People v. Hope

• Decision Date: 21 September 1995
• Docket Number: No. 75503,75503
• Citation: 658 N.E.2d 391,168 Ill.2d 1,212 Ill.Dec. 909
• Parties: , 212 Ill.Dec. 909 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Edgar HOPE, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 391

658 N.E.2d 391

168 Ill.2d 1, 212 Ill.Dec. 909

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Edgar HOPE, Appellant.

No. 75503.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 21, 1995.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 4, 1995.

Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, and Kim Robert Fawcett, Assistant Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellant.

James E. Ryan, Attorney General, Springfield, and Jack O'Malley, State's Attorney, Chicago (Arleen C. Anderson, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, and Renee Goldfarb and James E. Fitzgerald, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

Chief Justice BILANDIC delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, the defendant, Edgar Hope, was convicted of one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of armed robbery. A bifurcated death penalty hearing was subsequently held before the same jury. The jury found the defendant eligible for the death penalty (720 ILCS 5/9-1(b)(3) (West 1992)), and further found that there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude imposition of a death sentence. The defendant's sentence has been stayed pending his direct appeal to this court. (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 4(b); 134 Ill.2d Rules 603, 609(a).) We now affirm the defendant's convictions and sentence.

FACTS

The defendant's convictions arise out of the January 11, 1982, armed robbery and shooting at a McDonalds restaurant located at 114th Street and Halsted in Chicago. On that evening, Lloyd Wyckliffe and Alvin Thompson were working as security guards at the McDonalds. Both Wyckliffe and Thompson were wearing plain clothes and were carrying firearms. At approximately 8 p.m., Wyckliffe and Thompson were seated in the restaurant, with a view of the counter area. Anthonette Dawson was working as a Alvin Thompson testified that, at approximately 8 p.m., a black man and a black woman, both in their early twenties, came into the restaurant and placed orders with Anthonette Dawson. The man began switching his order, and Dawson made eye contact with Thompson and Wyckliffe. The two security guards walked over and positioned themselves about five or six feet from the counter. Thompson identified the defendant as the man who was switching orders. Anthonette Dawson also identified the defendant as the man who had been switching orders at her cash register, and further testified that she recognized the woman he was with as Nadine Smart. Charles Trent, the shift manager, also identified the defendant as the man who was switching orders.

[212 Ill.Dec. 913] cashier behind the counter and Charles Trent was working behind the counter as a shift manager.

After Wyckliffe and Thompson had positioned themselves near the counter area, a second black man entered the restaurant from the west-side door. That man, later identified as Alton Logan, shouted something and Wyckliffe turned to face him. Logan then pulled a sawed-off shotgun from under his coat and shot Wyckliffe in the chest, killing him. Logan took Wyckliffe's gun from his body.

The man identified as the defendant then pushed Thompson down onto the floor and stood over him. The defendant, already armed, searched for and retrieved Thompson's gun. The defendant then fired at Thompson. Thompson, however, turned his head and pulled his arm across his head, causing the bullet to hit him in the left elbow and armpit. Thompson rolled over onto his stomach and pretended to be dead. Thompson stated that the defendant had a "slight smile" on his face just before he fired the shot. The two perpetrators then ran out of the McDonalds. After the men left, Thompson got up and crossed the street to a Jewel food store where he reported the incident to the police. Paramedics arrived and took Thompson to the hospital.

Officer Robert Mantia testified that he and Officer James Doyle were on uniform patrol on February 5, 1982, when they were flagged down by a young man, later identified as Charles Harris, at about 10 p.m. The officers were informed that the defendant was on a particular CTA bus and that there was a warrant out for the defendant's arrest in connection with another crime (unrelated to the McDonalds incident). Officers Mantia and Doyle stopped the bus and, after Harris pointed out the defendant, boarded it. Officer Doyle reached the defendant first and conducted a pat-down search, finding a drug kit in the defendant's pocket. Officer Doyle walked the defendant toward the front of the bus, with Doyle following the defendant. Officer Mantia then heard a shot fired and saw Officer Doyle fall. Officer Mantia and the defendant exchanged gunfire on and then off the bus. Officer Mantia wounded the defendant outside the bus and the defendant fell to the ground. A fully loaded gun was recovered lying about one foot from the defendant's hand. The gun the defendant had used to shoot Officer Doyle was also recovered from the ground near where the defendant lay wounded.

Detective John Yucaitis traced the gun recovered from next to the defendant's hand as that taken from Alvin Thompson during the McDonalds incident the previous month. Subsequently, Thompson, Anthonette Dawson and Charles Trent, at separate times, each picked the defendant's photograph from a photographic array as one of the assailants. Trent, however, was equivocal in his photographic identification and stated that he needed to see the defendant in person. Later, Thompson, Trent and Dawson separately viewed a lineup at the Cook County jail and identified the defendant as Thompson's assailant in the McDonalds. Each of those three witnesses also identified the defendant in court. In addition, each of those witnesses identified Alton Logan in separate lineups as the man with the sawed-off shotgun in the McDonalds shooting.

The defendant presented the testimony of Thomas Grant. Grant stated that he had accompanied Nadine Smart to the McDonalds at approximately 8 p.m. on January 11, 1982. Grant testified that he did not create a disturbance in line. Grant stated that he heard one shot and then he ran out of The defendant also called Detective Digiacomo. Detective Digiacomo spoke with both Trent and Dawson at the McDonalds after the shooting. According to Digiacomo's report, Trent told him that he saw one offender shoot both security guards, and Dawson told him that Nadine Smart was accompanied by two black males whom she did not recognize. Detective Digiacomo also testified that he interviewed Thompson at the hospital. At that time, Thompson told him that a second offender had pushed him down and shot him.

[212 Ill.Dec. 914] the McDonalds. The defendant also called Officer Bruce Wagner. Officer Wagner had talked with Alvin Thompson at the Jewel store after Thompson was shot. According to Officer Wagner's report of that interview, Thompson stated that one black male entered the McDonalds, created a disturbance in line and then shot both Wyckliffe and Thompson. Officer Wagner stated that Thompson was bleeding profusely when he talked with him and that they spoke only briefly at that time.

Following closing arguments, the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and two counts of armed robbery. A bifurcated death penalty hearing before the same jury was commenced the following day. At the eligibility phase of the death penalty hearing, the State presented a certified copy of the defendant's conviction for the murder of Officer James Doyle, and a certified copy of the defendant's birth certificate, establishing his birthdate of April 22, 1959. The State also introduced testimony from Heather Larkin, a passenger on the CTA bus upon which the Doyle shooting occurred. Larkin testified that two police officers boarded the bus and began talking to a man she identified as the defendant. She further testified that she saw one of the officers walking behind the defendant toward the front of the bus and that, as they were walking, the defendant pulled a gun out of his coat and started shooting at the police officer.

The defendant presented no evidence at the eligibility phase. Following closing arguments by both sides, the jury returned a verdict finding the defendant eligible for the death penalty. The only statutory eligibility factor upon which the jury was instructed was the "multiple murder" factor of section 9-1(b)(3) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (720 ILCS 5/9-1(b)(3) (West 1992)). The aggravation-mitigation phase of the death penalty hearing commenced several days later.

The State first presented the testimony of Dr. Robert Stein, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Officer Doyle, who testified regarding the injuries suffered by Officer Doyle. The State also presented the testimony of Larry Garnett, who testified that on January 22, 1982, he returned home to find that his house had been burglarized. Among the items missing from Garnett's house was a .38 snub-nose Llama handgun. A firearms expert, Sergeant Vincent Lomoro, also called by the State, testified that the bullet recovered from Officer Doyle's body was fired from that same .38 snub-nose Llama.

The State presented the testimony of Kevin Paige, another passenger on the CTA bus on which the Doyle shooting occurred. Paige stated that he was shot in the finger during the incident, as a result of which he will never be able to make a fist with that particular hand. Paige further testified that a bullet grazed his face. The State also called Charles Harris, who stated that on February 5, 1982, he flagged down police officers to inform them that the defendant, whom Harris knew, was on a particular CTA bus. Harris testified that, a month earlier, the defendant had hit Harris, pulled out a gun and had taken Harris' money and his radio.

The State also presented various witnesses who testified regarding the defendant's criminal history. In June of 1976, ...