People v. McIntosh

• Decision Date: 30 January 2020
• Docket Number: NO. 5-17-0068,5-17-0068
• Citation: 438 Ill.Dec. 744,146 N.E.3d 813,2020 IL App (5th) 170068
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Dallas MCINTOSH, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2020 IL App (5th) 170068
146 N.E.3d 813
438 Ill.Dec. 744

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Dallas MCINTOSH, Defendant-Appellant.

NO. 5-17-0068

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District.

Opinion Filed: January 30, 2020
Rehearing denied March 13, 2020

Kathryn B. Parish, of Carlyle Parish, LLC, of St. Louis, Missouri, for appellant.

James A. Gomric, State's Attorney, of Belleville (Patrick Delfino, Patrick D. Daly, and Sharon D. Shanahan, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

JUSTICE BOIE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

438 Ill.Dec. 748

¶ 1 The defendant, Dallas McIntosh, entered into a partially negotiated plea of guilty but mentally ill to the following offenses: aggravated battery with a firearm involving a peace officer ( 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05(e)(2) (West 2012)), two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm against a peace officer (id. § 24-1.2(a)(3)), unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver ( 720 ILCS 550/5(e) (West 2012)), and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer ( 625 ILCS 5/11-204.1(a) (West 2012)). The circuit court sentenced the defendant to a 40-year term of imprisonment for the conviction of aggravated battery with a firearm involving a peace officer and a 40-year term of imprisonment for each of the two convictions of aggravated discharge of a firearm against a peace officer. It sentenced the defendant to a seven-year term of imprisonment for the conviction of unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver and a six-year term of imprisonment for aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer. The court ordered these sentences to run concurrent. The defendant moved to withdraw his plea and requested the circuit court to reconsider his sentences. The circuit court denied these requests. The defendant now appeals his convictions and sentences. For the following reasons, we affirm.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 On September 25, 2012, at approximately 1:49 a.m., Officer Jeffrey Stratman of the Fairview Heights Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a gray 2010 Chevrolet Camaro driven by the defendant. A dash camera (dash cam) from Officer Stratman's squad car recorded the traffic stop. The dash cam video recording

146 N.E.3d 818

438 Ill.Dec. 749

showed the defendant activating his turn signal and then immediately changing lanes. The video showed the defendant pulling over after Stratman activated his overhead lights and then showed Officer Stratman approaching the defendant's vehicle. Officer Stratman is heard on the video telling the defendant, "The reason I stopped you tonight, in the State of Illinois you got to signal 100 feet in advance before you are going to make a lane change. You can't just hit the signal and change." Officer Stratman took the defendant's license and returned to his squad car to run a check on the license. During the course of the traffic stop, Officer Stratman filled out a warning ticket for the signal violation. The warning ticket had a checkmark next to a box indicating "failure to signal." At the bottom of the ticket, Officer Stratman also checked a box indicating "other" and wrote "improper signal."

¶ 4 At some point during the traffic stop, a K-9 officer, Jeff Blair, arrived at the scene along with another uniformed patrol officer, Larry Flinn. The dash cam video shows that Officer Blair approached the defendant's vehicle with his dog. The record indicates that the dog alerted positive for the presence of drugs on the passenger side of the Camaro.

¶ 5 The dash cam video shows Officer Stratman walking back to the driver's side of the defendant's vehicle holding a flashlight in front of his chest. He asked the defendant to step out of the vehicle. As the defendant opened the driver's door, he pointed a handgun directly at Officer Stratman and fired one shot at close range. The bullet struck Officer Stratman's flashlight, and shrapnel from the impacted flashlight pierced the officer's hand. The defendant then pointed the handgun at Officer Flinn and fired two shots in his direction. Both shots missed. The officers at the scene returned fire, and the defendant sped away in the Camaro.

¶ 6 Several police officers pursued the defendant through East St. Louis to his parents' home in Centreville, Illinois, where he stopped in the driveway. The officers arrested the defendant in the driveway. Inside the Camaro, the officers recovered two handguns and a purse containing a digital scale and $10,000 in cash. They also recovered a duffel bag containing approximately 3½ pounds of cannabis. The warning ticket that Officer Stratman had prepared was never given to the defendant but was later recovered from Officer Stratman's squad car.

¶ 7 On October 4, 2012, the State charged the defendant with 10 offenses stemming from these events: two counts of attempted first degree murder, one count of aggravated battery, three counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm against a peace officer, one count of armed violence, one count of unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and one count of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer. The defendant hired private defense counsel (defense attorney) to provide for his defense. On the request of the defense attorney, Dr. Michael Cuneo evaluated the defendant's fitness for trial. Dr. Cuneo submitted a report finding that the defendant was fit for trial. At a fitness hearing conducted on April 7, 2014, the parties stipulated that Dr. Cuneo would testify consistently with his report, and the circuit court found that the defendant was fit for trial. On September 10, 2014, Dr. Cuneo submitted an amended report in which he opined that the defendant qualified for a plea of guilty but mentally ill.

¶ 8 On September 11, 2014, the parties appeared in court and announced a partially negotiated plea. The defendant agreed

146 N.E.3d 819

438 Ill.Dec. 750

to plead guilty but mentally ill to 5 of the 10 counts as follows: aggravated battery with a firearm involving a peace officer, two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm against a peace officer, unlawful possession of cannabis with intent to deliver, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer. In exchange for the defendant's plea, the State agreed to dismiss the five remaining charges, which included the two charges of attempted first degree murder. The parties stipulated to Dr. Cuneo's September 10, 2014, report in which he opined that the defendant qualified for a plea of guilty but mentally ill, and the parties stipulated that Dr. Cuneo would testify consistently with his reports if called as a witness. See 725 ILCS 5/115-2(b) (West 2014).

¶ 9 For the offense of aggravated battery with a firearm against a peace officer, a Class X felony, the sentencing range was 15 to 60 years of imprisonment. 720 ILCS 5/12-3.05(h) (West 2012). The parties agreed to a sentencing range of 20 to 45 years of imprisonment. With respect to the two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm against a peace officer, a Class X felony, the sentencing range was 10 to 45 years. Id. § 24-1.2(b). The parties agreed to a sentencing range of 20 to 45 years of imprisonment. The offense of unlawful possession of cannabis with the intent to deliver, a Class 2 felony, had a sentencing range of three to seven years of imprisonment. 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-35(a) (West 2012). The parties agreed that probation would not be an option for that offense. The offense of aggravated fleeing, a Class 4 felony, had a sentencing range of one to six years of imprisonment. Id. § 5-4.5-45(a). The parties agreed that probation would not be an option for that offense. The plea agreement called for the sentences to run concurrently.

¶ 10 At the plea hearing, the circuit court advised the defendant of the charges against him and the possible sentences for the 10 charged offenses. The defendant stated that he understood the possible punishment for each offense. The court advised the defendant that the only part of the plea agreement that it was agreeing to follow was that it would not impose consecutive sentences. The court advised the defendant, "I'm agreeing not to impose a consecutive sentence and not to impose a sentence of more than 45 years." The court advised the defendant of the constitutional rights he was giving up as a result of his plea. The defendant stated that he understood those rights and wanted to plead guilty but mentally ill.

¶ 11 The State presented the factual basis for the plea, which included a statement by the prosecutor that the defendant was pulled over "for failure to signal when changing lanes." The prosecutor also told the court that Officer Stratman had completed a warning ticket for the defendant's failure to signal. The defense attorney told the court, "we agree with the stipulation as stated by [the prosecutor]." The State also submitted a written stipulation signed by the prosecutor and the defense attorney that stipulated, among other things, that evidence existed beyond a reasonable doubt proving that the defendant knowingly caused injury to...