People v. Holliday
| Decision Date | 03 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | NO. 5-16-0547,5-16-0547 |
| Citation | 2020 IL App (5th) 160547,148 N.E.3d 173,439 Ill.Dec. 433 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Darius HOLLIDAY, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Ellen J. Curry, and Lawrence J. O'Neill, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Mt. Vernon, for appellant.
Bill J. Milner, State's Attorney, of Salem (Patrick Delfino, Patrick D. Daly, and Sharon Shanahan, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 The defendant was convicted by a jury of two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm and sentenced to two concurrent terms of 30 years in prison, with 3 years of mandatory supervised release. On appeal, the defendant challenges his conviction, claiming that the circuit court abused its discretion in denying his motion to discharge the jury, that photographs admitted into evidence were not properly authenticated by the State, and that the State improperly used a prior consistent statement of a complaining witness to bolster his credibility. For the following reasons, we affirm.
¶ 3 On June 8, 2016, the State charged the defendant, by information, with one count of aggravated battery in that the defendant, in committing a battery in violation of section 12-3(a)(1) of the Criminal Code of 2012 (Criminal Code) ( 720 ILCS 5/12-3(a)(1) (West 2016)), knowingly caused bodily harm to Devale L. Johnson by discharging a firearm and caused injury to Johnson, in that bullets fired by the defendant struck Johnson in the leg and buttocks, in violation of section 12-3.05(e)(1) of the Criminal Code (id. § 12-3.05(e)(1)). The information further charged the defendant with one count of aggravated battery in that the defendant, in committing a battery in violation of section 12-3(a)(1) of the Criminal Code ( id. § 12-3(a)(1) ), knowingly caused bodily harm to Juan R. Hayes by discharging a firearm and caused injury to Hayes, in that a bullet fired by the defendant struck Hayes in the leg, in violation of section 12-3.05(e)(1) of the Criminal Code (id. § 12-3.05(e)(1)).
¶ 4 On October 4, 2016, before trial, the parties filed a stipulation of evidence in reference to, inter alia , an exhibit containing three Facebook photographs. The stipulation provided as follows:
¶ 5 A jury trial was conducted on October 5 and 6, 2016. During voir dire , the circuit court held an in-chambers conference with counsel, the defendant, and Officer Peebles from the Centralia Police Department. There, Officer Peebles indicated that he was aware of a telephone call originating from the Marion County jail. The call was made by the defendant to an individual named Therion, with whom Peebles was familiar because he had "arrested him several times." Peebles testified that the telephone call was recorded. During the telephone call, the defendant indicated that he was "worried about nothing but the guy who put him * * * there." Therion told the defendant, "Don't worry, man, because I'm trying to * * * get it taken care of right now." Peebles informed the circuit court that the call invoked concern that "he was going to try to in some way intimidate the victim in the case."
¶ 6 The circuit court advised that Detective Decker reported inappropriate behavior at the courthouse that day by individuals who were removed from courthouse property. Peebles responded that said events transpired downstairs. He reported that while Devale Johnson—one of the alleged victims in the case—was entering, Therion and another individual named Javonte Simms were there and, instead of walking around Devale, "tried to walk through him in a way to intimidate him." Peebles added that Therion and Simms were required to leave, as it was "clearly a tactic to try to intimidate Mr. Johnson."
¶ 7 The state's attorney indicated that, when questioned about the situation, Devale Johnson reported that "there was slight contact, but nothing * * * major." The state's attorney further reported that Detective Uhls also witnessed the event and reported that one of the individuals seemed to whisper something in Devale's ear before being pulled away by officers. Officer Peebles added that the events transpired just as the witnesses were arriving at the courthouse. When asked if there were any potential jurors present during the incident, Peebles responded, "I'm thinking court was going on, but I can't guarantee it." The state's attorney indicated that "it appeared all prospective jurors were still inside being questioned[,] [s]o I don't think anyone would have been downstairs." The assistant state's attorney interjected, however, that she received a text message indicating that a juror had witnessed the situation. The circuit court advised that a general inquiry of the jury panel would be made as to whether anything had occurred that morning that they wished to report to the court. No objections were made by either party.
¶ 8 After voir dire was concluded and the jury was selected, the circuit court conducted another in-chambers conference. There, the circuit court indicated that, after the prior in-chambers conference concluded, Detective Decker informed the court that people who were wearing jury badges were observed downstairs when the incident occurred. The circuit court stated that the jury would be asked general questions and added that
¶ 9 Upon returning to the courtroom, the alternate juror was selected, and other potential alternate jurors were excused. Subsequently, the circuit court called a recess and went on the record in chambers again with counsel and the defendant. The circuit court stated that the jurors would be questioned about the incident before being sworn in. Counsel had conferred with the circuit court prior to going on the record and had reached an agreement regarding how to frame the question to the jurors. Defense counsel replied that there was no objection to the circuit court questioning the jury as agreed.
¶ 10 The circuit court indicated: "I just wanted to make sure that hasn't planted any seeds that would make it difficult to give [the defendant] a fair trial." The assistant state's attorney replied:
The circuit court asked defense counsel if there was anything he wanted to add, to which he replied, "Not at this time, Your Honor."
¶ 11 Upon reconvening in the courtroom and before swearing in the jurors, the circuit court questioned the jury as follows: The circuit court added, The circuit court then observed, "Everyone indicates negatively." When offered, neither counsel had anything to add.
¶ 12 After the foregoing questioning and before the jury was sworn, a sidebar conference was conducted, where defense counsel moved to discharge the entire panel and to continue the trial based on concerns about what the jurors may or may not have seen downstairs. Defense counsel added, "There's no way even with your questioning of telling what they have seen, and they might not even realize they saw something that could be related to this case until the witness actually shows up on the stand." The circuit court denied the motion, observing that the court had just met with counsel in chambers and all had agreed with the method of questioning the jurors. The circuit court added, however, that "[i]f something would arise later in the trial, I would reevaluate this ruling."
¶ 13 After the jury was sworn, Devale Johnson took the stand and testified that he was 19 years old and had resided in Atlanta, Georgia, for the last couple of years. In June 2016 he was staying with family members in Centralia. On June 5, 2016, Devale received a telephone call from his cousin, Caprice, who was crying because she was riding her bicycle and two men were following her. Caprice gave a physical description of the men. Accordingly, Devale, accompanied by his cousins and Caprice's brothers, Kiwan and Jeff, set out to look for the men. Devale testified on cross-examination that it was after 9 p.m. at this time. Devale, Kiwan, and Jeff went to Laura Leake Park and saw two men matching Caprice's description. Both men were riding bicycles. Devale testified that one of the men was light-skinned with dreadlocks and the other man did not have dreadlocks. Devale indicated that he had never seen either of the men before.
¶ 14 Devale testified that he, Kiwan, and Jeff approached the two men, and Devale asked them if they...
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