People v. Meeks

• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois
• Writing for the Court: CERDA
• Citation: People v. Meeks, 618 N.E.2d 1000, 249 Ill.App.3d 152 (Ill. App. 1993)
• Decision Date: 30 June 1993
• Docket Number: 1-91-4123,Nos. 1-91-1192,s. 1-91-1192
• Parties: , 188 Ill.Dec. 430 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Phillip MEEKS, Defendant-Appellant.

Page 1000

618 N.E.2d 1000

249 Ill.App.3d 152, 188 Ill.Dec. 430

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Phillip MEEKS, Defendant-Appellant.

Nos. 1-91-1192, 1-91-4123.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Third Division.

June 30, 1993.

Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago (Patricia Mysza, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Jack O'Malley, State's Atty. of Cook County, Chicago (Renee Goldfarb, Christine Cook, Kevin M. Gleason, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice CERDA delivered the opinion of the court:

On June 13, 1989, following a jury trial, defendant, Phillip Meeks, was found guilty of attempted first degree murder (Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 38, pars. 8-4, 9-1) and sentenced to 45 years' imprisonment. On October 8, 1991, defendant filed a pro se petition for post-conviction relief. The trial court dismissed the petition and a late notice of appeal was filed.

On appeal, defendant asserts that (1) the post-conviction court erred in denying his timely-filed motion for recusal, which alleged that the judge was biased and would be a witness in the post-conviction proceedings; (2) the post-conviction court's summary dismissal of the pro se post-conviction petition must be reversed because the petition raised the constitutional claim that the prosecutor knowingly used false testimony at trial; (3) his right to self representation was denied because the trial court granted his motion to proceed pro se and appointed an assistant public defender to assist him, but allowed counsel to conduct the entire defense; (4) he is entitled to a new post-trial motion hearing because the trial court denied his pro se motions to inquire into the assistant public defender's ineffectiveness and for a continuance; (5) he did not make a valid waiver of his right to counsel at sentencing because the trial court failed to admonish him of the nature of the offenses and the minimum and maximum sentences he faced; and (6) he is entitled to a new sentencing hearing. We affirm.

Prior to trial, there were nine months of pre-trial motions. During that time, defendant alternately waived his right to counsel and accepted representation by an assistant public defender. In addition to the pre-trial motions filed by the defense counsel, defendant filed nearly 20 pro se motions and petitions. Just prior to the start of trial, the trial court granted defendant's request to proceed as co-counsel with assistant Public Defender Edward Ptacek. When jury selection began, the trial court identified Ptacek to the prospective jurors as defendant's attorney.

At trial, Antonine Heath testified that she and defendant had been involved in a relationship from 1984 until August 14, 1988. On that date, defendant moved into a second-floor apartment in the same building where Heath and her three children lived on the third floor.

On the morning of September 10, 1988, two of Heath's friends, Marvin Gibbs and Terry Johnson, helped her with repairs in her apartment. Sometime after noon, Heath, Gibbs, and Johnson left the apartment and went to Heath's car, which was parked in an adjacent lot.

As Heath put her key into the ignition, she saw defendant running toward her with a shotgun, which was pointed at the car. Gibbs and Johnson got out of the car and ran across the parking lot. Unable to escape, Heath lay down on the front seat. She heard a gunshot and glass shattering, then felt something strike her in her left hip area.

A few minutes later, Heath sat up and reached for the driver's side door handle. She saw defendant by the front passenger door pointing the shotgun at her. Heath pushed the driver's side door open and heard another shot, which struck her in the right side of the neck. Heath fell to the ground and lay on the ground beside the car with both her hands over her head. Defendant stood over Heath and shot her in her hands.

Heath lay still with her eyes closed until paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital, where she remained for four weeks. As a result of the shooting, Heath lost three fingers on her left hand and her right wrist is fused in place by a bone taken from her pelvis. She returned to the hospital on at least two occasions for further treatment.

On cross-examination, Heath testified that she had lived with defendant for over three years and he helped support her three children. Heath had an argument with defendant on August 13, 1988, which was the day before defendant moved out. The trial court sustained the State's objections to questions relating to the subject of the argument.

In a sidebar, defendant asked the trial court if Heath could be cross-examined regarding her eviction from her apartment in July of 1988 and the events in August 1988 that precipitated his moving out. The trial court denied defendant's request.

Terry Johnson then testified that he saw defendant working on his car outside Heath's apartment building on the morning of September 10, 1988. After finishing repairs in Heath's apartment, Johnson, Gibbs, and Heath went to Heath's car, where Johnson got into the car's back seat. He saw defendant running toward the car with a shotgun in his hand. As defendant fired a shot through the driver's side window, Johnson heard him say, "I couldn't take it no more."

Johnson and Gibbs fled from the car, ran across the parking lot, and hid behind a nearby van. Johnson heard a second shot, then saw defendant go around the front of the car and point the gun downward toward Heath. After hearing a third shot, Johnson saw defendant throw the gun on his shoulder and run down a nearby alley.

In a sidebar conference during Johnson's cross-examination, defense counsel informed the trial court that defendant wanted to participate more directly in the proceedings. The trial court denied the request.

Prior to recommencing the proceedings on the following day, defendant informed the court that he learned the previous evening, during several phone calls, that the prosecutor had promised Heath $25,000 to testify falsely against him. Defendant would not divulge the source of this information. After briefly speaking with defendant, defense counsel informed the court that defendant wanted to be excluded from the courtroom. The trial court did not respond.

Nathaniel Heath, Antonine Heath's 13 year-old son, testified that he was looking out the front window when he saw his mother, Gibbs, and Johnson walk toward the rear of their building. He also saw defendant, who was sitting on a porch two houses away, go to his car, which was in front of the apartment building. Defendant got a shotgun from under the driver's seat and walked toward the rear of the building.

Nathaniel ran to the dining room window from where he saw defendant point the shotgun at the driver's side window of Heath's car and say, "I'm tired of this." Defendant fired the gun and glass shattered as Gibbs and Johnson ran from the car. Defendant went around to the passenger side, raised the shotgun, and fired a second shot into the passenger side window.

When Nathaniel saw his mother fall out of the car, he awoke his sister. The two of them ran to the kitchen window from where Nathaniel saw defendant put the gun over his shoulder and run down a nearby alley.

Tane Lynette Heath, Antonine Heath's 15 year-old daughter, testified that she was lying down in her room when she heard two loud noises. Nathaniel ran into her room and the two of them went to the kitchen window from where Tane saw her mother open the car door and fall out. Defendant, who had a shotgun in his hands, was walking around the car to where Heath was lying on the ground. Tane began to scream for help and ran outside.

Following this testimony, a sidebar was held. The trial court informed defendant that he could present any additional information regarding the alleged telephone conversations he had concerning the possible bribing of witnesses by the State. Defendant presented no additional information, but requested to be excused from the courtroom until sentencing.

Defendant stated that he disagreed with the defense theory Ptacek intended to present, which was that defendant did not intend to kill Heath. In addition, defendant asked that subpoenas for three defense witnesses be rescinded because their testimony would address the defense theory defendant wanted to present, which was that he was provoked by the victim as a result of her alleged love affairs with other men, rather than address Ptacek's defense theory. Ptacek told the court that he had spoken to two of the three witnesses and did not think that their testimony would be admissible. When the jury returned, the trial court informed it that defendant was exercising his right not to be present for the remainder of his trial.

Next, Chicago police officer Frank Valadez testified that he arrived shortly after the shooting. When Valadez ran through a nearby alley looking for defendant, he came upon a shed in the alley where he saw defendant, who Valadez identified from a photograph, standing in the doorway. Defendant was holding the barrel of the shotgun in his mouth.

Shortly afterwards, the Hostage Barricade Tactical Team arrived. After speaking with defendant for two and one-half hours, defendant surrendered. Valadez returned to the scene of the shooting and recovered three spent shells near Heath's car. He also searched defendant's car and found a box of shotgun shells in the trunk.

After the State rested, defendant returned to the courtroom and testified in his own behalf. Defendant, who was 58 years old, testified that he met Heath in October 1984 and lived with her and her three children from January 1985 until August 1988. The relationship began to deteriorate and defendant learned that Heath was having an affair with Marvin Gibbs.

On August 13, 1988, defendant drove Heath to her mother's house and waited outside. While speaking with a neighbor, defendant saw Gibbs go into the...