People v. Nere
| Decision Date | 29 June 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 2-14-1143.,2-14-1143. |
| Citation | 2017 IL App (2d) 141143,82 N.E.3d 728 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Jennifer N. NERE, Defendant–Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
David P. Gaughan, of Law Office of David P. Gaughan, of Chicago, for appellant.
Robert B. Berlin, State's Attorney, of Wheaton (Lisa A. Hoffman and Sean P. Kinsella, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 After a jury trial, defendant, Jennifer N. Nere, was convicted of drug-induced homicide ( 720 ILCS 5/9–3.3(a) (West 2012)) and sentenced to nine years' imprisonment. On appeal, she argues that (1) the trial court erred in giving several improper jury instructions and refusing other instructions and (2) she was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We affirm.
¶ 2 The drug-induced-homicide statute reads, in pertinent part, "A person who violates Section 401 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act [ ( 720 ILCS 570/401 (West 2012) ) ] *** by unlawfully delivering a controlled substance to another, and any person's death is caused by the injection, inhalation, absorption, or ingestion of any amount of that substance, commits the offense of drug-induced homicide." 720 ILCS 5/9–3.3(a) (West 2012). Defendant was charged with committing (1) unlawful delivery of a controlled substance ( 720 ILCS 570/401(d) (West 2012)) in that, on June 27 or June 28, 2012, she knowingly and unlawfully delivered less than one gram of a substance containing heroin; and (2) drug-induced homicide in that she knowingly delivered heroin to Augustina Taylor and "thereafter Augustina Taylor injected, inhaled, or ingested an amount of that heroin into her body and said injection, inhalation, or ingestion of heroin caused the death of Augustina Taylor."
¶ 3 We summarize the pertinent trial evidence. Wheaton police officers David Schatz and Jim Craig testified that, early on the morning of June 28, 2012, they were dispatched to the apartment of Diane Lockett, Taylor's mother. They forced open the locked bathroom door. Inside was Taylor, lying on the floor, apparently unconscious. Schatz saw a one-inch-by-one-inch baggie and a crack pipe. The officers moved her out of the bathroom. Paramedics, who had arrived in the meantime, administered CPR and took Taylor to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The officers reentered the bathroom, photographing and collecting evidence. The evidence included the baggie, the crack pipe, two cigarettes, a cigarette box, a lighter, two tinfoil bindles inside the cigarette box, and a dirty white-gray sock that contained a drug-cooking spoon, a syringe, and a plastic wrapper from the cigarette box. Schatz searched Taylor's personal belongings but found no prescription medicines.
¶ 4 Several members of Taylor's family testified about the circumstances preceding her death. Melanie Taylor (Melanie), her sister, testified on direct examination as follows. On June 26, 2012, she was residing at Lockett's apartment, along with her son, Erik Patterson, and Taylor's four children. That evening, everyone was there to welcome Taylor home from prison. When Taylor arrived that evening, she was in high spirits. The next day, the family had a cookout by the community pool. At about 1 or 2 p.m., Leslie Walker, Taylor's girlfriend, arrived alone. She and Taylor walked around the pool, talking. In the evening, after the pool closed, Melanie entered the apartment. Taylor and Walker were in the living room; Taylor was braiding Walker's hair. It was about 10:30 p.m. Taylor looked normal. Walker appeared to be asleep.
¶ 5 Melanie testified further that, later that night, she heard Joshua Coakley, Taylor's teenage son, talking on the house phone and knocking on the bathroom door, telling Taylor to get out because Walker wanted to talk to her. Coakley, Melanie, and Kiara, Taylor's daughter, then removed the bathroom doorknob and tried to force the door open. Coakley called the police. They arrived quickly, forced open the door, and carried Taylor into the living room. Taylor was soon taken to the hospital. Melanie went later and learned that Taylor had died.
¶ 6 Melanie testified on cross-examination as follows. Asked whether Taylor and Walker had "go[ne] upstairs for about an hour or two without the rest of the group," Melanie said that she did not so recall. Melanie had told a detective that Taylor and Walker went upstairs at some point, but she did not recall telling him that the two women had been alone for an hour or two. Melanie went inside between 7 and 8 p.m. Although Taylor and Walker did go inside before then, Melanie did not know whether they had then been by themselves; Lockett had gone inside earlier, and other residents of the apartment had been there that day.
¶ 7 Lockett testified as follows. On June 26, 2012, when she welcomed Taylor home, Taylor appeared very happy. The next day, at the barbecue, Walker arrived about 2 p.m., spoke to Lockett, then walked with Taylor around the pool. Lockett went inside about 5 p.m., and Taylor and Walker soon arrived. Taylor was happy and conversed with Lockett; there was nothing unusual about her demeanor.
¶ 8 Lockett testified that Taylor and Walker never went off by themselves that evening. At some point, around 9 or 10 p.m., Lockett, Taylor, and Walker were all sitting in the living room. Taylor was on the couch next to Lockett, braiding Walker's hair as Walker sat on the floor. Lockett and Taylor were talking; Taylor appeared fine and was happy to be home. Later, Taylor called to get Walker a ride home. Sometime afterward, Taylor said that Walker's ride had arrived, and Taylor and Walker left. Within five minutes, Taylor returned and said that she was going to shower. It was about 11:30 p.m. Taylor entered the bathroom. The phone rang and kept ringing. Lockett, Melanie, and Coakley tried to open the locked door but could only remove the knob. Lockett testified consistently with Melanie about the arrival of the police and paramedics and the eventual trip to the hospital.
¶ 9 Coakley testified on direct examination as follows. On June 26, 2012, at about 8 or 9 p.m., Taylor came home, happy to see her family. The next day, at the barbecue, Taylor appeared happy. When Walker arrived, she and Taylor went for a walk around the pool. Coakley saw them from time to time. About 8:30 or 9 p.m., Coakley returned to the apartment; everyone else appeared to have returned also. In the living room, Lockett and Taylor sat on the couch and Walker sat on the floor as Taylor braided her hair. Taylor was conversing with Lockett and there was nothing unusual about her demeanor or what she was saying. Walker was sleeping.
¶ 10 Coakley testified that, about 11 p.m., Taylor said that Walker's ride had arrived, and the two women left the apartment. A few minutes later, Taylor returned. She was talking, but she was "a little urgent," tugging on her shirt and "in a rush." She was holding two cigarettes. She said that she was going to take a shower. Patterson was in the bathroom, and she told him to get out. Taylor entered the bathroom, dropped the cigarettes into the sink, and closed the door. About 15 minutes passed until Coakley heard the shower go on. The phone rang twice.
Coakley saw from caller ID that it was Walker, but he did not answer. The third time the phone rang, he answered. Walker sounded "urgent" and "in a rush." Coakley hung up, told Lockett what Walker had said, and knocked repeatedly on the bathroom door. Coakley testified consistently with Melanie and Lockett about the remaining events before Taylor was taken to the hospital.
¶ 11 Coakley testified on cross-examination that, on June 27, 2012, Taylor and Walker were alone in the apartment for a time. On redirect, he said that he did not recall when this was, then testified that he did not think that the two women had been in the apartment all alone that day. On re-cross-examination, he did not recall what he had told a detective about this matter.
¶ 12 Patterson testified on direct examination as follows. At dinner on June 26, 2012, Taylor looked like "a new person." The next day at the barbecue, Patterson saw Walker arrive and spend time with Taylor, walking around the pool. When Patterson returned to the apartment, Taylor and Walker were in the living room. A short time later, from Coakley's bedroom, Patterson looked out and saw a car pull up. Taylor and Walker were outside, and Taylor went to the driver's window. About 10 minutes later, when Patterson was in the bathroom, Taylor came back and asked him to leave the bathroom. Patterson returned to Coakley's bedroom. After a while, he heard the telephone ring three times; Coakley answered it the third time and then tried to open the bathroom door. Coakley called the police, who forced the door open. Paramedics then treated Taylor and removed her.
¶ 13 Patterson testified on cross-examination as follows. Taylor had been a drug addict. On June 26, 2012, she spent some time with Walker, but Patterson did not know how much. Also, late that evening or early the next morning, he saw Taylor vomiting in the bathroom. On June 27, when Walker arrived, Taylor walked with her around the pool. Next, the two women went alone to the apartment, the rest of the family returning later. When the car pulled up, Taylor and Walker approached it together and Walker entered. Taylor then walked around to the front and started talking to the driver. Patterson saw that a white woman was driving. At that point, Patterson left for the bathroom. On redirect examination, Patterson testified that, when Taylor and Walker left the pool area, he stayed near the pool and could not have known whether someone was already in the apartment.
¶ 14 Mary Margaret Greer–Ritzheimer of the Du Page County Forensic Science Center testified that she analyzed the blood stains from the white-gray sock and a sample from buccal...
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