People v. Fox

Citation2021 IL App (4th) 190569 U
Decision Date18 October 2021
Docket Number4-19-0569
PartiesTHE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. JOSEPH FOX, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois

2021 IL App (4th) 190569-U

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JOSEPH FOX, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 4-19-0569

Court of Appeals of Illinois, Fourth District

October 18, 2021


This Order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Macon County No. 17CF969 Honorable Jeffrey S. Geisler, Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE DeARMOND delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Knecht and Justice Holder White concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

DEARMOND JUSTICE

¶ 1 Held: The appellate court affirmed defendant's conviction, finding a statement attributed to any one of the three codefendants and a text message from a codefendant were both admissible. Since there was no clear and obvious error, defense counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to otherwise admissible evidence.

¶ 2 In July 2017, the State charged defendant, Joseph Fox, with three counts of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2016)), as one of three individuals involved in the shooting death of Demesheo Lovelace. Each count of first degree murder alleged defendant committed the crime while armed with a firearm (730 ILCS 5/5-8-1(a)(1)(d)(i) (West 2016)).

¶ 3 In May 2019, a jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder but found the allegation he was armed with a firearm not proven. Defendant's motion for a new trial or for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict-filed in June 2019-was denied, and defendant

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proceeded to a sentencing hearing. The trial court sentenced defendant to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC).

¶ 4 On appeal, defendant argues he was denied both his right to confront witnesses and right to a fair trial when the State elicited statements of nontestifying codefendants implicating defendant in the murder. Defendant also claims defense counsel was ineffective for failing to object to those statements. We affirm.

¶ 5 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 6 In May 2019, defendant and codefendant, Darelle Fox (defendant's brother), were tried jointly by agreement of the parties. The third defendant, Shawn Eubanks, who was tried separately, is not part of these proceedings. The State called the normal parade of police, civilian, and expert witnesses to establish the death of Demesheo Lovelace; observations of the shooting; identification of defendant; and the specifics of the crime scene; as well as to lay the foundation for the admission of relevant crime scene photos and evidence. Forensic pathologist Scott Denton stated he found approximately 10 gunshot wounds on different areas of Lovelace's body. Three of the gunshot wounds were to Lovelace's head, two of which penetrated the skull and by themselves would have been fatal.

¶ 7 Ashley Wheeler testified about her dating relationship with Lovelace and the fact that they had a one-year-old child together at the time he was killed. Wheeler testified that, at approximately 4:30 p.m. on July 2, 2017, she and Lovelace were at her home with two other people when she saw Lovelace exit the front door. Wheeler then heard "a lot of gunshots." After someone opened the door, Wheeler saw codefendant Fox outside her house wearing a baseball cap, chasing Lovelace while shooting at him. Wheeler testified she saw Fox running after Lovelace in the same direction where Lovelace's body was found. On cross-examination,

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Wheeler stated Lovelace was "running for his life." She would later pick Fox out of a lineup as the person she saw chase and shoot at Lovelace. She was able to identify Fox because she had known him" [f]or some years," and he previously dated her aunt. Wheeler also testified she saw a dark blue van parked in front of her home, and she identified her cousin, codefendant Eubanks, in the back of the van with the sliding side door open shooting towards her car that was parked in front of her house. Wheeler further identified defendant as the driver, with whom she was familiar since they went to high school together. At the scene, Wheeler identified all three defendants to the responding officers as having been involved in the shooting of Lovelace. She later picked defendant out of a photo lineup and said she was a "thousand" percent certain he was the one driving the van.

¶ 8 Iesha Ballard, the 18-year-old cousin of defendant and codefendant Fox, testified she was at her uncle's house one week after the murder, where all three defendants were present. Ballard further testified as police officers approached the house, she heard one of the three defendants say, "they got us," but she was unable to identify which one made the statement.

¶ 9 The State presented evidence connecting a .40-caliber handgun found at the residence of Fox's fiancée with shell casings found near Lovelace's body. Stephanie Babb, Fox's fiancée at the time, testified pursuant to a grant of immunity from the State. Babb testified she found all three defendants at her residence after the shooting took place. She also observed two handguns and stated all three were acting strangely (listening to police scanners, watching the news, and pacing back and forth). Codefendants Fox and Eubanks took showers, and Fox asked Babb to buy lighter fluid, put their clothes and shoes into bags, and burn them, which she did. Upon orders from Fox, Babb drove the van to a nature preserve park, where another man, whom

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she knew only as "Black," set the van on fire. Babb identified all three defendants out of a photo lineup and said that on the day defendants were arrested," [Fox] texted me and said it was over."

¶ 10 The State then called Detective David Dailey with the Decatur Police Department. Detective Dailey described his experience and training in the acquisition and analysis of cell phone records in order to obtain location data from cell phone companies. Detective Dailey testified about the location of each of defendants' phones before and after the murder, and Babb's cell phone location following the murder.

¶ 11 Defendant elected not to testify. The jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder but found...

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