People v. Pearson

• Decision Date: 21 September 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1-14-2819,1-14-2819
• Citation: People v. Pearson, 2018 IL App (1st) 142819, 116 N.E.3d 304, 426 Ill.Dec. 455 (Ill. App. 2018)
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DeAnthony PEARSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois

2018 IL App (1st) 142819

116 N.E.3d 304

426 Ill.Dec. 455

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

v.DeAnthony PEARSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-14-2819

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, SIXTH DIVISION.

September 21, 2018

James E. Chadd, Patricia Mysza, and Robert N. Markfield, of State Appellate Defender’s Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Kimberly M. Foxx, State’s Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Mary P. Needham, and Sarah L. Simpson, Assistant State’s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

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

¶ 1 Defendant, DeAnthony Pearson, appeals his conviction after a jury trial of attempted first degree murder and attempted armed robbery and his sentence to consecutive terms of 45 years' and 5 years' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contends (1) he is entitled to a new trial where the State's expert witness stated that the fingerprint identification results were verified by a nontestifying examiner, which constitutes inadmissible hearsay; (2) his conviction for attempted first degree murder should be reduced to aggravated battery with a firearm where the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had an intent to kill; and (3) a new sentencing hearing is required where his aggregate sentence of 50 years' imprisonment amounts to a de facto life sentence without consideration of the unique characteristics of his youth and violates the eighth amendment and the proportionate penalties clause of the Illinois Constitution.¹ For the following reasons, we affirm.

¶ 2 JURISDICTION

¶ 3 The trial court sentenced defendant on August 21, 2014. That same day, he filed a notice of appeal. Accordingly, this court has jurisdiction pursuant to article VI, section 6, of the Illinois Constitution ( Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 6 ), and Illinois Supreme Court Rules 603 and 606 (eff. Feb. 6, 2013), governing appeals from a final judgment of conviction in a criminal case entered below.

¶ 4 BACKGROUND

¶ 5 Defendant, along with two codefendants who are not parties to this appeal, was charged with attempted first degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and attempted armed robbery in connection with an incident that occurred on September 29, 2010. Defendant and his codefendants had separate trials with separate juries. Defendant was 15 years old at the time of the incident.

¶ 6 At defendant's trial, Amir Muhammed Azhar testified that on September 29, 2010, he was working alone at the Marathon gas station at 711 South Halsted Street in Chicago, Illinois. Around 8:15 p.m. that evening, he was at the cash register behind a bulletproof glass window that could only be opened by the cashier. Amir had wiped down both sides of the glass window with Windex, as was routine for whoever was working at the window. No one had touched or leaned on the glass prior to the incident. Beneath the glass was a drawer which Amir used to transfer money and items to customers.

¶ 7 Codefendant Willie Collins entered the store and asked for a single cigarette. Keeping the bulletproof glass window closed, Amir gave him a cigarette through the drawer beneath the glass window. Collins then asked Amir to light the cigarette for him. To do so, Amir opened the bulletproof window. As Collins conversed with Amir, Amir tried to close the window. Collins, however, "kept asking [him] about things which are behind the counter" and Amir kept the window open so he could answer his questions.

¶ 8 At this time, another person entered the store. Amir noted that he had his face covered except for his eyes, and he had a gun in his hand. Amir tried to close the bulletproof window, but the man put his hand on the window so it would not close. While they struggled, the man fired his gun at Amir from 1 to 1 ½ feet away, striking him in the chest. Amir fell and used his cell phone to call 911. He soon lost consciousness and awoke three days later in the hospital. A surveillance camera recorded the events in the store, and the video was entered into evidence.

¶ 9 The video showed a man coming into the store wearing a red bandana over his head and a black scarf around his face, a purple hooded sweatshirt with a yellow emblem, and green pants. The man also carried a handgun. He pushed Collins aside and pointed his gun at Amir. The man put his left hand on the glass partition to prevent Amir from closing the window, and after struggling with Amir, the man fired at him. Another masked man entered, wearing a navy sweatshirt with a white hood and yellow print with "1947" on the front. The man with the gun put his hand through the open window to bang on the cash register below but the register would not open. Both men fled the store.

¶ 10 Keiara Boyd testified that in September 2010 she was dating and living with codefendant Armoni Allen. Collins lived across the street and would visit their house "[e]very now and then." Keiara also knew defendant. On September 29, 2010, around 8 p.m., defendant, Collins, and Allen were at Allen's residence. Keiara noticed that defendant had a gun and he was "playing with it." When she told him she "didn't play with guns," he stopped pointing it at her. Keiara and Allen then went upstairs, and while they were upstairs, Keiara heard defendant yell for Allen to "come on." Allen then left the room and he, Collins, and defendant left the house together.

¶ 11 Approximately 5 to 10 minutes later, Allen returned alone but was soon joined at the house by defendant and Collins. Everyone was in the same room and defendant, who had the gun in his hands, stated that he shot someone but he did not "know where he shot the man." Allen told defendant and Collins to leave, but defendant left the gun in the room. Keiara noticed it and told Allen to tell defendant to take the gun with him. Defendant returned and took the gun with him. After defendant and Collins left the house, Allen received a call from defendant telling him to look out his back window toward the Marathon gas station and let him know what was happening there. Throughout the night, defendant called and asked Allen to look out the window and tell him what he saw.

¶ 12 Detective Stepich testified that he responded to a shooting at the Marathon gas station on 711 South Halsted on September 29, 2010, around 8:20 p.m. He recovered surveillance video and followed up on a 911 call that was made by a witness. Detective Stepich learned that Collins was the person who made the 911 call, and he was brought in for questioning. Detective Stepich testified that in viewing the footage, he saw that Collins "was in the store, he got the victim to open up the bulletproof glass window. He stuck his hand through the opening a few times, it appeared, and they got—the gentleman wasn't trying to close it, but it seemed like he was trying to keep the window open when the shooter and the other suspect came inside, and he shot, and he fell on the ground." After speaking with Collins, Detective Stepich went to Allen's house and arrested Allen. He then went to defendant's residence and was given permission to search the house. He recovered a pair of shoes that appeared to be the ones worn by one of the offenders in the video and a green cell phone that Collins appeared to be holding at the gas station store. After a search warrant was issued on Allen's house, Detective Stepich recovered a black Hi-Point 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun and clothing that appeared to be clothes worn by the shooter when he entered the store.

¶ 13 Detective Deel processed the crime scene, taking fingerprints from the bulletproof glass window and recovering discharged cartridge casings. Detective Deel testified that with his naked eye he could see the fingers and palm impression from a left hand on the window. He saw no other prints on the window. Detective Murtagh received this evidence for processing, and Officer Estock took fingerprints of defendant, Allen, and Collins.

¶ 14 Karen Heard also testified for the State. She stated that she is a forensic scientist specializing in latent print examination, with a bachelor's and master's degree in biology. She also completed a two-year training program with the Illinois State Police in latent print examination. Heard stated that she had been previously qualified as an expert witness 43 times in various state courts as well as in federal court. Defense counsel did not object to the trial court's finding that Heard is "an expert in the latent print examination area."

¶ 15 Heard testified that she examined the prints taken from the window (latent impressions) and compared them to fingerprint standards taken from defendant at the police station. She discussed the characteristics she looks for in her examinations and defined the terms pores, ridges, grooves, creases, and furrows for the jury. Using "magnifiers, one over the latent impression and one over the very first finger entered on the card," Heard made comparisons in this manner with all 10 finger print standards. She compared features "such as any creases, bifurcations, where the ridges will split, ending ridges, curvature, thickness," and "saw that those things were present in the fingerprint standard" of defendant. She determined, within a reasonable degree of scientific certainty, that the fingerprints and palm print found on the bulletproof glass window matched defendant's fingerprint standards. After making her identifications, she gave the lifts and the fingerprint and palm print standards to another examiner, Holly Heitzman. When Heard was asked what she learned from Heitzman's examination, defense counsel objected "to what she learned." The court overruled counsel's objection, and Heard responded that Heitzman "concurred with the verification and the correct markings." Heitzman did not testify at trial. Heard also noted that glass is an ideal surface for lifting prints because it is flat and smooth, and fingerprint residue does not get absorbed into the...