People v. Enis
| Decision Date | 29 September 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 72742,72742 |
| Citation | 645 N.E.2d 856,206 Ill.Dec. 604,163 Ill.2d 367 |
| Parties | , 206 Ill.Dec. 604 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Anthony ENIS, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, Springfield, and Steven Clark, Asst. Appellate Defender, Chicago, both of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, for appellant and Anthony Enis, of Pontiac, appellant, pro se.
Roland W. Burris, Atty. Gen., Springfield, and Michael J. Waller, State's Atty., Waukegan , for the People.
Based upon the evidence presented at trial, a jury in the circuit court of Lake County found defendant guilty of the murder of Merlinda Entrata that was committed on August 10, 1987, in Waukegan, Illinois. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court imposed the death sentence, which has been stayed pending direct review by this court . We affirm.
According to the evidence of record, Merlinda was the complainant in a criminal sexual assault charge that had been filed against the defendant for an incident that allegedly occurred on April 28, 1987, a few months before Merlinda was killed. Defendant entered a plea of not guilty to the charge. During the pendency of the criminal sexual assault proceeding, defendant was released on a personal recognizance bond. The case was originally set for trial on August 3, 1987, but was later continued to August 17 at the request of defense counsel.
Steven Simonian, an assistant State's Attorney who met Merlinda in preparing the criminal sexual assault case for trial, believed that Merlinda was willing to proceed to trial and to testify against the defendant. Merlinda did not tell Simonian, or her victim assistance counselor, Chris Bellios, that defendant made any effort to contact her while he was released on bond.
In early May, Merlinda changed apartments at the complex where she had been living. She also bought long, wooden poles to prop against the doors to the apartment, to prevent forced entry into the apartment. Merlinda's uncle, Zacarias Meana, helped Merlinda move into the new apartment, and helped her install the wooden poles as additional security measures in the new apartment.
Merlinda was employed as a nurse at the American International Hospital. Before April 28, the date on which Merlinda was allegedly sexually assaulted by defendant, Merlinda had been working the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift at the hospital. A few days after April 28, however, Merlinda requested that her shift be changed so that she would work from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. This request was granted by the hospital administration. Carmelita Mangubat, who was also a nurse at the hospital and knew Merlinda from their mutual employment there, saw Merlinda on Sunday, August 9, at a birthday party for one of the hospital nurses. Mangubat expected to see Merlinda the next morning at work, but Merlinda never appeared.
Melena Powell, who lived in Merlinda's apartment complex, was awake in her apartment in the early morning hours of August 10, 1987. Powell heard two pop sounds and then heard someone run down the hallway. She got out of bed and walked toward the main door to the apartment. When Powell was about to open the door, she heard a girl say "mama, mama, mama" and then heard pop sounds. Powell also heard a sound as if a body in the hallway was sliding against her door. Powell went to call the police. Before Powell was able to place the call, members of the police department arrived at the scene.
Patricia Secor, a dispatcher for the Waukegan police department, was working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift on August 10. At 6:46 a.m., she received a call of a shooting at the apartment complex. Both the ambulance and police were dispatched at 6:47 in the morning.
Steven Jones, a Waukegan police officer, heard and responded to Secor's dispatch call at 6:47 a.m. Jones arrived at the apartment complex at 6:49 in the morning. He went into the building, took the stairs up to the third floor, and found a young woman, later identified as Merlinda, slumped against a door in the interior apartment hallway. Jones checked her for vital signs, but she had no pulse. Jones notified communications of what he had found.
Officer Jones also took photographs and searched for fingerprints or other evidence of the crime. Jones found some bullet fragments near the victim's body. Later, the officer attended an autopsy that was performed on the victim. Jones saw that there was a total of five bullet wounds to the head. Some of the wounds had "stippling," which indicated the presence of unburned gunpowder and, in turn, that the gun had probably been fired from close range. Autopsy results established that Merlinda's death was caused by two of the gunshot wounds.
Officer Louis Rodriguez of the Waukegan police department was on patrol when the shooting occurred. He was called to the apartment complex to investigate and began to search for possible witnesses. During this investigation, he was given information regarding a white vehicle in the parking lot. Officer Rodriguez inspected the automobile and found the registration number. It belonged to the victim, Merlinda. He searched the area and found a key ring near the apartment building in which Merlinda's body was found. It was later determined that the key ring also belonged to Merlinda.
The record indicates that police learned the following from persons who were at the scene at the time of the shooting.
Clara Burk, who lived in Merlinda's apartment complex, saw a man in the parking area of the apartment complex at approximately 9:30 p.m. on August 8, two days before the shooting. At the time, Burk was driving through the parking area. A man suddenly stepped off the curb in front of her car. Burk braked to stop so she would not hit the man. He immediately stepped back up onto the curb. He looked directly at her and waited. She motioned for him to move on, and he walked in front of her car and across the street.
Burk stated that when the man stepped back onto the curb, he looked at her and she looked directly at him. Her car lights were on and there were two street lights on in the area. The man was approximately five feet nine inches tall. He was of medium build and had closely cropped black hair. He was wearing white sunglasses.
Two days later, on August 10, 1987, Burk was driving in the parking lot at approximately 6:40 to 6:45 in the morning. She slowed because of automobile and pedestrian traffic. She looked over and saw the same man who had stepped off the curb in front of her car two nights earlier. The man had a lunch box, or some type of box, in his hand.
Burk saw a woman walk out of the apartment building. The woman was wearing a white uniform. Burk noticed that the woman was looking in her purse as she was walking down the stairs, and Burk watched her for a little while because Burk thought she might fall and hurt herself. Burk saw the woman look up and noticed that a startled look came over the woman's face. The woman was looking straight ahead, in the direction of the man Burk recognized from the previous evening. The woman darted back into the apartment building, and the man ran after her. Burk heard two shots fired, and then heard one additional shot.
Burk was interviewed the following day by the Waukegan police department. She identified a photograph of the defendant, Anthony Enis, as the person she had seen on the evening of August 8 and on the morning of August 10. At that time, Burk did not give the officers any details regarding what she had seen. She explained to the officers that she was on her way to work and that she did not have time to give a statement. Burk gave the officers an address and contact number. A few days later, officers spoke to Burk at her place of employment. They showed Burk more photographs, and again Burk picked out a photo of the defendant. Burk also told the police what she had seen the evening of August 8, and what she had seen the morning of August 10.
Although Burk testified at defendant's trial that the man she saw was wearing sunglasses, she testified at a prior proceeding that she could not remember if the man was wearing sunglasses. Also, although she testified at defendant's trial that defendant had crossed in front of her vehicle when she saw him on the evening of August 8, police records indicated that Burk told the police that the man had passed behind her car, and that she had watched him in her rear-view mirror.
Dan Thacker, who lived in Merlinda's apartment complex, was in his bedroom getting ready for work at about 6:30 a.m. on August 10, 1987. Thacker looked out his window and saw a woman in white clothing running across the parking lot. Thacker went closer to the window to get a better look. He saw a man chasing the woman into one of the apartment buildings in the complex. Thacker stated the man was approximately 5 feet 10 to 5 feet 11 inches tall, with a "somewhat slender" build and a short haircut. The man was wearing white gloves, white sunglasses and dark clothing. He was carrying some kind of metal lunch box.
Thacker saw the man follow the woman into the building. A few minutes later, Thacker looked out the window again and saw the same man emerge from the building and walk across the parking lot. He was still wearing white gloves and white sunglasses and was still carrying the metal lunch box. Thacker looked at and watched the man as he walked in the parking lot. The man was walking in a direction toward Thacker, and he could see the front of the man's face and body, and a portion of his left profile.
Later, Thacker spoke to officers of the Waukegan police department. Thacker...
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...of the lineup procedures but instead was based on her observations at the time of the offenses. See People v. Enis, 163 Ill.2d 367, 398-99, 206 Ill.Dec. 604, 645 N.E.2d 856 (1994). Accordingly, invalidation of the lineup would not necessarily have resulted in the exclusion of Barnes' identi......
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