People v. Phillips

• Citation: 911 N.E.2d 462,392 Ill. App. 3d 243
• Decision Date: 15 June 2009
• Docket Number: No. 1-07-0985.,1-07-0985.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Prentice PHILLIPS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

911 N.E.2d 462

392 Ill. App. 3d 243

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Prentice PHILLIPS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-07-0985.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, First Division.

June 15, 2009.

Rehearing Denied July 9, 2009.

Patricia Unsinn, Deputy Defender, Caroline E. Bourland, Asst. Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, IL, for Appellant.

Richard A. Devine, State's Atty. of Cook County (James E. Fitzgerald, Ashley A. Romito, William L. Toffenetti, Joseph A. Alexander, Asst. State's Attorneys, of Counsel), Chicago, IL, for Appellee.

Presiding Justice ROBERT E. GORDONdelivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial at which defendant Prentice Phillips appeared pro se, he was convicted of aggravated battery to a peace officer and sentenced to nine years in prison. On appeal, defendant claims: (1) that the State's evidence was insufficient to prove that defendant's contact with the peace officer was knowing or intentional, rather than inadvertent; (2) that defendant was denied his sixth amendment right to counsel because he did not make a clear and unequivocal waiver of his right to counsel, and because the trial court failed to admonish him fully before the alleged waiver; (3) that the trial court erred in failing to appoint standby counsel; and (4) that prosecutorial misconduct denied defendant a fair trial.

For the following reasons, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Evidence at Trial

In essence, defendant was accused of punching a deputy sheriff in the face. An information charged defendant with committing an aggravated battery of a peace officer, in violation of section 12-4(b) of the Criminal Code (720 ILCS 5/12-4 (b)(6) (West 2004)), by:

"committing a battery, other than by a discharge of a firearm, knowingly or intentionally caus[ing] bodily harm or ma[king] physical contact of an insulting or provoking nature, to wit: * * * str[iking] police officer Hoffman in her face with his fist injuring her neck and shoulder, knowing Hoffman to be a peace officer, to wit: Cook County's Sheriff Department while engaged in the execution of her official duties."

The evidence at trial consisted entirely of the testimony of event witnesses. There were no experts, no forensic evidence, and no medical testimony. The State called five witnesses in its case in chief: (1) Deputy Sheriff Deborah Hoffman, the victim; (2) Deputy Sheriff Richard Young, the victim's partner; (3) Deputy Sheriff Gail McAuliffe; (4) Officer¹ Bonarek;² and (5) Officer Willy Lewis, the partner of Officer Bonarek. In the defense case, defendant testified on his own behalf. In its rebuttal case, the State called Deputy Sheriff Rocco Tudisco, and recalled Deputy Sheriff Hoffman, the victim.

Deputy Sheriff Deborah Hoffman, the victim, testified as follows. She is approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall, and weighed under 150 pounds. On June 27, 2005, she was working in uniform as a deputy sheriff at bond court in the Skokie courthouse with her partner, Deputy Sheriff Richard Young. Neither she nor her partner were armed. The bond court was held in courtroom 105, and the lockup area for this courtroom contained a cell and an interview room. At approximately 2:30 p.m., defendant was in the lockup, with approximately three to five other people who had also been arrested. Deputy Sheriffs Bonarek and Lewis were in the interview room with a subject. When Deputy Sheriff Hoffman brought defendant out of the lockup, she directed him to keep his hands behind his back. While defendant was in the courtroom standing before the judge and waiting for the trial court to set his bond, Deputy Sheriff Hoffman stood behind him.

Hoffman testified that, during the bond hearing, defendant was "verbally belligerent" and that he "was reaching in his pockets" and "swinging his arms around." After defendant's bond was set, Hoffman and her partner walked defendant back to the lockup, with Hoffman walking backwards and facing defendant, and with her partner walking behind defendant. The door to the lockup area has a small glass window, and the door to the cell is a sliding glass door. When they reached the cell, Hoffman stood in front of the cell, facing the cell, and ordered defendant to enter the cell, several times. Defendant refused to enter the cell and took a step toward the courtroom. At this point, defendant was "half in, half out" of the cell. He was "swearing and saying he needed an I-Bond" and that he had been told that he was going to receive an "I-Bond."

Hoffman testified that defendant was swinging his arms around and then he hit her. She testified that "[h]e just went right in the face, just bam." She testified that "[w]ith his left arm, [he] punched me in my left cheek, and came down and split my upper and lower lip." His hand was "much larger than [her] cheek area." His fist landed first on her left upper cheek bone, and then "glanced down" to her lip, and she tasted blood. "[T]he force of it pushed [her] backwards," and "into the interview room that's across from the holding cell." Hoffman estimated that her body traveled the distance of a couple of steps. Later, Hoffman noticed a "stiffness" in her neck.

Hoffman further testified that she called on her radio for backup. The two officers who had been in the interview room stepped past her and into the cell. After backup arrived, Hoffman went into the washroom, and she observed in the mirror that her "face was red and puffy, and [her] upper and lower lip[s] were split and bleeding." She felt pain in her shoulder, lip, cheek and neck. Hoffman went to the hospital where she was x-rayed. She "had to wear a sling for a week and go to physical therapy," due to a "strain in [her] shoulder," and she "missed a little over a week" of work. The State introduced into evidence photographs of Hoffman's face, taken by Hoffman herself, approximately five or six hours after the incident.

On cross-examination by defendant, Hoffman admitted that, although she claimed she was "dazed" by the blow, she still had the presence of mind to radio for backup. Also, Hoffman testified that, before she left the lockup area, defendant was told to lie on the floor and that he complied.

Deputy Sheriff Richard Young, Hoffman's partner, testified as follows. On June 27, 2005, he was working with his partner at the bond court at the Skokie courthouse. During defendant's bond hearing, defendant stood before the bench and kept moving his hands from behind his back and placing them on the podium, even though he was told repeatedly to keep his hands behind his back. After the hearing, Young followed defendant back to the holding cell, while Hoffman walked in front of defendant. Young instructed defendant "to pick up the pace" because defendant "was shuffling his feet." At some point, Young made contact with defendant's body, and defendant "stopped, turned around [and] gave me an angry look." Defendant continued to walk toward the holding area but "slowly."

Young testified that at the door to the holding area, Hoffman took defendant into the holding area, while Young stopped and waited by the holding-area door, with the door partially open. Young testified that what "normally" happens is that the deputy sheriff opens the door to the cell, the arrestee walks into the cell, the deputy sheriff turns the key, and the cell door closes automatically. However, Young testified that the following happened in this case:

"Well, I seen [sic] [defendant] Phillips stop at the [cell] door and Deputy Hoffman instructed him to step in several times. I instructed him to step in. He finally stepped in. He put his back to the wall and then he reached out and punched Deputy Hoffman in the face."

Young further testified that defendant punched Hoffman's "left side of the face, up around the nose and lower lip" with "a closed fist." Hoffman "recoiled backwards towards the interview room and her head struck the door frame and her back [struck]." When defendant punched Hoffman, he was standing "at the threshold" to the cell door. As Young entered the holding cell, defendant backed up, started removing his shirt and "put his hands up in closed fists." Deputy Sheriff Gail McAuliffe entered the holding area, with two other officers who subdued defendant and placed handcuffs on him.

On cross-examination, Young testified that during the bond hearing, defendant reached into his pocket to remove a piece of paper which he showed to the public defender and tried to show to the judge. Defendant told the judge that another police officer had told him that he would receive an "I-bond." After defendant punched Hoffman, and Young entered the holding area, Young was "knocked to the bench" by inmates running out of the holding cell, to avoid a violent situation.

The State's third witness, Deputy Sheriff Gail McAuliffe, testified that she observed Deputy Sheriff Hoffman escorting defendant back into the holding cell. Defendant was "shuffling"; Hoffman asked defendant to step inside the cell; defendant stepped inside, stopped, turned around and punched Hoffman with a closed fist; and Hoffman hit the wall on the other side of the holding area. After the punch, McAuliffe entered the cell with Young and two other officers. McAuliffe accompanied Hoffman to the ladies' room; and McAuliffe observed that Hoffman's cheek was red, and Hoffman's lips were cut and bleeding.

On cross-examination, McAuliffe testified that, after the punch, she escorted the other inmates out of the cell for their safety. The inmates did not run out of the cell, and they did not knock down Deputy Sheriff Young.

Officer Bonarek testified that, on June 27, 2005, he was an officer with the "Special Operation Response Team" (SORT) of the sheriff's office, which handled "the high profile prisoners" and "the trouble makers." At approximately 2:30 p.m., he was with his partner and a prisoner in the interview room in the lockup area behind courtroom 105 in...