People v. Mitchell
| Decision Date | 20 December 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-15-3355,1-15-3355 |
| Citation | 2018 IL App (1st) 153355,123 N.E.3d 494,428 Ill.Dec. 765 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kevin MITCHELL, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Michael J. Pelletier, Patricia Mysza, and Manuel S. Serritos, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Kimberly M. Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg and Janet C. Mahoney, Assistant State’s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 After a jury trial, defendant Kevin Mitchell was convicted of felony murder predicated on aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to 60 years' imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). On appeal, defendant maintains 1) the charging instrument failed to provide him with adequate notice of the charge against him, 2) his due process rights were violated when the charging instrument failed to demonstrate that the prosecution had jurisdiction to charge him under Illinois law, and 3) he was denied a fair trial where the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the offense of aggravated kidnapping. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
¶ 3 On June 18, 1999, Darwin Green informed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that his twin brother, Darryl, had been kidnapped in Cook County, Illinois. The following day, Darryl's body was discovered alongside a road in a wooded area of Lake County, Indiana. His hands and feet were bound together with duct tape and he had four gunshot wounds
to the back of his head.
¶ 4 After a lengthy investigation by the State and the FBI, defendant was indicted by a grand jury on 26 counts stemming from allegations that he kidnapped and murdered Darryl on June 18, 1999. The 26 charges included: 13 counts of murder, five counts of knowing and intentional murder, five counts of strong probability murder, one count of felony murder predicated on aggravated kidnapping, one count of felony murder predicated on armed robbery, and one count of felony murder predicated on burglary, eight counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of armed robbery, three counts of burglary, and one count of aggravated unlawful restraint. The indictments alleged that the 26 charged offenses occurred in Cook County and that defendant, while armed with a firearm, along with three other individuals Dimeyon Cole, Menard McAfee, and Raymond Winters (codefendants), kidnapped Darryl, held him for ransom, and caused his death.
¶ 5 Defendant proceeded to represent himself pro se during the trial. Prior to opening statements, but after the jury had been selected, the State nol-prossed 25 counts and elected to proceed only on count three of the indictment, felony murder ( 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(3) (West 1998) ) predicated on aggravated kidnapping. On appeal, defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence or the trial testimony, accordingly only that testimony relevant to the appeal is recounted herein.
¶ 6 The State presented the following evidence which included the testimony of two codefendants, Winters and McAfee. Winters and McAfee both testified that in exchange for their truthful testimony they pleaded guilty with regard to this offense and received respective sentences of 10 and 30 years, to run concurrently with sentences they were already serving for offenses unrelated to this case.
¶ 7 The evidence presented was as follows. At the time of his death, the victim Darryl and his twin brother Darwin owned and operated a beeper store located in Broadview, Illinois. In June 1999, defendant and his codefendants discussed kidnapping someone and holding them for ransom. They ultimately decided to kidnap one of the owners of the beeper store. After casing the store, on June 18, 1999, Winters and McAfee entered the establishment armed with at least one firearm. Darryl, who happened to be working in the store at the time, had his limbs duct taped and was carried out of the store by Winters and McAfee. Darryl was placed into a Chevy Astro van where defendant and Cole were waiting inside. Defendant and his codefendants transported Darryl to a residence located next door to defendant's mother's house in the 3900 block of West Maypole Avenue in Chicago.
¶ 8 At 2:30 p.m. Darwin received a phone call on his cell phone. When Darwin answered, the caller informed him "we got your brother" and hung up. Darwin did not recognize the voice and believed it to be a prank call. Darwin, however, received four or five more phone calls to the same effect and the caller indicated that he wanted $200,000 for Darryl's return. Darwin informed the caller that he did not have $200,000, so the caller then demanded $100,000. Darwin responded to the caller he needed time to obtain the funds.
¶ 9 In the meantime, Darwin went to the beeper store and found the front door to be locked. Darwin telephoned Darryl's girlfriend Tiffany and requested she bring the key to the business. When Tiffany arrived, Darwin went inside and found the store to be in disarray.
¶ 10 Darwin then called the FBI to inform them of his brother's kidnapping. Darwin met with FBI special agents Matt Alcoke and Jim Stover at the Broadview, Illinois police station. After informing them about the phone calls, Darwin agreed to let the FBI agents record the calls.
¶ 11 Winters testified that at 8 p.m. he called Darwin and told him to arrange for Darryl's funeral. Two voices can be heard on the recording of the phone call, which was published to the jury. One of the voices on the recording was identified by defendant's girlfriend, Stephanie Lewis and McAfee's sister, Marianne McAfee, as belonging to defendant. Darwin did not receive any further phone calls regarding his brother's abduction.
¶ 12 Believing Darwin had contacted the authorities, defendant and his codefendants decided to drive to Indiana, approximately one and a half hours away. Winters drove the Chevy Astro van while defendant provided him with directions. During the drive, Darryl was beaten over the head with a steering wheel locking device and stunned with a taser. According to Winters, they hoped that by beating Darryl they could somehow still obtain the ransom money. Defendant directed Winters to exit the highway when they reached Gary, Indiana. Winters then turned down a wooded residential street and made a U-turn. The van stopped by the side of the road where defendant, Cole, and McAfee exited the vehicle. Defendant and McAfee carried Darryl out of the vehicle and placed him in a ditch. McAfee then remained outside the vehicle as a look out while defendant and Cole stayed with Darryl. Winters and McAfee then heard at least three gunshots. Defendant and Cole subsequently returned to the van. According to McAfee, defendant informed them that Cole was too scared to pull the trigger so defendant said he had to do it.
¶ 13 Eleanor Jonson testified that at the same time as the van was pulling into the residential street, she was pulling her vehicle into her friend's driveway. Jonson also testified she noticed the van make a U-turn. Jonson watched from a distance as two men lifted what she testified looked like a large rug out of the van. The two men threw the object they were carrying into a ditch on the side of the road and Jonson heard three gunshots. The next day, Jonson walked over to the location where she observed the men and discovered Darryl's body. Jonson thereafter contacted the authorities.
¶ 14 An autopsy was conducted by the Lake County, Indiana medical examiner who determined that Darryl died due to four gunshot wounds
to the head. Three .380 caliber shell casings were discovered at the scene and three bullets were recovered from Darryl's body during the autopsy. According to Brian Mayland, a forensic scientist with the Illinois State Police and an expert in firearms identification, the three bullets were discharged from the same firearm.
¶ 15 During their investigation FBI special agents Stover and Alcoke discovered that the Chevy Astro van was driven exclusively by defendant but registered to Stephanie Lewis, defendant's girlfriend. They also discovered that the cell phone used to make the ransom calls was owned by Winters. The FBI agents later located the Chevy Astro van, obtained a search warrant, and searched the vehicle. In conducting the search, 14 separate sets of fingerprints were recovered, one which they identified as matching Winters' fingerprints. A steering wheel locking device was also discovered inside the vehicle. A preliminary test indicated the presence of blood on the device. A subsequent DNA test revealed that it was Darryl's blood.
¶ 16 The State rested and defendant rested without presenting any evidence. After closing arguments and jury instructions, the jury deliberated and ultimately found defendant guilty of felony murder predicated on aggravated kidnapping ( 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(3) (West 1998) ). During posttrial motions defendant was represented by counsel. Defense counsel filed a motion in arrest of judgment and a motion for a new trial. In relevant part, defense counsel argued that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the case because the murder occurred in Indiana. The trial court denied the motions. The matter then proceeded to sentencing where defendant was sentenced to 60 years' imprisonment in the IDOC. This appeal followed.
¶ 18 On appeal, defendant maintains 1) the charging instrument failed to provide him with adequate notice of the charge against him, 2) his due process rights were violated when the charging instrument failed to demonstrate the prosecution had jurisdiction to charge defendant under Illinois law, and 3) he was denied a fair trial where the trial court failed to instruct the jury on the offense of aggravated kidnapping. We address each issue in turn.
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