People v. Edwards
Decision Date | 19 February 1993 |
Docket Number | 1-90-3402,Nos. 1-90-3345,s. 1-90-3345 |
Citation | 183 Ill.Dec. 548,243 Ill.App.3d 280,611 N.E.2d 1196 |
Parties | , 183 Ill.Dec. 548 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Otis EDWARDS, Defendant-Appellant. |
Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James J. Cutrone, Chicago, for defendant-appellant.
Jack O'Malley, State's Atty. of Cook County, (Renee Goldfarb, James E. Fitzgerald and Andrew R. Dalkin, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.
Defendant Otis Edwards, as well as codefendants Lennon Hayes and Rodney Wilson, was charged by way of indictment with first-degree murder, conspiracy, attempted armed robbery, and armed violence. Defendant alone was charged with the offense of solicitation. On October 20, 1990, following a bench trial, defendant was acquitted of all offenses except solicitation. Codefendant Hayes was acquitted of all charges, and Rodney Wilson was convicted of second-degree murder. Defendant now appeals his conviction for solicitation alleging lack of probable cause for the grand jury to indict, insufficiency of the evidence to convict, constructive amendment of the indictment, and violation of collateral estoppel and double jeopardy principles (based on the simultaneous acquittal of conspiracy and conviction of solicitation). For the reasons which follow we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
The evidence adduced at trial established that shortly after 1 a.m. on July 10, 1989, Larry Henderson (L.C.) was shot and killed in the hallway of his apartment building located at 4159 West Jackson Boulevard in Chicago. The occurrence witnesses whose trial testimony was relevant to charges against defendant Otis Edwards (O.T.) include Timothy Washington, Kenneth Wells, and Mose Hollins. Washington testified that on July 10, 1989, at approximately 1 a.m., he and several friends including the victim were seated on the front steps of a building located at 4159 West Jackson. Four people approached the fence enclosing the front yard: Lennon Hayes (nicknamed Lenny Pooh), Rodney Wilson (nicknamed Wookie), Mose Hollins and a fourth unidentified individual. Wilson, Hollins, and Hayes entered the yard and Washington stood up giving Wilson his seat next to Henderson. Wilson whispered something to Henderson who stood up and walked to the apartment building. Subsequently, Wilson fired two shots striking Henderson in the back and killing him.
In addition to the above sequence of events, Washington also testified that prior to the shooting, he heard Henderson ask, "Is that O.T.'s car?" At this point Washington stated that he saw defendant's black Lincoln Town car. However, on cross-examination Washington admitted that what he had seen was "an ordinary black Lincoln," and that while he knew that defendant had a black Lincoln, he did not know the license number of that specific car. Furthermore, he could not see who was actually driving the automobile at issue.
Kenneth Wells also testified that he was present in the front yard of the apartment building at 4159 West Jackson on July 10, 1989, at approximately 1 a.m. Like Washington, he observed Wilson, Hollins, and Hayes enter the yard and Wilson walk up and sit next to Henderson. He saw Wilson whisper something in Henderson's ear and heard Henderson say "that's O.T.'s car." Wells further testified that he then observed defendant's black Lincoln at the bus stop. However, on cross-examination Wells admitted that he could not say for sure that it was defendant's car, as he did not know defendant's license number, did not notice the license number of the car, and did not see the driver. Wells confirmed Washington's account of the shooting which ensued.
Mose Hollins also testified at trial. While he admitted being at the 4159 West Jackson building at approximately 1 a.m. on July 10, 1989, he denied seeing defendant at that time. (Hollins did admit, however, that defendant had been at that location earlier in the evening (around 9 or 10 p.m.) looking for his daughter.) Hollins was then impeached with both his written pretrial statement and his testimony before the grand jury. In his written statement, Hollins acknowledged that just about 12:20 a.m., defendant had pulled up to the bus stop right in front of the apartment building at 4159 West Jackson. At this time, Lennon Hayes got in the car with defendant and drove off. They came back about 15 minutes later. At this point, Hayes called Wilson over to the car. Wilson leaned into the car and talked to defendant. After defendant was done talking, Hayes and Wilson walked over to where Henderson was seated on the front steps. The shooting then occurred in the manner described by the previous two witnesses. Hollins' grand jury testimony was identical to his written statement.
Defendant also gave a written statement of the events which occurred on July 10, 1989. In his statement, he admitted that at 12:30 a.m. he saw Lennon Hayes and that Hayes got into his car and they began to drive around. As they drove, Hayes and defendant were talking about more money for Hayes, who made a living selling dope for defendant. They saw Henderson outside the 4159 building and then drove to the "spot" (a dope house at 4129 West Jackson) where they saw Wilson. Defendant told Hayes to call Wilson over to the car. When Wilson came, defendant said: "You go get your money from him [Larry Henderson] and you do the same thing to him as he did to you." (Defendant explained that he meant that Wilson, Hayes, and Hollins should go and rob Henderson and rough him up the way Henderson had previously done to Wilson.) After this, Hayes got out of the car and with Wilson, walked back to the house where Henderson was sitting. Defendant then pulled around to the bus stop because he wanted Henderson to see him and to know that Wilson was his worker, and "not to mess with him anymore." Shortly thereafter, Wilson ran out of the yard and said, "I killed him."
The trial judge considered the substance of defendant's confession along with the testimonies of Washington, Wells, and Hollins. Based on this evidence he found defendant guilty of solicitation to commit robbery, and sentenced him to four years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his pretrial motion to dismiss the indictment, as it was the prosecutor, and not the grand jury who found probable cause to believe that defendant committed the offense of solicitation. In support of this theory, defendant argues that the grand jury heard no evidence that would support the return of the indictment charging defendant with offense of solicitation. The evidence heard by the grand jury in this regard consisted solely of the testimony of Detective James Capesius, which consisted of the following questions and answers:
"Q. You were assigned to investigate the alleged first degree murder, attempt armed robbery, armed violence, solicitation to commit murder committed by OTIS EDWARDS, LENNON HAYES and RODNEY WILSON against Larry Henderson on or about July 10, 1989.
A. I was.
Q. Did your investigation show Larry Henderson was alive prior to 0112 hours on July 10, 1989?
A. Yes, it did.
Q. Did your investigation show Larry Henderson was in the area of 4159 West Jackson in Chicago, Cook County at the time?
A. Yes. It did.
Q. And were defendants Otis Edwards, Lennon Hayes and Rodney Wilson also present at that time?
A. They were.
* * * * * *
Q. Did your investigation also show that one of the codefendants ordered the other two codefendants to rob the victim, Larry Henderson?
A. That's correct.
Q. Did your investigation show that defendants--did your investigation show that one of the codefendants ordered the other codefendant to rob the victim at gunpoint?
A. That's correct."
On appeal, defendant maintains that based on the above testimony, no rational person could have concluded that it was he as opposed to Wilson or Hayes who committed the offense of solicitation. Illinois case law provides that "an indictment will not be quashed unless all the witnesses were incompetent or all the testimony upon which it was found was incompetent." (People v. Jones (1960), 19 Ill.2d 37, 41, 166 N.E.2d 1, 3.) The Jones court further defines incompetent testimony as testimony given by a witness disqualified by law (such as one disqualified because of complete mental derangement). The testimony at bar was certainly not disqualified by law, and therefore not incompetent. Furthermore, the Illinois Supreme Court has indicated that where there is some evidence in support of the criminal conduct charged, that the court would decline to inquire into the adequacy of that evidence. (people v. rodgers (1982), 92 ill.2d 283, 288, 65 ill.dec. 929, 932, 442 N.E.2d 240, 243, citing People v. Whitlow (1982), 89 Ill.2d 322, 60 Ill.Dec. 587, 433 N.E.2d 629; see also People v. Shaw (1985), 133 Ill.App.3d 391, 400, 88 Ill.Dec. 534, 542, 478 N.E.2d 1142, 1150, in which the appellate court found the standard established in Rodgers had been met because the evidence submitted to the grand jury did "tend to connect" the defendant to the theft at issue.) This evidence which connects may be any direct or circumstantial evidence from which an inference of criminal conduct can be derived. (rodgers, 92 ill.2D 283, 290, 65 ill.dec. 929, 934, 442 N.E.2d 240, 245.) Based on the evidentiary standard thus enunciated by Illinois courts, we find that the testimony presented to the grand jury was "some evidence" which "tended to connect" defendant to the criminal offense charged. The grand jury did not err in returning a true bill and the trial judge correctly refused to dismiss the indictment.
Defendant further contends that the evidence submitted by the State (namely, defendant's confession and the corroborating testimonies of Washington, Wells, and Hollins) is...
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