People v. Liner
| Decision Date | 10 March 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 5-03-0307.,5-03-0307. |
| Citation | 292 Ill.Dec. 838,356 Ill. App.3d 284,826 N.E.2d 1274 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Howard C. LINER, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Daniel M. Kirwan, Deputy Defender, Paige Clark Strawn, Assistant Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Mt. Vernon, IL, for Appellant.
William A. Mudge, State's Attorney, Edwardsville, IL; Norbert J. Goetten, Director, Stephen E. Norris, Deputy Director, T. David Purcell, Staff Attorney, Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Mt. Vernon, IL, for Appellee.
Following a jury trial, the defendant, Howard C. Liner, was convicted of armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a)(1) (West 2000)) and home invasion (720 ILCS 5/12-11(a)(1) (West 2000)) and sentenced to concurrent terms of 20 years in prison. On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence at the trial was insufficient to convict him and that he was denied a fair trial due to the prosecutor's misconduct. We reverse and remand.
By an indictment on February 14, 2002, the State charged the defendant with home invasion (720 ILCS 5/12-11(a)(1) (West 2000)) and armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a)(1) (West 2000)) at the William J. (Jay) Baker home in Collinsville. At the defendant's jury trial on December 10 and 11, 2002, the State presented the following evidence.
On January 20, 2002, the defendant, who wore a dark-colored, puffy coat and whose hair was braided in cornrows, accompanied a taller man, known as "Junior," to the home of Michael Jones, who was a neighbor of Jay's and who had known the defendant for 12 years prior to that evening. The two men asked Michael for marijuana, and Michael answered that he had none. After the men inquired whether Jay had marijuana, Michael replied that Jay did not, and the two men indicated that they would go to the Baker home.
Jay, his wife Rachel, his six-year-old daughter Kayla, his sister-in-law Jennifer Thompson, and Jennifer's boyfriend Aaron Engelke were in the Baker home. At approximately 9:30 p.m., Jay responded to a knock at his door. A black man (whom Jay later identified as the defendant), who wore a big, puffy jacket and whose hair was in dreadlocks, stood on Jay's porch and asked Jay if he had marijuana. Jay answered in the negative. Jay's view of the defendant was excellent. A taller, heavier black man (whom Jay later identified as Ronald Robinson) subsequently walked up the steps to the porch, and Jay noticed that Ronald wore a thick coat also. Before Jay shut the door, the defendant asked Jay whether he had any money.
Michael saw the men approach Jay's home, remain on the porch for a couple of minutes, and leave. After the two men left, Michael met Jay in an adjoining parking lot, and Michael denied that he had sent the two men to the Baker home.
Approximately 30 minutes later, Jay responded to another knock at his door. When he opened the door, the defendant pointed a black, shiny, small-caliber revolver at Jay's face. Although the defendant had flipped his puffy coat inside out, Jay recognized the coat as the one the defendant was wearing 30 minutes earlier. The defendant also wore black, slick gloves, and he was accompanied by another male. Both men wore bandanas with eyeholes as masks. Jay recognized the voices as those of the men who had approached his home 30 minutes earlier. When the defendant pointed the gun in his face, Jay tried to slam the door and lock it, but the two men pushed through the door. The defendant entered first, put the gun to Jay's head, and demanded that Jay give him money.
While the defendant pointed the gun to the back of Jay's head, Jay led the defendant to the bedroom and gave him $140. Jay testified that the defendant demanded more money and pointed the gun toward Jay's daughter, Kayla, who was sleeping on a pallet in the bedroom. The defendant hit Kayla in the head with the gun and said: Jay carried Kayla to the living room and gave her to Rachel. The defendant told Jay to get on his knees so that the defendant could kill him, but Jay refused.
Ronald had stayed in the living room while the defendant and Jay went to the bedroom. Ronald told Rachel, Jennifer, and Aaron to keep their heads down or they would die. Rachel testified that when Ronald turned around, she grabbed the phone and called 9-1-1. Ronald retrieved the phone and hung it up. When the defendant and Jay returned from the bedroom, Ronald told the defendant that Rachel had called 9-1-1, and the two men left and took the cordless phone with them. Next door, Michael Jones recognized the defendant's voice as the defendant yelled "come on, come on," and ran past Michael's home.
Collinsville police officer Dan Porter was dispatched to the Baker home. Jay told Officer Porter that he had been robbed at gunpoint by two black males and that one of them was wearing a puffy jacket and was shorter than the other. The Bakers indicated that they could see the men's facial features through the handkerchief masks they were wearing.
That same night, Collinsville detective Todd Link showed Jay a six-person photographic lineup, which included the defendant and men of similar hairstyle and build. Jay unequivocally identified the defendant as the gunman who had entered his home. In another photo lineup, Jay identified Ronald as the defendant's accomplice. Although Rachel, Jay, Jennifer, and Aaron informed Detective Link that the perpetrators wore gloves, he confiscated the Bakers' phone base and a $20 bill from the scene; yet he failed to recover the missing phone and failed to recover fingerprints from the $20 bill. Further, despite searching the defendant's bedroom at the time of the defendant's arrest, Detective Link was unable to find a puffy coat.
During the defendant's trial, Jay unequivocally identified the defendant as the gunman who had approached his house on the night of the robbery. Jay testified that the defendant was one of the same two persons who had approached his home 30 minutes before the robbery, that he had the same voice, and that he wore the same puffy coat, although it was inside out.
Rachel testified that during the robbery, she recognized the men as the same men who had visited her home 30 minutes earlier, because of their voices, hair, and faces. Rachel testified that the homemade masks had not covered the men's faces well, and she unequivocally identified the defendant as the man who had entered her home holding a gun.
Aaron Engelke testified that he could not see the perpetrators' faces because they were wearing masks. He testified that the first man, who held the gun, was smaller than the second man.
Jennifer Thompson testified she believed that the two men who robbed the Baker home were the same two men who had visited earlier because they wore the same coats and had the same body builds. Because the defendant wore a mask during the robbery, Jennifer was unable to positively identify the defendant as the gunman, but she testified that the defendant's body shape was similar to the gunman's. The prosecutor asked Jennifer if she was having a difficult time testifying, and Jennifer answered in the affirmative. Over defense counsel's objection, the prosecutor elicited from Jennifer that since the robbery, she suffered medical problems, she worried constantly, and she took medication for anxiety and stomach problems.
Dickey Dalton, who was incarcerated in the Madison County jail, testified that he was an associate of the defendant's and that he had known the defendant for approximately seven years. Dickey testified that in December 2001, he saw the defendant in the possession of two guns. During direct examination by the prosecutor, the following colloquy occurred:
On cross-examination, the defense attorney elicited from Dickey that his previous statement had described the defendant as "a cold-blooded jackoff." The defense attorney asked Dickey when he had last seen the defendant, and Dickey responded: The trial court struck Dickey's answer and instructed the jury to disregard it. On redirect, the prosecutor elicited from Dickey, over an objection, that Dickey disliked the defendant because the defendant had sold Dickey fake drugs. The prosecutor asked Dickey to specify the time period during which the defendant had sold drugs, and Dickey answered that the defendant had sold drugs during the previous few years. After Dickey's testimony, the judge instructed the jury not to consider the past criminal dealings of Dickey and the defendant as evidence of the defendant's guilt in the present case.
The defense presented the following alibi evidence.
Dorothy Liner, the defendant's grandmother, and Evelyn Thomas, the defendant's great-aunt, both of whom lived with the defendant, testified that the defendant was at home on the night of the robbery.
The defendant testified that on the night of the robbery, he was on intensive probation for a felony drunk-driving charge and that, pursuant to his curfew, he was home by 7 p.m. The defendant testified that he had known Michael Jones when they were children but that they quit spending time together because Michael associated with older boys who vandalized, and the defendant chose not to engage in such behavior. The defendant testified that he, alone, bought marijuana from Michael at approximately 6:40 p.m. on the night of the robbery. The defendant testified that he and Michael argued because Michael cheated ...
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...of society's problems distract jurors from the awesome responsibility with which they are charged." People v. Liner, 356 Ill. App.3d 284, 297, 292 Ill.Dec. 838, 826 N.E.2d 1274, 1287(2005). It must be clear beyond a reasonable doubt, that absent the prosecutor's comments, the jury could hav......
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