People v. Halmon

• Decision Date: 07 February 1992
• Docket Number: No. 1-87-2423,1-87-2423
• Citation: 225 Ill.App.3d 259,167 Ill.Dec. 567,587 N.E.2d 1182
• Parties: , 167 Ill.Dec. 567 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Fred HALMON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1182

587 N.E.2d 1182

225 Ill.App.3d 259, 167 Ill.Dec. 567

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Fred HALMON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-87-2423.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Fifth Division.

Feb. 7, 1992.

Rita A. Fry, First Asst. Public Defender, Evelyn Baniewicz, Asst. Public Defender, Chicago, for defendant-appellant.

Jack O'Malley, State's Atty., Chicago, for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice MURRAY delivered the opinion of the court:

Fred Halmon (Halmon), defendant, was charged, along with codefendants Leroy Mitchell and Ruben Young, with three counts of murder and attempted armed robbery in connection with the death of Joyce Partridge (Partridge), three counts of feticide in connection with the death of her unborn fetus, and the attempted murder and attempted robbery of Eugene Anderson. The defendants were tried separately after motions for severance were granted.

Following a trial before a jury, Halmon was found guilty of all charges. The trial court sentenced him to concurrent terms in the Illinois Department of Corrections of 80 years on the offense of murder, 20 years on attempted murder, 20 years on feticide, and 15 years on attempted armed robbery.

Halmon raises nine points in his appeal.

(1) Whether the trial court erred in denying the motions to quash arrest and suppress evidence where the State failed to prove that the police officers had probable cause to arrest Halmon at the time he was detained for custodial interrogation;

(2) Whether in basing his denial of the motions to suppress on matters outside the record, the trial court denied Halmon due process of law;

(3) Whether Halmon was proven guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt;

(4) Whether Halmon's conviction for feticide must be reversed where the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had knowledge of Partridge's pregnancy;

(5) Whether the jury instructions on feticide improperly allowed the jury to use "transferred intent" to satisfy the elements of the offense;

(6) Whether Halmon's conviction for attempted murder must be reversed because the State failed to prove that he had the requisite intent to kill Eugene Anderson;

(7) Whether Halmon's conviction for attempted armed robbery must be reversed where the State produced no evidence apart from his statement which corroborated that statement with regard to the attempted armed robbery;

(8) Whether Halmon should be granted a new sentencing hearing where his 80-year sentence for murder was based on the trial court's erroneous belief that Halmon was eligible for a sentence of life imprisonment; and

(9) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing Halmon to the maximum extended term of 80 years for murder.

FACTS

The evidence indicates on September 11, 1983, Eugene Anderson picked up his friend Joyce Partridge. After going out to pick up some food, Anderson and Partridge sat in Anderson's car and talked. Joyce was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Anderson's car was parked on the west side of Millard. Anderson noticed three young men pass by, walking north on Millard. The men stood about a half a block away and talked for some time. They then walked back south on Millard and out of sight.

Approximately 15 minutes later, while Anderson and Partridge were still in the car, Anderson heard a noise, like something hit the window. He saw a young man standing just off the curb with a baseball bat in his hand. This person hit the front of the window near the windshield. Anderson saw this person reach for the car door; he locked the door. The window was hit again, but did not break. The man carrying the bat was wearing a ski mask that covered his face, with the eyes out.

Anderson saw a second man standing on the sidewalk near the fence. This man was in regular clothing. He was not wearing a ski mask.

After Anderson tried to start the car, he heard shots and glass breaking. He pulled away in the car. He asked Partridge if she was okay and did not receive an answer. He looked over, saw blood on the side of her face and drove to the hospital.

Partridge and her unborn fetus were pronounced dead at the hospital at approximately 4 a.m. on September 11, 1983.

Anderson returned to the scene of the incident with the police. At the scene, Officer Keane observed broken glass near the curb and on the street. The officer also found two .22 caliber brass casings on the sidewalk in front of 1444 South Millard.

Later that day, Anderson gave the police a description of the assailants' clothing. One of the individuals had on a light brown T-shirt. Anderson also told the police he thought he had seen one of the assailants reach into his waistband and pull out a handgun before the shots were fired, however, he denied this comment at trial.

In October 1985 Detectives Switski and Vucko conducted a lineup for Eugene Anderson. The five people in the lineup included Halmon, Leroy Mitchell and Ruben Young. Anderson was unable to identify anyone in the lineup.

Detectives Switski, O'Conner and Vucko testified at trial in a manner consistent with their testimony at the pretrial motions. That testimony and any discrepancies are discussed subsequently in this opinion.

At approximately 10:15 p.m. on October 3, 1985, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Kelly took a court-reported statement from Halmon. After the statement was transcribed, the assistant State's Attorney reviewed the statement with Halmon and allowed him to make corrections. At trial, at the completion of Assistant State's Attorney Kelly's testimony, the court-reported statement taken from Halmon was admitted into evidence and published to the jury.

Dr. Stein, the chief medical examiner for Cook County, performed autopsies on Joyce Partridge and her unborn fetus. In his opinion, Joyce Partridge died as a result of a bullet wound to the left side of the head which involved the brain and the fetus died for a lack of oxygen as a result of the death of the mother.

The jury found Halmon guilty of murder, feticide, attempted murder and attempted armed robbery.

Following return of the verdict, a two-stage death penalty hearing was held. The jury determined that Halmon should not be sentenced to death. The trial court sentenced Halmon to concurrent terms of incarceration of 80 years for murder, 20 years for attempted murder, 20 years for feticide, and 15 years for attempted armed robbery.

MOTION TO QUASH ARREST

Prior to trial Halmon moved to quash his arrest and suppress his statements on the ground that the police officers who arrested him did so without a valid arrest warrant and without probable cause to believe he had committed a crime. The codefendants also raised the lack of probable cause at the time of their arrests and a joint hearing was held on all three defendants' motions.

Patty Kelly testified on behalf of the State. In August and September of 1985 she was the program coordinator of the Chicago Crime Commission to Report Crime Hotline. The hotline is a 24-hour telephone line, which is answered in person or by an answering machine. The information from the answering machine is recorded into a notebook, and then the tape is erased.

The Crime Commission received three anonymous calls regarding Freddy, Leroy and "Maine" or "Black Maine." The first call came into the Crime Commission on August 26, 1985, and was answered by the answering machine. The caller said a pregnant woman was stabbed and killed on a stairway. The suspects were brothers, named Freddy and Leroy Harvey, who lived with their mother at 1433 South Millard. They were both wearing ski masks.

Miss Kelly called the police at Area Four and gave them the information the Crime Commission received. She was told there was insufficient information for the police to act.

The second phone call came in on September 23, 1985; this call was also answered by machine. This message concerned a lady being shot, and gave 1433 South Millard, first floor, as the suspect's address. The police were not contacted after this call.

The third call was on September 25, 1985. Miss Kelly answered the call. She was given three physical descriptions. "Freddy" was described as: "Black male, dark complected, five foot, 140 pounds, husky build, curls, some facial hair, early 20's." The caller gave the suspect's address as first floor, maroon and white building, 1433 Millard, and the date of the incident as October 12, 1983.

Miss Kelly described the caller as male, younger and black. She was never given a name. The caller did not identify who told him what and did not say when he received this information. He said he overheard or was given the information directly by these three individuals.

After the last call, Miss Kelly put the notes of the three calls together and forwarded the information to Detective McCarthy at Area Four violent crimes. She submitted the information as the chain of events occurred and included the discrepancies between the various calls. She was told that the police would look for three gang members that fit the description.

On September 30, 1985, Officer Thomas McCarthy, assigned to Area Four Violent Crimes, was contacted by Patty Kelly of the Chicago Crime Commission. She gave him some information about a shooting which involved a female victim. The crime occurred in September or October of 1985 [1983], in the area of 15th and Millard, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. She gave him the general descriptions of three people, the names Freddy, Leroy and Black Maine and an address of 1433 South Millard. Ms. Kelly would not divulge the source of this information or how that person knew the information she relayed to the police.

Officer McCarthy then reviewed the homicide data sheets looking for a case with the same basic facts. He found the Joyce Partridge homicide case. The original case reports in the file indicated there were only two offenders. After reviewing the file, he gave his notes and...