People v. Meyers

• Decision Date: 03 December 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1-14-0891,1-14-0891
• Citation: 430 Ill.Dec. 285,2018 IL App (1st) 140891,126 N.E.3d 11
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Brandon MEYERS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

2018 IL App (1st) 140891

126 N.E.3d 11

430 Ill.Dec. 285

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Brandon MEYERS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-14-0891

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District.

Opinion filed December 3, 2018

Modified upon denial of rehearing March 4, 2019

Michael J. Pelletier, Patricia Mysza, and Christopher L. Gehrke, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Kimberly M. Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg and Brian A. Levitsky, Assistant State’s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

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

¶ 1 Chicago Police officers Jason Bala, Francisco Iza, and Marc Debose were on patrol in an unmarked squad car when they saw a grey car run a red light. When the officers pulled the car over, defendant Brandon Meyers and codefendant Riley Fleming exited and fled on foot. Officer Iza and Officer Debose chased after defendant and Fleming as they ran across a street and into a vacant lot. Fleming ran through the lot diagonally and down a gangway, successfully evading Officer Debose. Defendant tripped over the curb before reaching the vacant lot but got up and kept running. About halfway through the vacant lot, defendant allegedly turned to his right, pulled a handgun, and fired a single shot. Officer Iza returned fire. Defendant fell to the ground and dropped his gun. Officer Iza placed defendant under arrest.

¶ 2 As it turned out, defendant and Fleming were in the process of fleeing an armed robbery when they ran the red light in the grey car and were pulled over. The robbery victims positively identified defendant and Fleming, and they were charged with a host of criminal offenses related to the armed robbery. None of the charges related to the armed robbery are under consideration here, and Fleming is not a party to this appeal.

¶ 3 In connection with defendant's alleged discharge of a firearm at Officers Iza and Debose, he was separately charged with four counts of attempted first degree murder (counts I through IV) ( 720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 9-1(a) (West 2008) ) and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a peace officer (counts V and VI) ( 720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(3) (West 2008) ). A jury acquitted defendant of the attempted first degree murder charges ( 720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 9-1(a) (West 2008) ) but found defendant guilty of both counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a peace officer ( 720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(3) (West 2008). The trial court sentenced defendant to two concurrent 19-year terms of imprisonment.

¶ 4 Defendant appeals his convictions for aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a peace officer ( 720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(3) (West 2008). He argues that (1) the evidence failed to prove defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, (2) the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted testimonial and photographic evidence of a bullet hole in the siding of a garage at the scene of the shooting, (3) the trial court erred when it limited defendant's cross-examination, and (4) the prosecutor's closing arguments deprived defendant of a fair trial. We affirm.

¶ 5 BACKGROUND

¶ 6 On July 1, 2009, Chicago Police officers Bala, Iza, and Debose were on patrol in an unmarked squad car when they saw a grey car run a red light. Officer Bala made a U-turn, activated his emergency lights, and pulled the car over. Defendant and codefendant Riley Fleming exited the car. As defendant exited, Officer Bala saw him place a handgun in his waistband. Officer Bala yelled to his fellow officers that defendant was armed. Fleming and defendant fled on foot, and a chase ensued: Officer Bala followed the driver in his squad car, while Officer Iza and Officer Debose pursued defendant and Fleming on foot.

¶ 7 With officers close behind, defendant and Fleming ran across a street and headed for a vacant lot. Fleming, followed by Officer Debose, ran through the lot diagonally and down a gangway, successfully evading capture. Defendant, followed by Officer Iza, tripped over the curb before reaching the lot but quickly got up and kept running. When defendant reached the lot's halfway point, he stopped, turned to his right, and fired one shot from a gun held in his left hand. Officer Iza returned fire, and defendant fell to the ground. Defendant's gun fell from his hand. Officer Iza placed defendant under arrest, and a Chicago police detective placed paper bags over defendant's hands to preserve gunshot residue evidence. Defendant was then transported to a hospital. Fleming was later found hiding under a car and placed under arrest.

¶ 8 Shortly after defendant and Fleming's arrest, two individuals approached police officers in the vicinity of the shooting to report that they had recently been robbed at gunpoint. Defendant and Fleming were positively identified as the robbers and charged, as codefendants, with various criminal offenses related to the armed robbery. Defendant was separately charged with four counts of attempted first degree murder of Officer Iza and Officer Debose (counts I through IV) ( 720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 9-1(a) (West 2008) ) and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in the direction of a peace officer (counts V and VI) ( 720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(3) (West 2008) ). Defendant and Fleming¹ proceeded to a consolidated trial before a single jury.

¶ 9 We highlight only those facts necessary to the resolution of the issues raised in defendant's appeal.

¶ 10 At defendant's trial, Officer Debose testified that he and his fellow officers pulled over a grey Ford Focus for running a red light. Defendant and Fleming exited the car, and Officer Debose heard Officer Bala yell that defendant had a gun. Defendant and Fleming fled on foot, and a chase ensued: Officer Debose followed Fleming while Officer Iza followed defendant. Officer Debose testified that he announced his office "9 or 10 times," but defendant continued to run. Defendant had his arms at his waistband, "like he had something there." After defendant tripped over the curb, Officer Debose saw defendant get up and "put his hands back towards his waistband." Though his focus was directed to Fleming, who took a "hard right" through the vacant lot and ran down a gangway, Officer Debose testified that he heard a single gunshot and then a "whizzing sound." Officer Debose ducked, got up, and turned to see defendant holding a gun in his left hand. Defendant's right hand was on his left wrist. Officer Debose testified that he heard Officer Iza return "four or five shots" at defendant and saw him fall to the ground. Officer Debose admitted that he did not see defendant fire his gun.

¶ 11 Officer Iza testified that he never saw a gun in defendant's waistband but did see defendant hold onto his side as he ran. Officer Iza saw defendant trip over the curb, get up, and keep running. When defendant reached the vacant lot's halfway point, Officer Iza testified that defendant turned to the right and fired one shot at him from a gun held in defendant's left hand. Officer Iza testified that he was within 10 feet of defendant when he saw the muzzle of defendant's gun "flash" and then heard a "whizzing sound." Officer Iza returned "three or four shots" at defendant and saw defendant fall to the ground. Officer Iza testified that he then placed defendant under arrest.

¶ 12 During the direct examinations of Officer Iza and Officer Debose, the State played a surveillance video that had recorded part of the foot chase. The video captured Fleming and defendant running across the street with Officers Iza and Debose close behind. However, the video was stationary and did not capture the shooting. The trial court permitted the officers to narrate the events depicted in the video, but when defendant asked Officer Debose to describe the events captured on the video, the State objected. The trial court sustained the State's objections and explained that the video "speaks for itself." The trial continued.

¶ 13 The State introduced a photograph of a hole in the siding of a garage into evidence at trial. Officer Iza testified that the hole depicted in the photograph was the "entry wound

" of the bullet discharged from defendant's gun. Officer Iza further testified that the bullet hole aligned with the trajectory of the shot fired by defendant and that the hole "looked like it was fresh" because he did not observe any "rust" around the hole. Defendant repeatedly objected to the State's line of questioning as speculative, but the trial court overruled defendant's objections. On cross-examination, Officer Iza testified that he had "no way of knowing" whether the bullet discharged from defendant's gun created the hole depicted in the photograph.

¶ 14 Edwin Huels, an evidence technician for the Chicago Police Department, was assigned to recover evidence from the scene of the shooting and testified for the State. Technician Huels testified that he photographed the bullet hole in the siding of the garage and described it as "free of rust and debris," but he admitted that he did not access the garage or recover the bullet. Technician Huels did, however, recover defendant's firearm and four 9-millimeter cartridge cases from the scene of the shooting. Each bullet casing was later determined by a forensic scientist to have been fired from Officer Iza's gun. The bullet casing discharged from defendant's gun was not recovered.

¶ 15 Robert Berk, a trace evidence analyst, testified that he received and analyzed the gunshot residue kit administered to defendant's hands. Analyst Berk testified that in order to find a positive presence of gunshot residue, he must find three "unique" gunshot residue particles: a unique gunshot residue particle is one composed of "lead, barium and antimony" elements. Analyst Berk found three unique particles on defendant's right hand and two unique particles on defendant's left hand. Analyst Berk testified that defendant's right hand...