People v. Flores
| Decision Date | 29 January 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-05-0783.,No. 2-05-0778.,2-05-0778.,2-05-0783. |
| Citation | 862 N.E.2d 619,308 Ill.Dec. 686 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Augustin FLORES, Defendant-Appellee. The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Luis G. Flores, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Joseph E. Birkett, Du Page County State's Attorney, Wheaton, Martin P. Moltz, Deputy Director, Gregory L. Slovacek, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, for the People.
Maria Gloria Najera, Gailan & Najera, P.C., Addison, for Augustin Flores, Luis G. Flores.
The State appeals the judgment of the circuit court of Du Page County granting the motions of defendants Augustin Flores (case number 2-05-0778) and Luis Flores (case number 2-05-0783) to quash arrest and suppress evidence. We reverse and remand both cases.
Defendants were indicted for two counts of burglary (720 ILCS 5/19-1(a) (West 2004)) and one count of possession of burglary tools (720 ILCS 5/19-2 (West 2004)) in connection with two alleged car stereo thefts. Arguing that they had been placed under arrest without probable cause, defendants filed motions to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The trial court held a combined evidentiary hearing on the motions on April 20, 2005.
At the hearing on the motion, defendants called Officer Kenneth Lafin, an Elmhurst police officer, to testify first. He testified that, on January 23, 2004, at approximately 4:30 a.m., he was patrolling the area around an apartment complex on north York Road in an unmarked sport-utility vehicle when he saw a car drive through the apartment complex parking lot. He was patrolling the area because the police department was "having numerous reports of cars being broken into not only in that actual apartment complex but up and down York Road." The vehicle went to two sides of the parking lot, passed an entrance, but did not leave the parking lot.
Lafin took up surveillance of the car, which left the parking lot after circling it more than once and traveled south on York Road for "five or six blocks" before pulling into a gas station. After one of the occupants got out of the vehicle and appeared to put gas in the vehicle, the car left the gas station and continued south on York Road for approximately 1 or 1½ miles. The car then turned right and stopped "maybe a car length away from the curb more towards the center of the street for six or seven seconds with its lights off before eventually backing into a parking spot along the railroad tracks parallel to [a nearby] apartment complex." On cross-examination, Lafin clarified that before backing into the parking spot, the car turned its lights off while rolling to a stop in a driving lane on the road. Though there was nothing illegal about the car parking in the spot, Lafin noted on re-cross-examination that the car's driving on the roadway without headlights was a moving violation. Though he had a police radio in his sport-utility vehicle, Lafin had not received any reports of any stolen car stereos that night.
Lafin pulled his sport-utility vehicle in front of the car, up to "possibly the front quarter panel [or] maybe up to the front passenger's side tire," but he left enough room — "probably seven or eight feet" — so that the car would have been able to drive away if it had turned its wheels while pulling out of the parking spot. His unmarked sport-utility vehicle had a "red and blue LED light" for effectuating stops, but Lafin did not activate it at that time. Lafin, who was wearing his full police uniform, exited his sport-utility vehicle and approached the driver's side window of the car. During his testimony, he identified the driver of the car as defendant Augustin Flores and the passenger as defendant Luis Flores.
Lafin asked the driver for his license and, at that point, he noticed that "the back seat of the car * * * was folded down allowing access to the trunk." He could see "two car stereos with their wiring harnesses still coming out of the back of them lying on top of that folded down back seat." On cross-examination, Lafin stated that he did not see any boxes, instruction booklets, warranty cards, or other items that would normally accompany a car stereo purchased from a store.
After Augustin tendered his license, Lafin "had a conversation with him asking him why he was parked at this parking lot here at this time of the morning." Augustin told Lafin that he was waiting for a friend named Osvaldo who lived in the nearby apartment complex, but he was not sure of the exact address of his friend's apartment. He also told Lafin that he came from his home in Villa Park and had not made any stops between Villa Park and his parking spot. Lafin agreed that the car never actually stopped in the first parking lot, where Lafin's surveillance began. On cross-examination, Lafin agreed that both Augustin and Luis "kept putting [their] hands into [their] jacket pocket[s]," and he recalled that he had to tell defendants more than once to keep their hands out of their pockets.
After Augustin told Lafin that he had come directly from Villa Park, Lafin determined that Augustin had lied to him, and Lafin "asked him to exit the car so [he] could speak with him further." Lafin testified that "[he] said what [he] always say[s], [']why don't you do me a favor and come out of the car[?']" When he made his request, Augustin "continually kept reaching down towards his pockets as if he was trying to hide something." When Lafin repeated the request, Augustin "began to lean over the center console like he was either reaching for something or hiding something." During some point in his observation of Augustin, Lafin noticed "what [he] thought to be the end of a screwdriver." On cross-examination, Lafin recalled that he was able to see what he thought looked like a screwdriver handle in Augustin's pocket when Lafin asked him to exit the vehicle. Lafin noted in his testimony that the screwdriver could be used as a weapon.
Lafin then "ordered him to show * * * his hands and to exit his vehicle." Approximately 15 seconds elapsed between Lafin's initially asking Augustin to exit the vehicle and his ordering him to exit the vehicle. When he ordered Augustin out of the vehicle, Lafin was carrying a gun on his right hip, but he did not display it. When Augustin began to exit the car, Lafin called for backup "because of [Augustin's furtive] movements" and because he "had two subjects in the car and [he] was by [him]self." After a minute at the most, another police car arrived on the scene. Lafin asked Augustin to step to the rear of the car and place his hands on the trunk of the car. On cross-examination, Lafin stated that Augustin again started trying to put his hands in his pockets once he was out of the vehicle. He also recalled on cross-examination that the weather that night was cold.
At that point, Lafin "placed handcuffs on him and explained to him that his actions were being furtive and wanted to make sure he wasn't going for any weapons." Lafin "informed him that [he was] not under arrest[,] but for [Lafin's] safety," he placed him in handcuffs. Lafin did not recall if he placed Augustin in handcuffs just before or just after the second officer arrived. When the second officer arrived, Lafin apprised him of the situation and instructed him to attend to Luis, who was still seated in the passenger seat of the car. Lafin did not recall what happened to Luis, because his attention was focused on Augustin.
Lafin also did not recall if he placed the handcuffs on Augustin before or after "check[ing][him] for weapons," but Lafin did not find any weapons on Augustin's person. On cross-examination, Lafin testified that he asked Augustin where the screw driver was, and Augustin denied ever having a screwdriver. Lafin asked for and obtained permission to search the car, but his testimony implies that the search was not conducted until after more officers arrived on the scene.
"Immediately" or "a minute or two" after checking Augustin for weapons and placing him in handcuffs, Lafin used his police radio to ask nearby officers to check the area for evidence of cars that may have been broken into. After another "minute or two," Lafin was notified by other officers on his radio that they had located "a vehicle with a broken out window glass slide on the ground next to the door and it appeared to be a stereo was removed." Lafin received this report after standing with defendant handcuffed for "[f]our or five minutes."
After Lafin received the report of the apparently burglarized nearby car, a squad car arrived on the scene, and Lafin placed Augustin, who was still handcuffed, inside the squad car. Augustin was later taken to the police station. On cross-examination, Lafin stated that he did not tell Augustin that he was under arrest until after Lafin was informed of the apparent burglaries that night, and that, in fact, he informed Augustin that he was not under arrest, but was instead "being detained as part of a burglary investigation" when he was initially placed in the squad car. The entire encounter, from the time Lafin parked his car to the time Augustin was placed in the squad car, lasted "[s]even to ten minutes maybe."
Defendants next called Officer Kucera, an Elmhurst police officer, to testify. He testified that he responded to a call for assistance from Lafin at approximately 5:05 a.m. on January 23, 2004, while he was on patrol duty for the Elmhurst police department. When he arrived at the parking lot described in Lafin's testimony, two people were still in the car, and Lafin directed him to the passenger of the vehicle. Kucera opened the passenger-side door and asked the passenger, whom he identified at the hearing as Luis, to "step out right away" or "step out immediately," because Lafin told him that Luis had been putting his hand in his pocket....
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