People v. Garvin

• Decision Date: 30 June 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2-03-0162.,2-03-0162.
• Citation: 285 Ill.Dec. 953,812 N.E.2d 773,349 Ill.App.3d 845
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Raymond E. GARVIN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

812 N.E.2d 773

349 Ill.App.3d 845

285 Ill.Dec. 953

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Raymond E. GARVIN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-03-0162.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

June 30, 2004.

Rehearing Denied July 29, 2004.

G. Joseph Weller, Deputy Defender (Court-appointed), Office of the State Appellate Defender, Elgin, Michael J. Pelletier (Court-appointed), Office of the State Appellate Defender, Miriam Sierig, Assistant Appellate Defender (Court-appointed), Chicago, for Raymond E. Garvin.

Joseph E. Birkett, Du Page County State's Attorney, Wheaton, Martin P. Moltz, Deputy Director, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, Paul Benjamin Linton, Northbrook, for the People.

Justice GILLERAN JOHNSON delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a stipulated bench trial, the defendant, Raymond E. Garvin, was convicted of burglary (720 ILCS 5/19-1(a) (West 2000)) and theft (720 ILCS 5/16-1(a)(1)(A) (West 2000)) and sentenced to concurrent terms of 6½ years' imprisonment. Additionally, he was ordered to give a blood sample for genetic marker testing, pursuant to section 5-4-3 of the Unified Code of Corrections (Code of Corrections) (730 ILCS 5/5-4-3 (West 2002)). On appeal, the defendant argues that (1) the trial court erred in denying his pretrial motion to suppress evidence and (2) section 5-4-3 of the Code of Corrections is unconstitutional. We affirm.

On January 17, 2002, the defendant was charged by indictment with burglary, theft, and possession of burglary tools (720 ILCS 5/19-2(a) (West 2000)), in connection with an incident in which he was found in possession of a stolen van that contained $40,000 worth of stolen computer equipment. Specifically, count I, the burglary charge, alleged that the defendant had knowingly and without authority entered a semi-tractor trailer belonging to Emery Worldwide, with the intent to commit a theft. Count II, the theft charge, alleged that the defendant had stolen between $10,000 and $100,000 worth of computer equipment from Emery Worldwide. Count III, the possession of burglary tools charge, alleged that the defendant possessed tools such as bolt cutters, a pry bar, heavy-duty shears, and two-way radios, with the intent to commit a theft.

On March 22, 2002, the defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence resulting from his stop by police. On May 9, 2002, the trial court conducted a hearing on the motion to suppress. Officer Henninger (his first name is not revealed in the record) of the Franklin Park police department was the sole witness. Officer Henninger testified that at some time prior to 4:45 a.m. on December 29, 2001, he was on patrol, just west of Mannheim Road, when he received a message from dispatch that there was a complainant at the Amoco gas station on Mannheim Road. The complainant was reporting that there was a van in the Amoco parking lot with license plates that had been stolen off of his company van.

Officer Henninger proceeded to the Amoco parking lot. He observed a white van with a CompUSA logo on the side, facing north. Beside the van, facing south, was a white vehicle that Officer Henninger believed to be either a Ford Thunderbird or a Mercury Cougar. Officer Henninger spoke with the complainant, Gerhardt Roth. Roth pointed out the white CompUSA van. Roth stated that he had noticed the van and a white car, which had been following the van, near his company, T & T Express. Roth followed the van and the white car into the Amoco parking lot. Roth pointed out three men who were in the parking lot. According to Roth, all three men had been "in or around" the van. Officer Henninger identified in court the defendant and his two codefendants, Michael Bennett and Lewis Taylor, as the three men whom Roth had pointed out in the Amoco parking lot.

After talking with Roth, Officer Henninger ran the license plates on the van and confirmed that they had been stolen. Officer Henninger also ran the vehicle identification number on the van and learned that the van had been stolen. After determining that the plates and the van had been stolen, Officer Henninger spoke with two of the three men, although he could not recall which two. While he was speaking with the two men, Officer Henninger received a message that the Bensenville police department was looking for a white CompUSA van and a white Mercury Cougar that may have been involved in a theft from Emery Worldwide in Bensenville earlier that morning.

Officer Henninger determined that Taylor had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and arrested him. Officer Henninger also arrested the defendant and Bennett for possession of the stolen vehicle and plates.

On cross-examination, Officer Henninger admitted that two vehicles were towed from the Amoco parking lot, the white CompUSA van and a white Dodge Dynasty, which belonged to Taylor.

Following the hearing, the trial court denied the motion to suppress evidence obtained from the stop. The trial court reasoned that probable cause existed to arrest the defendant because all three men arrived at the gas station at the same time, knew each other, and had been in and around the stolen van.

On February 7, 2002, the trial court conducted a stipulated bench trial. Before the stipulated evidence was presented, the State agreed to nol-pros the possession of burglary tools charge. Subsequently, the State and the defendant agreed that Paul Coken, an employee of Emery Wordwide, would testify that at around 3:40 a.m., on December 29, 2001, he observed a white van with a CompUSA logo on the side and a white passenger vehicle leaving Emery Worldwide's loading dock area. The two vehicles had no business being in that area. A semi-tractor trailer near the loading dock was being used to store computer equipment. Coken notified police. Several hours later, when the defendant and the van were apprehended, Coken was called by police to identify the contents of the van. Coken identified several boxes of computer equipment that belonged to Emery Worldwide and had been in the semi-tractor trailer.

Several Franklin Park police officers would testify that they were dispatched to an Amoco gas station to investigate a case concerning a white Comp. USA van with stolen license plates. When they arrived at the gas station, they found the defendant, Bennett, and Taylor. Taylor was sitting in a white passenger vehicle. The defendant and Bennett were inside the gas station, buying lottery tickets. The police officers found the defendant's wallet and an article of Bennett's clothing inside the CompUSA van. The police officers also found COBRA hand-held, two-way radios in the van. The police officers found a matching radio in the white passenger car. After he was arrested, the defendant admitted to Franklin Park police that he was in the area of Emery Worldwide earlier that morning. Finally, Sergeant Hawkins of the Bensenville police department would testify that Emery Worldwide is located in Bensenville, which is in Du Page County, Illinois. She would further testify that after the defendant was arrested, he requested that his wallet be retrieved from the CompUSA van.

Following the stipulated testimony, the trial court found the defendant guilty of burglary and theft. The trial court sentenced the defendant to 6½ years' imprisonment for each offense, the sentences to run concurrently. It ordered the defendant to submit a blood sample for genetic marker testing pursuant to section 5-4-3 of the Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-4-3 (West 2002)). Following the denial of his posttrial motions, the defendant timely appealed.

The defendant's first argument on appeal is that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence from his stop. The defendant argues that the police lacked probable cause when they arrested him for possession of the stolen vehicle. He argues that incriminating statements that he made to the police subsequent to his arrest, such as asking for his wallet and admitting that he was in the area of Emery Worldwide, were "fruits of the poisonous tree."

Before addressing the merits of the defendant's argument, we must first establish the proper standard of review, on which the parties disagree. Generally, a ruling on a motion to suppress is subject to the manifest error standard of review. People v. Scott, 249 Ill.App.3d 597, 601, 189 Ill.Dec. 108, 619 N.E.2d 809 (1993). However, pursuant to Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996), when a motion to suppress turns on a question of reasonable suspicion or probable cause, a different standard of review applies. The Ornelas Court held that when an appellate court reviews a ruling on a motion to suppress involving a question of probable cause or reasonable suspicion, the reviewing court should review de novo the ultimate finding with respect to probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 699, 116 S.Ct. at 1663, 134 L.Ed.2d at 920. The Court cautioned, however, that findings of historical fact should be reviewed only for clear error and that reviewing courts must give due weight to inferences drawn from those facts by the fact finder. Ornelas, 517 U.S. at 699, 116 S.Ct. at 1663, 134 L.Ed.2d at 920. Because the parties agree on the facts of the case, we apply only the de novo standard of review.

In order to make a valid, warrantless arrest, a police officer must have probable cause to arrest. People v. Robinson, 167 Ill.2d 397, 405, 212 Ill.Dec. 675, 657 N.E.2d 1020 (1995). Probable cause exists when facts exist that would lead a reasonable person, standing in the shoes of the police officer, to conclude that a crime has been committed and that the defendant was the person who committed the crime. People v. Drake, 288 Ill.App.3d 963, 967, 225 Ill.Dec. 552, 683 N.E.2d 1215 (1997). The existence of probable cause depends upon the totality of the circumstances at the time of the arrest. People v. Scott, 249...