People v. Evans
| Citation | 859 N.E.2d 642,307 Ill.Dec. 353 |
| Decision Date | 15 December 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 4-05-0155.,4-05-0155. |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Terry G. EVANS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
In a December 2004 jury trial, defendant, Terry G. Evans, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Carla Casey. At trial, each side put forth different theories on the manner of Casey's death and whether defendant was responsible. Two important facts were undisputed at trial: (1) according to the autopsy report, Casey died from blunt-force trauma to the brain, and (2) Casey fell from defendant's moving pickup truck. The State alleged defendant stamped Casey to death after she was dragged by his truck. Defendant claimed the victim was dragged and then accidentally run over by the truck causing her death. The jury accepted the State's theory and returned a guilty verdict. After considering the evidence, relevant factors in mitigation and aggravation, and the parties' recommendations, the court sentenced defendant to 35 years in prison.
Defendant appeals, claiming (1) the trial court erred in admitting the State's expert witness's testimony concerning his bloodstain-pattern analysis, (2) the State failed to prove defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, (3) the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on aggravated reckless homicide, (4) the trial court erred in denying defendant a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence, and (4) his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to tender lesser-included-offense instructions. We affirm.
On September 18, 2002, defendant was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for killing Casey on September 8, 2002, by inflicting broad-surface, blunt-force trauma on her (1) causing her death, (2) knowing the act would cause her death, or (3) knowing the act created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm to her.
Defendant's jury trial continued over the course of five days, beginning on December 14, 2004. We summarize only testimony that is relevant to our disposition. On September 8, 2002, before 7 a.m., a man on his way to work discovered Casey lying in a gravel driveway approximately 15 feet from a white concrete-block commercial building. She was naked from her waist down and moaning. She later died at the hospital. Police found a significant pool of blood in the grass and a large bloodstain at the base of the building near where Casey was found. There was a small amount of blood, which appeared to be handprints or wiping marks, above the large stain on the wall.
Dr. Travis Lee Hindman, a forensic pathologist, testified that on September 9, 2002, he performed an autopsy on Casey. Dr. Hindman found a large amount of blood underneath her scalp. There was a large amount of "tearing loose or avulsion of the scalp from the surface of the skull." This injury would have been caused by a broad-surface blunt trauma associated with sliding of the skin. Casey had two hemorrhages underneath the eyelids of both eyes. She had a reddening of the skin indicative of broad-surface trauma on the right side of her face. Casey also had several cuts on her face produced by a relatively sharp object. She had a "slight pattern" on her right cheek extending down to her chin.
Dr. Hindman testified that Casey had skin redness on the left side of her face and below her lip. Casey had a large amount of debris in her hair, such as leaves, dirt, and concrete powder. Dr. Hindman described the bruising on Casey's torso and shoulders. Casey also had a number of small contusions on the right side of her leg. She had a "massive laceration" produced by crushing or tearing of the skin at the fold of the elbow on the front side. She had bruises on the back of her hand. Casey had several areas of "large brush burn" or road rash on her left hip, right hip, and left outer thigh. These areas of injury appeared to be made from a sliding motion. Casey also had a linear bruise extending across her lower back. Extending from her left knee and below, Casey suffered from an additional "broad surface application of blunt force." Dr. Hindman, however, did not see any indication of a sliding component to that injury.
Dr. Hindman testified that a number of Casey's upper teeth were partially dislocated with the front teeth broken out. Dr. Hindman ordered an X-ray that revealed her left hip was dislocated. Casey had also suffered severe trauma to her head caused by broad-surface blunt impact. She had fractures of ribs on both sides of her chest. She had fractured and dislocated vertebrae. Dr. Hindman testified that the injuries to her head and face were consistent with being kicked by a shoe. Most of the right shoulder strap of Casey's brassiere was missing.
Dr. Hindman testified that toxicology tests revealed a presence of alcohol in Casey's system (.04%), a trace amount of cocaine, and a metabolite of cocaine and alcohol. Cocaine was found in both sides of Casey's nasal cavity. Based upon a reasonable degree of medical certainty, Dr. Hindman opined that Casey died from "trauma of the brain due to blunt[-] force trauma to the head." Also contributing to the cause of death was the magnitude of the fracture dislocation of her vertebral column.
On cross-examination, Dr. Hindman testified that the broad-surface impact below the knee caused the dislocation of the hip. He testified that the hemorrhages in the eyelids were most likely caused by trauma to the head, rather than to the face. He said the incised marks above Casey's eye were caused by a sharp object like metal, plastic, or glass. Casey's left ear was torn where it had been pierced. Dr. Hindman said the brush burn areas also had a pattern-type injury. Defendant's counsel asked Dr. Hindman if the pattern-type injuries could have been caused by a tire going over the area. Dr. Hindman said the pattern was atypical of any tire pattern he had ever seen.
According to other witnesses at trial, defendant and his wife (Frieda Evans) went out drinking on September 7, 2002, with defendant's sister (Sherry Powell), Sherry's ex-boyfriend (Clint Clark), and a man known only as Juan. They patronized several taverns until the taverns closed at 2:30 a.m. Frieda had left the group several minutes earlier because she and defendant had gotten into an argument. After making sure Frieda made it home safely, defendant continued drinking with the remaining three at Clark's house. As the group sat outside drinking, they saw a woman, later identified as Casey, walking down the street alone. Clark hollered at Casey and invited her to their party. Casey joined the group. According to Clark, Casey was "friendly and everybody seemed to be getting along." Casey asked defendant for a ride. He obliged, and the two, along with Juan, left Clark's residence in defendant's truck reportedly to purchase drugs. All three returned 15 to 20 minutes later.
Sherry testified that when they returned, defendant asked if he could use her van to smoke the crack cocaine they had just purchased. Sherry refused, so defendant and Casey used defendant's truck. At approximately 4 a.m., Juan, Casey, and defendant left in defendant's truck. Sherry and Clark went to sleep.
On September 10, 2002, Clark and Sherry saw a picture of Casey on television. They then purchased a copy of the newspaper "to find out exactly what happened." They learned in the newspaper that Casey was dead. Clark and Sherry went to defendant's house to "see if he'[d] seen the paper" since he was the last person seen with Casey. Clark said defendant's hand was "bruised[,] like he had been in a fight or something." Sherry showed defendant the newspaper. After defendant read the newspaper, he told Clark he Defendant told Clark and Sherry that he had gotten into an altercation with "some guys" who had "came and drug [Casey] out, dragged her into a little truck or something and he got in a fight with one of the guys." He said the last time he saw Casey, she was with the man by the small pickup truck.
Michael Kyrouac, a crime-scene investigator with the Illinois State Police, testified about the evidence he found inside outside, and on the underside of defendant's truck. He examined the truck on September 11, 2002. He found blood on the driver's side seat just inside the door, the driver's floor mat, the back of the front seat, inside of the rear window, and the passenger side of the front axle. Officer Kyrouac found what appeared to be "swipe marks" on several areas of the truck's undercarriage, or areas that appeared to have made contact with something. He did not find any evidence that a human body or anything else had passed under the rear portion of the vehicle, only the front.
David Carter, a crime-scene investigator field supervisor with the Illinois State Police, was voir dired as an expert in bloodstain-pattern analysis. Carter explained his discipline as the application of physics and mathematics to bloodstains in order to determine their source and origin. The prosecutor asked Carter if it was new or novel within the scientific community to use physics or mathematics to analyze bloodstains. Carter said no. He said "[a]lmost all major law[-]enforcement agencies use bloodstain[-]pattern analysis." The practice has been around for at least 50 years and was "generally accepted in [the] relevant scientific community of criminalysis." He said he had been declared an expert in this field six times by judges in Illinois courts. Carter explained the type of training he had received, the extent of the continuing education courses he had attended on the discipline, and the number of periodicals and articles he had read educating himself.
After voir dire, the trial court heard arguments on defendant's ...
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