People v. Hunt
| Decision Date | 27 March 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-06-0824.,1-06-0824. |
| Citation | 886 N.E.2d 409,381 Ill.App.3d 790 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Tavares HUNT, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
In May 2002, Tavares Hunt, the defendant, was incarcerated in the Cook County jail on a "no bail" order. On April 13, 2003, Hunt was arrested for the murder of Shakir Beckley, and on May 27, 2003, a Cook County grand jury indicted Hunt and charged him with 33 counts of murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1), (a)(3) (West 2002)), six counts of attempted murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2002)), two counts of armed robbery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a)(2) (West 2002)), one count of aggravated battery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/12-4.2 (West 2002)), seven counts of attempted armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a) (West 2002)), one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(2)(West 2002)), and one count of aggravated battery with a weapon (720 ILCS 5/12-4(b)(1) (West 2002)).
On January 15, 2005, Hunt filed a motion to suppress statements,1 and on January 23, 2006, he filed a motion to exclude inaudible tape recordings that were made of his conversations with Mycal Davis on July 31, 2002, and August 6, 2002. On February 22, 2006, the trial court granted Hunt's motions. The State appeals from the trial court's February 22, 2006, order suppressing Hunt's statements and the tape recordings that were made of his conversations on July 31, 2002, and on August 6, 2002, and presents two issues for review: (1) whether the trial court erred when it suppressed Hunt's statements to Davis which were made during the course of a judicially authorized overhear of Hunt's conversations with Davis, and (2) whether the trial court abused its discretion when it excluded the Hunt-Davis overhear tapes which the State argues are only "partly inaudible." For the reasons stated herein, the trial court's order is affirmed.
The record reveals that multiple hearings were held on the defendant's motion to suppress statements and on his motion to exclude inaudible recordings. Below is a summary of the testimony that is relevant to a resolution of the issues in this case.
Lieutenant Joseph P. Murphy testified that in 2002, he was assigned as the commanding officer of the Chicago police department's cold case squad. He testified that in 2002 he worked with Detective John Murray and several other officers in the cold case squad. Lieutenant Murphy also stated that over a period of months prior to July 31, 2002, he worked with Assistant State's Attorney Hovey on the investigation of Shakir Beckley's murder.
Lieutenant Murphy recalled questioning Tavares Hunt several times in 2002 about Shakir Beckley's murder. He testified that his first meeting with Hunt was in May 2002. Lieutenant Murphy's cold case squad detectives picked Hunt up from the Cook County jail where Hunt was incarcerated on an unrelated charge. The lieutenant explained that there was a definite procedure for taking custody of Hunt from the Cook County jail. According to the lieutenant, the Chicago police told Cook County jail officials that they were taking custody of Hunt for an "investigative procedure" and that they would remove him from the jail.
Lieutenant Murphy testified that his officers brought Hunt to the Chicago police department's Area 4 Police headquarters (Area 4) for questioning on more than one occasion beginning in mid-May 2002. He stated, Lieutenant Murphy further testified that his detectives read Hunt his Miranda rights at the Area 4 police station and that Hunt waived his rights before talking with the lieutenant and other officers about the Shakir Beckley murder. Lieutenant Murphy also testified that Hunt consented to a polygraph examination in May 2002, and that Hunt may have been fingerprinted when he spent the night at the Area 4 police station in May 2002.
Sometime in July 2002, Lieutenant Murphy testified that he began to work with Davis, another inmate incarcerated at the Cook County jail, on the Shakir Beckley murder investigation. Lieutenant Murphy testified that Davis told him that Hunt had made incriminating statements in a conversation about the Beckley murder and the lieutenant asked Davis if he could get Hunt to repeat those statements. Lieutenant Murphy testified that he told Davis "his options" before he agreed to wear a wire for a judicially authorized overhear. According to Lieutenant Murphy, he and Assistant State's Attorney Hovey had numerous conversations about the Beckley investigation, that they eventually decided to use Davis, and that he and Assistant State's Attorney Hovey planned the overhears of Hunt's conversations. Lieutenant Murphy stated that on or about July 17, 2002, his cold case squad detectives removed Hunt from the Cook County jail and brought him to the Area 4 police station for a lineup.
Two weeks later, on July 31, 2002, Lieutenant Murphy testified that he spent most of that day with Davis, the informant. Lieutenant Murphy stated that he took Davis to court to get judicial authorization for the planned overhear on July 31, 2002.2 According to Lieutenant Murphy, he and Davis went directly from court to the Area 4 police station, where the police wired Davis in "about five minutes" and put him in an interview room with Hunt.
Lieutenant Murphy further testified that Detective Murray removed Hunt from the Cook County jail earlier on July 31, 2002, and brought him to the Area 4 police station for the planned overhear. According to Lieutenant Murphy, Hunt was put in an interview room with Davis around 3 p.m. on July 31, 2002, and no one else was allowed in the room with the two men. Lieutenant Murphy testified that the July 31, 2002, overhear began at 3 p.m. and that it ended shortly after 4 p.m. that day. Lieutenant Murphy insisted that Hunt was brought to the Area 4 police station on July 31, 2002, "strictly for purposes of participation in a line-up" and for the overhear. Finally, the lieutenant testified that he monitored the overhear sessions on July 31, 2002, and on August 6, 2002, and that neither he nor any of his detectives spoke to Hunt on either of those days about the Shakir Beckley investigation.
While Hunt was in the room with Davis, Lieutenant Murphy testified that he and his detectives were in another room monitoring Hunt's conversation. When he took a break from monitoring Hunt's conversation, Lieutenant Murphy testified that he stepped out of the room and someone told him that a public defender, Christopher Anderson, was looking for Hunt.
Lieutenant Murphy met with Mr. Anderson, who told him that he represented Hunt on an unrelated charge. Mr. Anderson asked him why Hunt was at the Area 4 police station and Lieutenant Murphy testified that he told Mr. Anderson that there was an ongoing investigation and that a lineup was set. Lieutenant Murphy recalled that Mr. Anderson told him that he wanted to see his client and that he wanted to be present during any lineups. According to Lieutenant Murphy, he stopped the overhear and Mr. Anderson was allowed to meet with his client. At the conclusion of Hunt's meeting with Mr. Anderson, Lieutenant Murphy testified that Mr. Anderson told the lieutenant and the other officers present that he was invoking Hunt's right to remain silent and to consult with counsel during questioning.
Lieutenant Murphy testified that only one overhear was done on July 31, 2002. However, on August 6, 2002, Lieutenant Murphy testified that two separate overhears were done of conversations between Hunt and Davis at the Area 4 police station, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. He further testified that on August 6, 2002, no Chicago police officers tried to speak with Hunt about the Shakir Beckley murder. Lieutenant Murphy also testified that he reviewed the overhear tapes of conversations that he had monitored between Davis and Hunt on July 31, 2002, and on August 6, 2002. According to Lieutenant Murphy, the tapes he reviewed accurately reflected the conversations that he monitored on July 31, 2002, and on August 6, 2002.
Tavares Hunt testified that he was arrested on May 14, 2002, and locked up in the Cook County jail for an unrelated charge. Hunt testified that on May 18, 2002, Chicago police officers removed him from the Cook County jail and transferred him in handcuffs to the Area 4 police station. When he got to the Area 4 police station on May 18, 2002, Hunt recalled that someone told him that he was there for interrogation. Hunt testified that he recognized the prior witness (Lieutenant Murphy) as an officer present at the Area 4 police station on May 18, 2002. Hunt stated that he did not remember the names of the other police officers that questioned him on May 18, 2002, about the murder they were investigating. Hunt testified that he repeatedly told the officers that he did not know anyone in the pictures they showed him and that he had no knowledge of and had not heard anything about the murder they were investigating.
Hunt recalled telling the police on May 18, 2002, that he would not talk without his lawyer being present but the police continued to question him. Hunt testified that after questioning, he was taken for a polygraph test on May 18, 2002, and on the next day, May 19, 2002, he was fingerprinted by the Chicago police before being taken back to Cook County jail.
Hunt testified that, at the end of June 2002, he met Christopher Anderson, his public defender, in court on the unrelated case. Hunt recalled speaking to Mr. Anderson...
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People of The State of Ill. v. HUNT
...tapes which the State argued are only “partly inaudible.” On direct appeal, this court affirmed the trial court's order. People v. Hunt, 381 Ill.App.3d 790 (2008). The Illinois Supreme Court reviewed the appellate court's judgment and affirmed it in part, reversed it in part, and remanded t......
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People v. Hunt
...interlocutory appeal, the appellate court affirmed the suppression order, but on grounds not raised by the parties. 381 Ill.App.3d 790, 809, 319 Ill.Dec. 646, 886 N.E.2d 409. The State appeals from the appellate court's judgment, arguing that the court: (1) exceeded its scope of review on i......
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People v. Hunt
...statements and the recordings. ¶ 3 On interlocutory appeal, the appellate court affirmed the suppression order. People v. Hunt, 381 Ill.App.3d 790, 809 (2008). This court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the appellate court for its consideration of the suppression of the ......
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People v. Hunt, No. 1-06-0824 (Ill. App. 3/18/2010)
...tapes which the State argued are only "partly inaudible." On direct appeal, this court affirmed the trial court's order. People v. Hunt, 381 Ill. App. 3d 790 (2008). The Illinois Supreme Court reviewed the appellate court's judgment and affirmed it in part, reversed it in part, and remanded......