People v. Nutall

• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois
• Citation: People v. Nutall, 728 N.E.2d 597, 312 Ill. App. 3d 620, 245 Ill.Dec. 515 (Ill. App. 2000)
• Decision Date: 28 March 2000
• Docket Number: No. 1-98-0883.,1-98-0883.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lavelle NUTALL, Defendant-Appellant.

728 N.E.2d 597

312 Ill. App.3d 620

245 Ill.Dec. 515

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lavelle NUTALL, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-98-0883.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Second Division.

March 28, 2000.

Rita A. Fry, Public Defender of Cook County, Chicago (Assistant Public Defender Suzanne A. Isaacson of counsel), for Appellant.

Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney of Cook County, Chicago (Renee Goldfarb, Nancy Faulls, and Joanna Collias, Assistant State's Attorneys of counsel), for Appellee.

Justice McBRIDE delivered the opinion of the court:

On November 21, 1997, defendant was found guilty by a jury of the murder of Gus Patterson under an accountability theory before the Honorable Loretta Hall Morgan. 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1996); 720 ILCS 5/5-2(c) (West 1996). Prior to defendant's sentencing, Judge Morgan passed away and as a result, the Honorable Mary Ellen Coghlan presided over defendant's sentencing hearing. Judge Coghlan sentenced defendant to thirty years imprisonment for his involvement in Patterson's murder.

On appeal, defendant argues that the trial court: (1) deprived him of his sixth amendment right to confront witnesses by limiting his cross-examination of a witness; (2) abused its discretion when it refused to give his non-Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions (IPI) regarding the law of accountability; and (3) abused its discretion in sentencing him to 30 years' imprisonment.

Before defendant's trial, the prosecution presented a motion in limine to bar defense counsel from asking witness Christopher Brandon whether or not he should have been in custody as a result of pleading guilty to the charge of delivery of a controlled substance. Defense counsel claimed that Brandon was supposed to be in custody serving a six-month sentence as part of his probation but had been released due to a clerical error. Defense counsel argued that because the witness was supposed to be in custody but was not, he was entitled to explore Brandon's motive to testify favorably for the prosecution. The trial court held that although defense counsel could ask Brandon questions about whether he had been convicted, what offense he had been convicted of, whether he had spent time in prison, whether he was on probation, and when he was released from prison; he would be prohibited from eliciting any information about a clerical error affecting Brandon's custodial status. In ruling the trial judge stated that there was no actual confirmation that a clerical error had occurred; that there was no evidence to support defendant's claim that the witness had a six-month sentence to serve; and that even if such information were accurate it did not bear on Brandon's credibility as a witness and thus, the alleged error was not relevant.

The first witness called by the prosecution was Christopher Brandon. Brandon testified that he and the decedent Gus Patterson had been friends for several years. On the night of the shooting Brandon and Patterson were riding their bicycles in the vicinity of 93rd and Essex in Chicago. As they were riding along the street they noticed a large crowd of people. Then someone in the crowd yelled "get those hooks." Brandon said that the term "hooks" was a nickname for a gang called the Blackstones, to which he and Patterson belonged. Brandon also stated that as he and Patterson rode by the crowd someone yelled "get the gun folks." Brandon then observed two males get into a black and white car. Before Brandon and Patterson could leave the block, Brandon said that he and Patterson were chased by both male and female members of the crowd who threw bottles at them.

Brandon and Patterson rode their bikes off the block in an attempt to avoid the two males they had previously seen get into the black car. They rode their bikes the wrong way down a one-way street and eventually entered a viaduct. When they came out of the viaduct Brandon noticed the black car he had first seen at 93rd and Essex. The car pulled along side of them and Brandon heard someone yell out "[w]hat's up now bitch ass n* * * * * *." Brandon then watched the driver reach out his window and fire a shot from a gun which struck Gus Patterson. After Patterson was shot, the car pulled away and Patterson fell off his bike and began to bleed from his mouth. Brandon stopped riding and pulled Patterson to his side. Patterson was eventually assisted by two other individuals who called an ambulance. As a result of his wounds Gus Patterson died.

In assisting police in their investigation, Brandon led police to the location where he first saw the black and white car. While he was with the police Brandon saw the same car and pointed it out to police. Later, Brandon viewed a lineup and he positively identified Rogers Christal as the both the driver of the car and the person who actually shot Patterson. Brandon could not positively identify defendant as the passenger, but did say that he looked similar to the person he saw in the passenger seat of the black car the day Patterson was shot. Brandon then left the witness stand and diagramed on a piece of paper the events he had just testified to.

On direct examination Brandon further testified that in 1994 he pled guilty to having a weapon on school grounds and spent one year in an Illinois Youth Center for that offense. He also said that he recently received two years' probation for delivery of a controlled substance and as a result spent some time in jail. During cross-examination, defense counsel questioned Brandon about his 1994 conviction for possession of a handgun on school grounds and brought out that Brandon spent one year in a juvenile incarceration facility. Defense counsel also established that Brandon's conviction for delivery of a controlled substance occurred when Brandon sold crack cocaine to an undercover police officer. Brandon further testified that the week before defendant's trial he had pled guilty to the delivery charge in addition to receiving probation. Defense counsel also elicited that Brandon had just gotten out of jail the morning of defendant's trial.

Detective Rickey Boone of the Chicago Police Department testified that he was assigned to investigate the murder of Gus Patterson. Boone testified he and other officers went to the home of defendant's mother searching for defendant. Although they did not find defendant at that time, they left their business cards with instructions for defendant to contact them when he arrived at this location. Thereafter, Boone was contacted by defendant's mother and police went back to her home and arrested defendant. After advising defendant of his Miranda warnings Boone and his partner Detective Spencer interviewed defendant who initially denied any involvement in Patterson's shooting. Boone also interviewed Antonio McDonald. McDonald directed police to the location of the gun used in the shooting and the gun was recovered.

Boone met with defendant once again, but this time he was accompanied by Assistant State's Attorney Smitko. Before questioning the defendant, Smitko advised the defendant of his Miranda rights. Once again, defendant denied any involvement in Patterson's shooting, however, when he was questioned this time and told the gun had been recovered, defendant decided to give a statement. When defendant actually gave this statement both Boone and Smitko were present.

Assistant State's Attorney Smitko confirmed that upon first interviewing defendant, defendant denied any involvement in Patterson's shooting. Smitko then spoke with both Rogers Christal and Antonio McDonald. After confronting the defendant with the results of these conversations, defendant acknowledged that he was present during the shooting. Defendant then chose to give a handwritten statement. Defendant's statement indicated that on the night of Patterson's shooting he saw two people riding their bicycles. As the people on bicycles approached, defendant heard one of them say "is that him," with other answering "yes." Although defendant never saw either of these persons with a gun, he did say that he saw one of them reach behind his back. Thinking this person had a gun defendant ran into an alley.

While in the alley defendant saw Rogers Christal who told defendant to come with him in his car. Defendant said that he knew Christal planned to shoot the two individuals on their bicycles before he got into Christal's car. Once in the car defendant stated that Christal placed a gun in between the two of them. Christal and defendant then caught up with Patterson and Brandon and Christal asked defendant if he was going to shoot at either of them. Defendant responded that he would not because he didn't want to shoot across Christal. According to defendant's statement, Christal grabbed the gun and while steering the car with one hand and with the other hand he shot twice at Brandon and Patterson. After firing the weapon, Christal and defendant returned to 92nd and Essex and parked Christal's car. Defendant's statement then reflects that Christal "told him to get rid of the gun." Defendant admitted that he took the gun and gave it to Antonio McDonald to get rid of it. Afterwards, defendant went home.

Defendant gave a slightly different version of the shooting incident at trial. Defendant admitted that he was a member of the Gangster Disciples and arrived at the corner of 92nd and Essex by receiving a ride from Rogers Christal. Besides giving him a ride there, Christal told defendant he would also give him a ride home later. Defendant stated he saw two individuals ride up the block with their baseball caps positioned in a manner that indicated they were members of the Blackstone Gang. Defendant watched these individuals ride up to 93rd and Essex and circle around. Eventually, they came close enough to defendant that he heard one of them say, "Is that them, is that them?" One of the two responded "yes" and the other responded by...