trial courts desirable guidance." (Emphasis added.) Young, 82 Ill.2d at 245-46, 45 Ill.Dec. 150, 412 N.E.2d at 506-07.

Young unequivocally struck down the restrictive rule previously in place under Van De Rostyne, but the supreme court did not have occasion in Young to discuss what limits, if any, remained on the State's ability to obtain interlocutory review. The emphasized passage above nevertheless suggests that the supreme court did not intend to create unlimited appellate jurisdiction to hear the State's interlocutory appeals from the sort of discretionary rulings that a trial court traditionally makes in determining whether evidence is "otherwise probative and admissible." Instead, the supreme court in Young focused on the need to review trial court rulings, whether pursuant to statute or constitutional provision, that exclude evidence for reasons other than its evidentiary value. In other words, a distinction exists between traditional, discretionary rulings relating to the evidentiary value of proffered evidence on one hand and suppression of evidence in the furtherance of some social policy on the other hand.

B. Motions In Limine

In People v. Owen, 299 Ill.App.3d 818, 822, 233 Ill.Dec. 900, 701 N.E.2d 1174, 1178 (1998), this court noted that although motions in limine are most frequently used to bar or limit evidence, they may also be used by the proponent of the evidence, such as the State in this case, to obtain a pretrial ruling that evidence will be admitted at the appropriate point in trial. Thus, although the State in this case styled its pretrial evidentiary motions as motions "for admission of * * * testimony," they clearly were motions in limine in both purpose and effect (see Black's Law Dictionary 1033 (7th ed.1999)).

Regardless of how they are used, motions in limine always ask a trial court to make a trial ruling outside the normal trial context. McMath v. Katholi, 304 Ill. App.3d 369, 376, 238 Ill.Dec. 474, 711 N.E.2d 1135, 1140 (1999); Owen, 299 Ill. App.3d at 822-24, 233 Ill.Dec. 900, 701 N.E.2d at 1177-79. A trial court considering a party's motion in limine therefore must rely upon counsel's representations or offers of proof to determine what the context for the evidentiary ruling will likely be at trial. Owen, 299 Ill.App.3d at 823, 233 Ill.Dec. 900, 701 N.E.2d at 1178. For that reason, a trial court has discretion not to address a motion in limine at all and may instead wait for the evidentiary issue to arise in the normal course of trial. Owen, 299 Ill.App.3d at 823, 233 Ill.Dec. 900, 701 N.E.2d at 1178. Conversely, when the court does address a motion in limine on the merits, its ruling is always subject to reconsideration during trial. Illinois State Toll Highway Authority v. Heritage Standard Bank & Trust Co., 163 Ill.2d 498, 502, 206 Ill.Dec. 644, 645 N.E.2d 896, 898 (1994); McMath, 304 Ill.App.3d at 375, 238 Ill.Dec. 474, 711 N.E.2d at 1140. In either case, the court's final ruling takes place at trial, not before.

(We recognize that in People v. Williams, 161 Ill.2d 1, 34, 204 Ill.Dec. 72, 641 N.E.2d 296, 310 (1994), our supreme court, relying on its earlier decision in People v. Spates, 77 Ill.2d 193, 198-200, 32 Ill.Dec. 333, 395 N.E.2d 563, 566 (1979), held that a defendant may rely upon a trial court's in limine ruling as final when the ruling denies the defendant's motion to exclude his prior convictions. However, those cases address a unique situation and their holdings do not affect the general character of in limine rulings. The court in Spates expressly limited its holding to "the precise facts presented [t]herein." Spates, 77 Ill.2d at 200, 32 Ill.Dec. 333, 395 N.E.2d at 566.)

When a trial court addresses a motion in limine that seeks to admit evidence rather than exclude it, events at trial may very well cause the court to reconsider its preliminary ruling. For example, even if the court grants a motion in limine to admit evidence, the proponent must still lay the proper foundation at trial or the evidence will not be admitted. If, on the other hand, the court denies the motion, the party opposing the evidence may nevertheless "open the door" at trial to its admission. Events at trial can also affect the court's initial understanding of the probative value of the evidence, the risk of unfair prejudice to the party opposing the evidence, or its trustworthiness. As the...