People v. Lee

• Decision Date: 02 February 2000
• Docket Number: No. 4-98-0413.,4-98-0413.
• Citation: 724 N.E.2d 557,243 Ill.Dec. 958,311 Ill. App.3d 363
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ivory LEE, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

724 N.E.2d 557

311 Ill. App.3d 363

243 Ill.Dec. 958

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Ivory LEE, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 4-98-0413.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

Argued December 15, 1999.

Decided February 2, 2000.

Daniel D. Yuhas, Deputy Defender (Court appointed), Martin J. Ryan (argued), Asst. Defender, Office of State Appellate Defender, Springfield, for Ivory Lee.

John P. Schmidt, State's Attorney, Springfield, Norbert J. Goetten, Director, Robert J. Biderman, Deputy Director, David E. Mannchen (argued), Staff Attorney, State's Attorney Appellate Prosecutor, Springfield, for the People.

Justice GARMAN delivered the opinion of the court:

A jury convicted defendant Ivory Lee of the second degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-2 (West 1998)) of Wile Trotter, aggravated battery with a firearm (720 ILCS 5/12-4.2 (West 1998)) of Wile Trotter, and aggravated battery with a firearm of Willis Trotter. On appeal, defendant argues that (1) the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense in shooting the Trotters, and (2) his conviction for the second degree murder of Wile must be vacated under the one-act, one-crime rule. We affirm in part and vacate in part.

I. BACKGROUND

During the night between February 6 and 7, 1997, defendant went to Kelu Anderson's home, where he met his friends, Richard Hatchett, Lester Davis, Travis McCullough, Demetrius McCullough, and Chris Tapley. They decided to go to a party at the Sky Harbor Inn. They brought a handgun with them to the party but initially left it in one of their cars.

About an hour after defendant and his friends arrived at the party, Wile and Willis Trotter arrived. Wile and Willis were twin brothers, allegedly known for carrying guns. Ten minutes later, defendant, Davis, and Hatchett went to their cars to get some drinks they had brought. Defendant took the handgun from the car and tucked it in his waistband. They all went back inside to the party.

About 15 minutes later, defendant and his friends decided to leave. When defendant went outside, he saw Wile talking to Travis and Willis standing nearby. Willis walked over and stood by Wile. Willis began arguing with Hatchett about an incident that had occurred during Christmas, a few months previously. Apparently, Willis had interceded in an argument between Hatchett and a third party, which had resulted in a fight between Hatchett and Willis. Someone started shooting and Hatchett went to jail. Hatchett now told Willis that he should have minded his own business. Hatchett and Willis yelled at each other and exchanged profanities. According to defendant, Demetrius, and Davis, at one point Willis appeared to reach for a gun inside his pocket. Believing Willis was going to shoot, defendant pulled out his handgun and shot Willis. Then, believing Wile was also reaching for a gun in his coat, defendant shot Wile at least three times. Willis received a bullet wound in the stomach. Wile received one bullet wound in the chest and two in the thigh and leg. Defendant and his friends fled the scene.

The police arrived at the scene a few minutes later. A large crowd had gathered. Willis and Wile lay approximately 75 to 100 feet apart. Wile was conscious and told Officer Paul Earley that he had been shot by Davis and Travis. Willis was also conscious but refused to talk to the police. Once the area was secured and Wile and Willis were taken to the hospital, the officers searched the area for weapons, about 30 to 45 minutes later. None of the officers found any weapons in the area. No weapons were recovered from the person of Wile or Willis. Wile died later that day from the bullet wound in his chest, which had caused massive hemorrhaging from the liver and aorta.

Officer Steven Bennett meanwhile looked for Travis and Davis. He saw a maroon two-door Oldsmobile Cutlass pass by him, shined his spotlight inside, and saw Hatchett, whom he knew to be friends with Travis. Bennett stopped the car about two blocks away. Someone ran from the passenger side of the car to some nearby houses. Defendant later admitted that he was the person who ran from the car. Davis, Travis, and Demetrius were in the car with Hatchett. Bennett frisked these men, did not find any weapons, and took them to the police department for questioning.

Defendant was arrested on March 18, 1997. Defendant initially claimed he was inside the Sky Harbor Inn at the time of the shooting. When detectives told him that other witnesses had contradicted his claim, he gave a written statement the next day admitting he shot Wile and Willis. He was indicted on three counts of first degree murder of Wile: (1) intentional murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1998)), (2) knowing murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2) (West 1998)), and (3) felony murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(3) (West 1998)). The State later dismissed the felony murder count. Defendant was also indicted on (1) one count of aggravated battery (of Wile), (2) one count of aggravated battery (of Willis), and (3) one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon (720 ILCS 5/24-1.1 (West 1998)). The State later also dismissed the count for unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

Defendant's trial was held in February 1998. Defendant raised the affirmative defense of self-defense on all counts. After hearing the evidence, the jury convicted defendant of second degree murder (of Wile), aggravated battery with a firearm (of Wile), and aggravated battery with a firearm (of Willis). In April 1998, the trial court denied defendant's posttrial motion. In May 1998, the trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent terms of 20 years for second degree murder and 15 years for aggravated battery with a firearm for shooting Wile. These terms were to run consecutively to an 18-year sentence for the aggravated battery with a firearm of Willis. This appeal followed.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Self-Defense

Defendant first contends that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense in shooting Wile and Willis. We disagree.

Once a defendant raises self-defense as an affirmative defense to murder, the State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt not only the elements of murder, but also that the defendant did not act in self-defense. The elements of self-defense are (1) force is threatened against a person; (2) the person threatened is not the aggressor; (3) the danger of harm was imminent; (4) the threatened force was unlawful; (5) the person threatened actually and subjectively believed a danger existed that required the use of the force applied; and (6) the beliefs of the person threatened were objectively reasonable. If the State negates any one of these elements, the defendant's claim of self-defense must fail, and the jury must find the defendant guilty of first or second degree murder. People v. Jeffries, 164 Ill.2d 104, 127-28, 207 Ill.Dec. 21, 646 N.E.2d 587, 597-98 (1995).

The standard of review for this issue is whether, taking all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant did not act in self-defense. People v. White, 293 Ill.App.3d 335, 338, 227 Ill.Dec. 697, 687 N.E.2d 1179, 1181 (1997). Defendant argues that he properly acted in self-defense because Wile and Willis were known to carry guns and people were frightened of them. He contends that, on one occasion after Willis' fight with Hatchett during the previous Christmas, the Trotters saw Hatchett, Davis, Travis, Demetrius, and defendant at a friend's house and began shooting at them. On another occasion, defendant and Davis were at Anderson's home when the Trotters rode down the street and pointed their guns at them but did not shoot. In January 1998, after defendant shot Wile and Willis, Willis allegedly shot at Germaine Brown, a person unrelated to this case, on two occasions from a moving car. Defendant suggests this most recent incident is the most convincing evidence of the Trotters' violent behavior.

Defendant further argues that the testimony that Willis appeared to be reaching for a gun in his pocket was uncontradicted except by Willis himself. Defendant contends Willis' testimony that he was not reaching for a gun and that he never carried a gun prior to defendant's shooting him at Sky Harbor Inn was not credible because his testimony was contradicted by other witnesses and because of his past history of committing violent offenses against defendant and his friends. Defendant suggests that the reason that the police officers did not find guns on either Wile or Willis or in the area is because sufficient time elapsed between the shooting and the arrival of the police during which the Trotters could have disposed of their guns. Defendant finds it significant that a pullover that Willis was wearing when he was shot later disappeared and suggests that Willis' gun was likely in the pullover.

Based upon our review of the record, we conclude that the State established that defendant's belief that deadly force was necessary was unreasonable, thereby negating the sixth element of self-defense and, thus, the entire claim of self-defense. The record shows that it was uncontradicted that the Trotters did not make any threats to anyone that night, no witness observed either of the Trotters with a gun that night, and the police did not recover a gun from either Willis or Wile or from the scene after the shootings. While Willis' testimony that he did not make any threatening gestures or carry a gun prior to the Sky Harbor Inn incident may have been contradicted by defendant, Demetrius, and Davis, the jury was entitled to disbelieve these witnesses. Defendant's behavior in running from the police and initially claiming that he was inside the Sky Harbor Inn at the time of the shooting diminished his credibility. Further, the State impeached the testimony of Demetrius and...