People v. Jones

• Decision Date: 25 June 2007
• Docket Number: No. 1-05-0668.,1-05-0668.
• Citation: 871 N.E.2d 823
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Romelle JONES, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

871 N.E.2d 823

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Romelle JONES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-05-0668.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, First Division.

June 25, 2007.

Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender, and Douglas R. Hoff, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for Appellant.

Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney of Cook County, Chicago (James F. Fitzgerald, Michelle Katz, Veronica Calderon Malavia and Tasha-Marie Kelly, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for Appellee.

Justice CAHILL delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Romelle Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2006)) after a jury trial. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for first-degree murder and 10 consecutive years for attempted first-degree murder. The trial court added 20 years to defendant's sentence for discharging a firearm during the commission of the offense (730 ILCS 5/5-8-1(a)(1)(d)(ii) (2006)). Defendant appeals, claiming the trial court erred in: (1) denying his motion to quash his arrest and suppress his confession where the police lacked probable cause to arrest him after smelling gunshot residue on his person; (2) failing to require the State to give race-neutral reasons for striking a prospective juror in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986); and (3) admitting a forensic scientist's opinion on the results of a gunshot residue test when the scientist was not present at the trial. We affirm.

Defendant was convicted of the murder of Tyrone Perkins and the attempted murder of Roscoe Robertson. The incident occurred at about 10 p.m. on August 1, 2002. Perkins died of a gunshot wound to his head. Robertson suffered a graze wound to his arm. Both Perkins and Robertson were members of the Gangster Disciples street gang. Defendant admitted he was a member of the Black Disciples street gang.

Before trial, defendant filed motions to quash his arrest and suppress evidence, including the results of a lineup and his videotaped confession. Defendant argued that the police lacked probable cause to arrest him and the evidence was inadmissible as the fruit of an illegal arrest. The following evidence was presented at hearings on the motions.

Detective Anthony Powell testified that on August 1, 2002, he and his partner Janet Scanlon monitored a call on their police radio, reporting a shooting in the 5700 block of South Carpenter. They heard descriptions of the shooters, first over the radio and then from officers at the scene. The description was of two African-American males, one taller than the other, both dressed in dark clothing. Powell said when they arrived at 5757 South Carpenter, they found a young man with an apparent gunshot wound to his head. Powell said other police officers were at the scene when he arrived.

Detective Scanlon testified that she went to the scene after hearing a call over the police radio. When she arrived, she spoke with police officers and civilian witnesses. Scanlon said she talked to Robertson, who described the offenders as two black males, both wearing dark clothing. She said Robertson told her one man might be wearing a purple T-shirt and one man was shorter and had a lighter complexion than the other. Scanlon admitted on cross-examination that she interviewed Robertson at the Area One police station, not at the scene. On redirect examination, Scanlon said the descriptions given over the police radio were of two males in dark clothing, running south on Carpenter.

Officer James Shackleton testified that he and his partner, Officer Ryan Fields, were on patrol on the night of August 1, 2002. Between 10 and 10:10 p.m., they received a radio report of a shooting at 57th and Carpenter. The officers heard that two African-American males were the suspected shooters. Both officers knew of a "gang war" in the 5700 to 5900 blocks of Carpenter and that someone had been shot in the vicinity the day before. When Shackleton and Fields arrived at 6000 South Carpenter, other police officers were already on the scene. Shackleton said he arrested defendant within five minutes of seeing him. He said defendant was wearing black shorts and black gym shoes but no shirt. Shackleton admitted that, in a supplementary report written about three weeks after the incident, he had stated that defendant was wearing black pants and a white shirt. Shackleton testified that he heard several descriptions of the shooter on the police radio, including "male black, black shorts, black shirt, male black, black pants, black shirt, dark clothing." Shackleton said he heard that the shooters' direction of flight was southbound. He said he had a conversation "for a few seconds" with people who were at 57th and Carpenter. Shackleton said he received descriptions over the police radio and from people at the scene.

On cross-examination, Shackleton said he arrived within minutes of the call on the radio and found numerous people gathered around the victim. He said his priority when he arrived was to look for the shooters because they had left the area just minutes before his arrival. He said the descriptions he received from the witnesses, who chose to remain anonymous, were of two African-American males wearing all black clothing who had run southbound on Carpenter. Shackleton testified that he was aware of a gang war between the Black Disciples and the Gangster Disciples, and that a person known as "Butter" had been shot in that area the day before. He said there was a makeshift "grave" or memorial dedicated to Butter, a member of the Black Disciples. He said several people were gathered around the "grave" when he arrived and one was defendant. Shackleton said that when he first saw defendant, defendant was running, appeared to be sweating profusely and was breathing heavily. Shackleton admitted it was a hot night. Shackleton said he and his partner approached defendant to question him. He said the information in the supplementary police report that defendant was wearing a white shirt was incorrect.

Shackleton testified that when he first approached defendant, he noticed an odor that he believed to be gunshot residue. Shackleton testified that he attended the police academy, had been in the presence of people who had recently fired a gun and had himself fired a gun after which he noticed the odor of gunshot residue on his person. He said he believed the odor emanating from defendant to be gunshot residue based on his experience and knowledge. He said defendant matched the description of the offenders: "A few individuals told us that they both had low haircuts, no facial hair or very little, and black shorts, black shoes and they fled southbound running on foot." He said he and his partner handcuffed defendant to immobilize his hands so he would not wipe off the residue.

On redirect examination Shackleton testified that he stopped defendant about 15 minutes after the shooting about three blocks from the scene. He admitted he did not mention gunshot residue in his supplementary report but instead referred to a "suspicious smelling residue on [defendant's] hands."

Shackleton testified that when he first saw defendant, defendant was running. Defendant then stopped at the memorial. The officers then "activated the vehicle" and told defendant to come over to talk to them. Shackleton said "[t]hen [defendant] was sweating profusely." He said defendant came over to where the police were standing.

The trial court denied defendant's motion to quash his arrest. The judge stated that he considered the totality of the facts and evidence and found the State's witnesses to be "credible and straightforward." He found that the information possessed by the police at the time defendant was spotted was legally sufficient to justify a Terry stop. See Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). The judge said, "When [the officers] got within close proximity of the defendant, based on this officer's familiarity with the odor of gunshot residue, that in his judgment he smelled on that person of [defendant]."

The court then heard defendant's motion to suppress the lineup evidence. Scanlon testified that defendant appeared in a five-man lineup viewed by Robertson. She said Robertson identified defendant "immediately." The trial court found that the lineup was not constitutionally impermissible.

The trial court held a separate hearing on defendant's motion to suppress his statement. In addition to reiterating some of his earlier testimony, Powell testified that he spoke with defendant in an interview room at Area One at about 1:10 a.m. on August 2, 2002. Powell said he advised defendant of his rights under Miranda. Powell said he then had a 10-minute conversation with defendant about procedures. Defendant was still shirtless. Powell said he returned to the interview room at 1 p.m. in the afternoon of August 2, 2002. He said defendant asked for a shirt and Powell obtained one for him at a thrift store. Powell said he provided defendant with food. Powell and Scanlon spoke to defendant at about 10 p.m. that evening. They advised him of his rights and defendant said he understood. They told defendant that he had been identified in the lineup. Defendant then made an admission that lasted about 45 minutes. At 12:45 a.m. on August 3, 2002, an assistant State's Attorney arrived and spoke with defendant. Defendant was again advised of his rights under Miranda. He made a 40- to 45-minute statement to the assistant State's Attorney. Powell said defendant did not ask to speak to a lawyer. Powell denied that he struck defendant or knew that others struck defendant or heard that defendant claimed to have been beaten or threatened.

Detective Scanlon testified to the same essential facts as Powell. She said she was present when defendant chose to give a...