People v. Mejia

Decision Date24 May 1993
Docket NumberNo. 1-89-3126,1-89-3126
Citation247 Ill.App.3d 55,617 N.E.2d 799
Parties, 187 Ill.Dec. 342 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Antonio MEJIA, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois

Randolph N. Stone, Cook County Public Defender, Chicago (Frank Madea, Asst. Public Defender, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Jack O'Malley, Cook County State's Atty., Chicago (Renee Goldfarb, David Stabrawa, Marcia G. Northrup, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice BUCKLEY delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant Antonio Mejia was found guilty of two counts of reckless homicide. The trial judge sentenced defendant to two concurrent four-year terms in the Illinois State Penitentiary. The judge also fined defendant $1,000 for the Public Defender's costs and charged him $140 for court costs. The issues defendant raises on appeal are: (1) that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because the State failed to prove he was the driver of the car that caused the death of his two companions; and (2) that he is entitled to a new trial because his defense would have been different had his counsel been aware of several police reports which the State neglected to tender to defense counsel until after the prosecutor had presented his case. Additionally, we granted both sides in this litigation leave to file supplemental briefs on the issue of whether defendant was denied the effective assistance of counsel when, after receiving these reports in the middle of trial, defense counsel agreed to stipulate to the information in the reports instead of requesting another remedy.

Officer Michael Bennon testified that on April 18, 1987, at approximately 4:15 a.m., he and his partner, Officer Mark Juska, were stopped for a red light on Ogden Avenue at Milwaukee when they observed a 1971 green two-door Plymouth Fury (Plymouth) with three occupants traveling westbound on Chicago Avenue at a high rate of speed. According to Bennon, two of the occupants were in the front seat and one person was in the rear behind the front seat passenger. Bennon stated that the Plymouth went through a red light at Ogden, made a right turn and proceeded northeast on Ogden. Bennon testified that they pursued the Plymouth after turning on their "Mars" lights and their siren and activating the patrol cars flashing high beam. Bennon estimated that they were about 200 to 250 feet behind the Plymouth and that the Plymouth was traveling at approximately 60 miles an hour.

According to Bennon, the Plymouth swerved hard to the left across the northbound lanes over the double yellow line to the southbound lanes and to the south curb. Bennon stated that, as the Plymouth was about to hit the south curb, it swerved back across the southbound lanes toward the north curb. Bennon estimated that the distance between their car and the Plymouth was "about 100 feet, maybe a little less" when the Plymouth first hit the retaining wall on the north side of the street. Officer Bennon described this first impact in detail:

"The vehicle struck the retaining wall. It bounced backwards, and it struck the wall again and, at that point, the vehicle, with the rear tires spinning, was turning to the side while riding along the wall."

Bennon then testified that the car spun around and "completely changed directions while up against the wall." Bennon estimated that, at the time the Plymouth turned while up against the wall, they were within 30 to 50 feet of the Plymouth. He emphasized that "I had to break the squad car so I didn't strike the vehicle." He stated that, after the Plymouth turned, they "were broadside to the car, in other words perpendicular to it" and could see the driver. He further testified that:

"The vehicle again proceeded from the north side of the northbound lanes, the east side of the street, across the road, across the northbound lanes, across the southbound lanes, strike [sic ] the retaining curb on the southbound lane side of the street, the west side of the street.

It jumped the curb, went up on the sidewalk and hit the pillars, the retaining wall for the pedestrians on the sidewalk at the end of the sidewalk. It came to rest there."

Bennon explained that, after the Plymouth came to rest, he stopped the patrol car about five feet behind the Plymouth. Bennon stated that they ran up to the driver's door and "observed the driver of the vehicle sliding over" to the passenger seat and attempting to exit through the passenger side door. According to Bennon, the damage from the accident prevented the door from opening, however, and defendant had to exit through the driver side door. Bennon stated that at this point he did not see any other people within the Plymouth.

Bennon further testified that, when defendant exited the Plymouth, his breath smelled strongly of alcohol, his eyes were bloodshot, he was having trouble standing, and his speech was slurred. Bennon said that as he placed defendant under arrest, Juska ran over to the two victims who lay in the northbound lanes just south of where the Plymouth came to rest. Defendant had a broken arm and small cuts and bruises on his head and was taken from the scene in an ambulance. Bennon also mentioned that they got two or three different names from defendant because it was hard to understand him. He stated that "M-I-K-I-A" was one of the names and "M-I-K-A" was another.

On cross-examination, Bennon conceded that in a traffic accident report made several hours after the incident, he did not include as graphic a description of the accident as he did at trial. Additionally, Bennon asserted that they only lost sight of the Plymouth "very briefly" for only a second or two in an underpass as the patrol car was entering the pass and the Plymouth was ascending. Bennon also admitted that he and his partner, Juska, spoke with Officers Smith and Wesolek, major accident traffic specialists, at the hospital on the morning of the accident. He denied telling Smith or Wesolek or hearing Juska tell Smith or Wesolek that both victims were front seat passengers. He also denied that he told either officer or heard Juska tell either officer that they were "300 feet behind the green vehicle when they lost sight of it where Ogden curves to the north." Moreover, he denied telling Smith or Wesolek or hearing Juska tell either officer that they heard a loud noise and when they got to the curve in the road they saw the Plymouth on the west side of the road up against the concrete railing.

On re-direct, the prosecutor brought out that Bennon had checked the "yes" box on his field report next to the question "did you see the defendant driving?" Bennon had not checked the box next to the question "if parked, was defendant behind the wheel?" Bennon explained that this box is only checked if the officer did not observe the accident, but is called to the scene or comes upon a stopped vehicle. He stressed that the reason he did not check this box was "because I didn't come upon a parked vehicle. I saw the accident."

On re-cross, Bennon maintained that he never lost sight of the Plymouth as it was crashing, but admitted that he did not see either victim "fly from the car."

Officer Juska's testimony was almost identical to Bennon's testimony. He also described the accident in detail. He stated that the Plymouth struck the east side embankment and then turned 90 degrees and went perpendicular to them and across their path into the west side embankment. He testified that at that point they were approximately 30 feet away and could see into the Plymouth. He stated that he saw only the defendant in the car. According to Juska's testimony, defendant was in the driver's seat with his hands on the steering wheel. Juska said, however, that Bennon opened the passenger door to get defendant out of the Plymouth.

Dr. Yuksel Konakci, a Cook County assistant medical examiner, testified that both victims died from multiple internal and external injuries caused by extreme blunt trauma due to being thrown from the automobile during the crash. He also stated that tests upon both victims' blood indicated that they were both legally intoxicated.

After Dr. Konakci's testimony, the parties stipulated that blood was taken from "Antonio Mikia" who, in fact, is defendant Antonio Mejia, and the blood was transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. Michael Schaffer, a forensic toxicologist, testified that the blood sample was analyzed and was found to have a .146 blood alcohol content.

After Dr. Schaffer testified, the court granted a defense request to recall Juska. Juska admitted to speaking with major traffic accident investigators Smith and Wesolek both at the scene and at the hospital. Juska said he did not recall telling nor did he hear Bennon tell either officer that they were 300 feet behind the Plymouth and lost sight of it where Ogden curves to the left going northbound. He also denied telling Smith or Wesolek or hearing Bennon state to Smith or Wesolek that they heard a loud noise and when they got around the curve they saw the Plymouth already on the west side of Ogden up against the concrete railing.

The State then rested and the judge excused the jury for the day. The judge then conducted a short conference with both parties to discuss the course of the proceedings the next day. Defense counsel indicated that, in addition to calling the defendant and Raphael Samaniego, the prosecutor "had indicated that he would make available to us Officer Smith and/or Wesolek in order to clarify some of this." The trial judge incredulously responded, "[w]ell, you're saying that the State is offering to attempt to get defense witnesses?" The prosecutor stated that Wesolek was on furlough and they would be unable to notify him, but that Smith had been notified. The judge reminded defense counsel that, although the...

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28 cases
  • People v. Johnson
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • December 31, 2014
    ...the evidence, assess the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts in the testimony. People v. Mejia, 247 Ill.App.3d 55, 62, 187 Ill.Dec. 342, 617 N.E.2d 799 (1993). In fulfilling its duty as the trier of fact, the jury is free to believe as much or as little as it pleases o......
  • People v. Tabb
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • June 14, 2007
    ...304. In fact, the jury may believe as much, or as little, of any witness' testimony as it sees fit. People v. Mejia, 247 Ill.App.3d 55, 62, 187 Ill.Dec. 342, 617 N.E.2d 799 (1993). Whether eyewitness testimony is trustworthy is typically within the common knowledge and experience of the ave......
  • People v. Ward
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • February 2, 2007
    ...as the shooter. The lack of power in this impeachment evidence distinguishes the instant case from People v. Mejia, 247 Ill.App.3d 55, 187 Ill.Dec. 342, 617 N.E.2d 799 (1993), a vehicular reckless homicide case on which defendant relies, where the defendant's counsel failed to fully present......
  • People v. Johnson, 1–12–2459.
    • United States
    • United States Appellate Court of Illinois
    • December 31, 2013
    ...the evidence, assess the credibility of the witnesses and to resolve any conflicts in the testimony. People v. Mejia, 247 Ill.App.3d 55, 62, 187 Ill.Dec. 342, 617 N.E.2d 799 (1993). In fulfilling its duty as the trier of fact, the jury is free to believe as much or as little as it pleases o......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • § 8.12 Right to Counsel
    • United States
    • Illinois DUI and Traffic-Related Decisions Section 8 Reckless Homicide
    • Invalid date
    ...8.12 Right to Counsel § 8.12-1 Effectiveness of Counsel § 8.12-1(a) Not Shown People v. Mejia, 247 Ill. App. 3d 55, 617 N.E.2d 799, 187 Ill. Dec. 342 (1st Dist. 1993). Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of reckless homicide. The appellate court reversed and remanded the caus......

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