People v. Horton
| Decision Date | 19 July 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1-18-0551 |
| Citation | 2021 IL App (1st) 180551,192 N.E.3d 710,455 Ill.Dec. 881 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kristopher HORTON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, and Rebecca I. Levy, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Jon J. Walters, and Paul E. Wojcicki, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 Defendant Kristopher Horton appeals from the denial of his pro se motion for leave to file a second successive postconviction petition under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (Act) ( 725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2016)). On appeal, defendant contends that leave to file should have been granted because he presented newly discovered evidence that showed a colorable claim of actual innocence, supported his otherwise uncorroborated claim of self-defense, and would probably change the result on retrial. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
¶ 2 Following a 2010 jury trial, defendant was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 75 years in prison. We affirmed defendant's conviction on direct appeal. People v. Horton , 2012 IL App (1st) 101980-U, 2012 WL 6950252.
¶ 3 On April 23, 2006, defendant was attending a block party in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Defendant and Steven Williams were involved in an altercation that resulted in defendant shooting and killing Williams. Defendant was charged with first degree murder and asserted he shot Williams in self-defense.
¶ 4 Prior to trial, defendant sought to introduce evidence of Williams's violent character based on two prior incidents. In the first, Williams was charged with armed robbery and pled guilty to aggravated battery. In the second, Williams was charged with assault, but the State nol-prossed the case. The trial court ruled that Williams's conviction for aggravated battery would be admitted at trial through the testimony of Aaron Estes, Williams's codefendant in that case, but that the second incident was not indicative of Williams's violent character.
¶ 5 At trial, James Holliday testified that he had prior convictions for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, delivery of a controlled substance, aggravated discharge of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance. On the night of April 22, 2006, he gathered with a large group of people on Brookline Street in Chicago Heights. The group included his brother, defendant, Williams, and Dasheena Williams. The group was drinking, dancing, and talking in the street.
¶ 6 Holliday testified that "a little after midnight," defendant's aunt, Fannie May Harris, drove through the crowd toward her house, located four or five houses down the street, "flicking" her lights. As she passed, she ran over Williams's foot. Williams, Holliday, Dasheena, and a few other people headed over to Harris's house.
¶ 7 When they got there, Williams and Harris began arguing. Defendant and his girlfriend, Ebony Boykins, were also there. Defendant "started mentioning things about going to get a gun and he'll be back," and he and Boykins got into a car and left. Holliday and his group returned to the block party.
¶ 8 About 5 to 10 minutes later, Holliday saw defendant and Boykins drive up to Harris's house. They got out of the car and returned to the party on foot. Holliday approached defendant, who "was kind of still angry and saying things like f*** this, f*** that, I'm tired—I'm tired of mother f*** playing games with me and things like that." Holliday tried to calm defendant down, but he pulled a gun out of his pocket, cocked it, and said, "It's serious, you know what I'm saying, I'm for real." Holliday responded, "[I]t ain't worth it, don't do it." He tried to hold defendant back physically, but defendant "shook out of his coat."
¶ 9 Holliday turned away from defendant to talk to Boykins and heard a gunshot. According to Holliday, defendant shot Williams "towards his stomach area." At the time he was shot, Williams was standing about 12 feet from defendant and was talking on his phone. Williams fell to the ground and said, "You shot me." Defendant yelled, "You still talking, you still talking," and fired about three more shots at Williams. Then defendant lifted the gun, pointed it around, and screamed, "Anybody can get it, anybody can get it." The group in the street scattered. Defendant and Boykins returned to their car and drove away.
¶ 10 Holliday asked Williams if he was "going to make it." Williams shook his head. Holliday went to tell Williams's parents what had happened. Holliday's brother and Daniel Logan put Williams in Logan's truck and drove him to the hospital. Holliday never saw Williams with a gun that night but acknowledged that he had been drinking vodka since about 5 p.m. and taking Ecstasy.
¶ 11 Dasheena testified that at around 5 p.m. she, Williams, and another person went to the block party, where people were drinking, dancing, and walking around. Dasheena had been drinking but was not drunk. After "a while," Harris came "flying down the street" in her car, beeping her horn and flashing her lights, and ran over Williams's foot before pulling into her driveway.
¶ 12 Williams was not badly hurt but started walking to Harris's house with Dasheena, Holliday, and Holliday's brother for an "apology." When they got there, Harris was standing at the window inside her house, and defendant and Boykins were outside. Williams asked Harris why she ran over his foot, and Harris cursed in reply. Williams and defendant began talking. According to Dasheena, Williams was not angry, but defendant was. Defendant After defendant and Boykins drove off, Dasheena, Holliday, and Holliday's brother walked back to the party.
¶ 13 About 20 minutes later, defendant and Boykins returned and pulled up outside Harris's house. Dasheena was about 14 feet away from Williams, who was standing in a driveway, talking on his phone. Defendant started walking toward the party. Holliday walked up and began talking to defendant and grabbed his coat. As defendant squirmed out of his coat, Dasheena saw a gun in his hand.
¶ 14 Williams "was still on the phone acting like he didn't see nothing was going on." Defendant "walked up" and shot Williams, who fell to the ground. Defendant shot Williams two more times, waved the gun around, and asked whether anyone else wanted "to get it." The crowd scattered. Defendant walked back to his car and drove off with Boykins. Two men picked Williams up, placed him in a truck, and drove away. Dasheena did not know the "exact time" Harris drove through the crowd but recalled it was "at night."
¶ 15 Logan testified that he arrived at the block party between 10 and 11 p.m., "after *** the initial altercation happened," that is, after Williams's "foot got run over." Logan was standing in a driveway about six feet away from Williams, who was talking on his phone and rolling a marijuana cigarette, when he saw defendant and Boykins walking toward them from the direction of Harris's house. Holliday tried to calm defendant down, but he continued walking toward Williams.
¶ 16 Logan noticed that defendant had a gun. Williams, who was still on the phone, said, "What, you going to shoot me now?" Defendant shot Williams in the stomach, and he fell to the ground. Defendant swung the gun around and said, "Any of you mother f*** can get it." Defendant then shot Williams two more times. Logan went to a neighbor's house, told someone there to call the police, and retrieved his truck. He and three or four others placed Williams into the truck and drove him to the hospital because it did not look like he "was going to make it."
¶ 17 Logan acknowledged that, when he was first interviewed by the police, he gave a false name because he "had a couple of warrants" for "DUI and a possession." Williams seemed angry on the night in question, but Logan never saw anyone other than defendant with a gun.
Defendant added that Williams continued swearing at him after being shot, so he shot him again.
¶ 19 The medical examiner testified that Williams suffered gunshot wounds to his lower abdomen, back, and left buttock. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, and the manner of death was homicide.
¶ 20 Defendant testified that he took his gun with him when he left home the morning of the block party. That evening, there were "pockets" of people all along Brookline Street. Over the course of the night, defendant consumed two Ecstasy pills and drank a bottle of cognac.
¶ 21 At some point during the evening, Harris drove past a group of people that included Williams, Holliday, and Holliday's brother. After she parked in her driveway, Williams, Holliday, and Holliday's brother walked over to her house. Defendant saw Williams shake his finger in Harris's face and approached to ask what was going on. Williams said, "B***, ask your auntie and your b*** what happened." Defendant and Williams argued, and Holliday implored Williams to calm down. Defendant warned Holliday that his group should leave before Harris called the police.
¶ 22 Williams, Holliday, and Holliday's brother headed back down the street. Harris told defendant...
To continue reading
Request your trial