People v. Jackson
| Decision Date | 19 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 124112 |
| Citation | 443 Ill.Dec. 589,2020 IL 124112,162 N.E.3d 223 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Aaron JACKSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
James E. Chadd, State Appellate Defender, John M. McCarthy and Catherine K. Hart, Deputy Defenders, and Susan M. Wilham, Assistant Appellate Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Springfield, for appellant.
Kwame Raoul, Attorney General, of Springfield (Jane Elinor Notz, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Michael L. Cebula, Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 Following a jury trial in the circuit court of St. Clair County, defendant, Aaron Jackson, was convicted of first degree murder ( 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a) (West 2008)) and was sentenced to a term of 35 years' imprisonment. The appellate court affirmed. 2018 IL App (5th) 150274, 426 Ill.Dec. 725, 116 N.E.3d 1025. This court allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal ( Ill. S. Ct. R. 315(a) (eff. July 1, 2018)). We now affirm the judgment of the appellate court.
¶ 3 On April 1, 2010, just before 6 a.m., the victim, John Thornton, mayor of Washington Park, Illinois, was fatally shot at close range while seated in his white four-door Buick Regal. Witnesses told police that they heard gunshots, saw the victim's car crash into a tree, and then saw defendant exit the victim's vehicle and get into a waiting vehicle, which drove from the scene. The victim was found slumped over in the driver's seat of his car. He sustained three gunshot wounds
to the right side of his chest. Both front airbags were deployed. No firearm was recovered, but police found three spent bullets inside the vehicle. On May 28, 2010, a grand jury indicted defendant of first degree murder for the shooting death of the victim.
¶ 5 Defendant's first jury trial, which commenced on October 17, 2011, ended in mistrial on October 20. Testimony from the mistrial relevant to this appeal comes from State witnesses Nortisha Ball and Laqueshia Jackson. Ball's testimony is relevant because defendant argues that inconsistencies in her testimony from the mistrial and retrial rendered the evidence insufficient to convict him of first degree murder. Jackson's testimony is relevant because defendant argues that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to call her as a witness at his retrial.
¶ 6 At the time of trial, Ball was being held on pending charges of residential burglary and theft. Ball acknowledged that she was not promised anything in exchange for her trial testimony. Ball testified that she met with Illinois State Police Special Agent Joseph Bates and gave him a statement concerning what she witnessed. Her statement was videotaped.
¶ 7 Ball's trial testimony was inconsistent in some respects with her videotaped statement. In her statement, Ball acknowledged telling Special Agent Bates that she heard two gunshots and that, after the victim's car crashed into the tree, she saw a man she knew as "Chill" exit the vehicle. Ball explained that defendant was known as "Chill." Ball told Bates that, after defendant exited the crashed vehicle, he got into a red Impala and drove from the scene.
¶ 8 Ball testified at trial, however, that, just before the victim's car hit the tree, she saw someone get out of the driver's side of the vehicle and thought that person might have been defendant. Ball further testified that she could not remember any details of her statement or conversation with Bates because she was under the influence of drugs or alcohol during the interview.
¶ 9 A week after the shooting, Ball met with Special Agent Bates for a follow-up interview. During the interview, Ball picked defendant's picture out of a six-picture photo array. Ball testified that she circled defendant's picture because Bates asked her if she knew any of the people pictured in the photo array and that defendant was the only person she recognized.
¶ 10 Laqueshia Jackson testified that on April 1, 2010, she was staying overnight at her mother's house when she received an early morning call from ADT Security Services notifying her that her home's burglar alarm had been activated. Jackson drove to her house and parked in the driveway but decided not to enter the house because there were no police on the scene. Jackson was turning out of the driveway to return to her mother's house when she heard gunshots, and as she drove further up the street, she heard a "loud boom" and then saw that a white car had crashed into a tree.
¶ 11 Jackson slowed her vehicle and then saw a man she knew as "Chill" exit the passenger side of the crashed car and "limp" to a white Suburban. Jackson testified that the Suburban was owned and driven by her ex-boyfriend, David Taylor. Jackson met with Special Agent Bates and, during the interview, picked defendant's picture out of a photo array. Jackson testified that she recognized defendant not only from seeing him around the neighborhood but also from his limp, which she believed was caused by a recent gunshot injury. Jackson made an in-court identification of defendant as "Chill."
¶ 12 Prior to commencing proceedings on the second day of trial, and outside the presence of the jury, the trial court informed counsel for both sides that it had become aware of anonymous threats made against Jackson and her children. The trial court questioned the assistant state's attorneys as to why the court had to learn of this development "second hand." The trial court admonished the assistant state's attorneys of their duty to promptly inform the court of such information. The trial court directed the assistant state's attorneys to investigate the matter and report back to the court.
¶ 13 On the next day of trial, during a break in the proceedings, one of the assistant state's attorneys informed the trial court and defense counsel that his office had received an anonymous phone call stating that, if Jackson were recalled to testify, she should be questioned as to whether a police officer offered her a bribe to testify that he was never at the crime scene. The officer in question was Washington Park detective Kim McAfee, who was one of the detectives assigned to investigate the shooting of the victim. At the time of trial, Detective McAfee had been indicted on federal charges of business fraud unrelated to defendant's case.
¶ 14 After discussing the matter off record, the trial court agreed that Jackson should be recalled and questioned outside the presence of the jury as to the validity of the alleged bribe. The proceedings were continued while the state's attorney's office attempted to locate Jackson.
¶ 15 Later that day, Jackson returned to court and underwent questioning, outside the presence of the jury, regarding the alleged bribe. Jackson testified that she was never offered a bribe or given any money from a police officer concerning her testimony. Jackson testified that Detective McAfee was at the crime scene when she spoke with another investigating officer but that she never spoke directly to McAfee.
¶ 16 Jackson was also questioned about the anonymous threats she had received. Jackson explained that she did not want to testify any further because she had received anonymous phone calls threatening her and her children. She stated that the caller knew the times she left court, where she attended school, where she lived, and the times her children got on and off their school bus. Jackson also testified that someone claiming to be from the state's attorney's office had called her children's school asking to speak with them. Jackson claimed that her children were afraid to leave the house or go to school.
¶ 17 Defense counsel then expressed concern that defendant could be prejudiced if Jackson was recalled for additional cross-examination and the jury observed her terrified demeanor and saw her "sobbing."
Defense counsel consulted with defendant and deferred to his agreement to have Jackson cross-examined in the presence of the jury but outside the presence of courtroom spectators.
¶ 18 Jackson returned to the witness stand and in the presence of the jury acknowledged that she was previously questioned as to whether she ever spoke with Detective McAfee. When defense counsel asked Jackson what her response had been to this question, she initially claimed she could not remember, but then fell silent and failed to respond to any further questioning.
¶ 19 At this point, the jury was ushered out of the courtroom, and a short recess was taken. Jackson subsequently suffered a seizure. When the jurors returned to the courtroom, the trial court released them for the day but, before doing so, admonished them not to discuss the case and to avoid all media coverage of the trial.
¶ 20 After the jury was released, the trial court called deputy court clerk Mary Ponder to the witness stand and questioned her about Jackson's condition. Ponder testified that Jackson was crying and claimed she had seen a dark-haired woman with blonde highlights in the hallway of the courthouse and that this woman was the same person who had shown up at her house the previous night. The trial court then agreed that the record should reflect that Jackson went into a "stupor" on the witness stand, the jury was subsequently removed from the courtroom, and thereafter Jackson suffered a seizure and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
¶ 21 The following morning, the trial court recalled Ponder to question her, outside the presence of the jury, about a phone call she received that morning from Jackson's sister, Angela Dodd. Ponder testified that Dodd told her that Jackson suffered another seizure and was admitted to the hospital. Jackson's blood pressure was elevated, and paramedics were concerned she might suffer a stroke
. According to Dodd, Jackson told the paramedics "If I do have a stroke, let me die...
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