People v. Pittman

• Decision Date: 22 October 1982
• Docket Number: No. 55825,55825
• Citation: 442 N.E.2d 836,66 Ill.Dec. 275,93 Ill.2d 169
• Parties: , 66 Ill.Dec. 275 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Maurice PITTMAN, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 836

442 N.E.2d 836

93 Ill.2d 169, 66 Ill.Dec. 275

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Maurice PITTMAN, Appellant.

No. 55825.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Oct. 22, 1982.

Tyrone C. Fahner, Atty. Gen., Ellen M. Flaum, Terence M. Madsen, Asst. Attys. Gen., Chicago, for appellee; Gary Duncan, Mount Vernon, of counsel.

Randy E. Blue, Deputy State Appellate Defender, Daniel M. Kirwan, Asst. State Appellate Defender, Mount Vernon, for appellant.

GOLDENHERSH, Justice:

In a jury trial in the circuit court of Madison County, defendant, Maurice Pittman, was convicted of the offense of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance (Ill.Rev.Stat.1979, ch. 56 1/2, par. 1401(b)) and sentenced to six years' imprisonment consecutive to a five-year sentence imposed in another case. Defendant appealed, the appellate court affirmed (100 Ill.App.3d 838, 56 Ill.Dec. 196, 427 N.E.2d 276), and we allowed defendant's petition for leave to appeal. 73 Ill.2d R. 315.

The facts are adequately stated in the appellate court opinion and will be reviewed here only to the extent necessary to discuss the issues. On June 25, 1979, Robert Gubin, an informant, met with two law enforcement agents assigned to the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois and advised them that he had arranged to purchase heroin from defendant at 828 Alby Street in Alton. The agents drove Gubin to the vicinity of the Alby Street address in their van, strip-searched him, and gave him $60 with which to make the purchase. They parked the van less than a block from 828 Alby Street. Gubin left the van and walked to the apartment building located at that address. He remained in the building for approximately nine minutes and returned to the agents, giving them an aluminum foil packet which contained a powdered substance later identified as heroin. Gubin testified that he had purchased the heroin from defendant with the money given to him by the agents. On cross-examination Gubin admitted that he had been convicted of numerous drug-related offenses. He also testified that prior to June 25, 1979, he had contacted law enforcement agents in Madison County and discussed with them the possibility of working with them in exchange for their help concerning some drug-related charges pending against him in Madison County. Gubin and the law enforcement agents testified that no specific agreements were made as to these charges.

The defense called several witnesses. Robert Belcher testified that while he and Gubin were inmates at the Madison County jail Gubin had told him that in order to obtain leniency on the charges pending against him he intended to "set up" a victim. Gubin denied ever having made such a statement. Reggie Taylor testified that on June 25, 1979, he was at 828 Alby Street from 5 or 6 p.m. until approximately 8:30 p.m. and that he saw neither Gubin nor defendant in the apartment. Taylor stated that the apartment belonged to Henry Smith, and that the only people in the apartment that evening were Henry Smith, Smith's nephews, and Ben Jones, defendant's brother. Taylor testified he remembered the date clearly because Smith's wife had just died. Taylor testified that he had seen defendant on the date in question at about noon at defendant's home located at 1204 Cave Springs in Alton. During cross-examination Taylor denied that he was a close friend of defendant but, over objection, admitted that he had testified on defendant's behalf in two proceedings. Henry Smith testified that his sister, Shirley Pittman, was married to defendant and that in June of 1979 defendant and Shirley had been spending quite a bit of time with him and his family at his apartment at 828 Alby because his wife had been murdered on May 18, 1979, and he needed help in taking care of his son. Not specifying a time, Smith stated that on June 25, 1979, Gubin had come to his apartment looking for Shirley Pittman, who then left his apartment with Gubin. Benjamin Jones, defendant's brother, testified that on June 25, 1979, at approximately 11:30 a.m., he met defendant at defendant's house on Cave Springs Road. Jones stated that they drove to Edwardsville to meet with an assistant public defender, whom they were unable to contact. Jones stated they subsequently drove to East Alton, where they met with a different attorney. Jones stated they left East Alton at about 4:30 p.m. and drove to their mother's home in Alton, arriving there a short time after 5 p.m. Jones stated that he dropped defendant off at their mother's home and then drove to Smith's apartment, where he picked up defendant's wife, who accompanied him back to his mother's home, where he, defendant and defendant's wife had dinner. The attorney with whom Jones stated he and defendant had visited until 4:30 p.m. on June 25, 1979, could not recall whether he met with defendant on that date.

Relying primarily on People v. Bazemore (1962), 25 Ill.2d 74, 182 N.E.2d 649, defendant contends that the uncorroborated testimony of the informant, who had been convicted of numerous narcotics offenses, was insufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The People argue that the decision in Bazemore has little precedential value here because the record does not show that Gubin was a narcotics addict, although admittedly he had been convicted of crimes involving the possession of marijuana and other unspecified controlled substances. The People point out that the jury was aware of these convictions when it considered Gubin's testimony.

Bazemore, and the cases cited therein, require that when the People's case rests solely upon the credibility of an admitted narcotics addict, that testimony must be carefully and closely scrutinized. (People v. Bazemore (1962), 25 Ill.2d 74, 76-77, 182 N.E.2d 649.) Even though there is no evidence that Gubin was a narcotics addict, we are of the opinion that under the circumstances of this case his testimony must nevertheless be carefully and cautiously scrutinized. The only witness who testified that the drug transaction actually took place, he had been convicted of numerous drug-related offenses. There were charges pending against him in Madison County at the time he was helping law enforcement agents in this case, and the record shows that he hoped to receive leniency as to these charges by cooperating with the agents. Although both he and the agents denied that he had received compensation for his participation in the events leading to defendant's conviction, the record shows that he did receive approximately $80 from the agents for travel expenses. These facts, however, do not render the evidence of guilt insufficient; they go to the weight to be given the informant's testimony. The credibility of witnesses is a matter to be determined by the trier of fact, and that determination will not be set aside unless so unsatisfactory as to justify a reasonable doubt of defendant's guilt. (People v. Wilson (1970), 45 Ill.2d 581, 586, 262 N.E.2d 441; People v. Perkins (1962), 26 Ill.2d 230, 235, 186 N.E.2d 330.) The record shows that the jury was well aware of those facts having an adverse bearing on Gubin's veracity but nevertheless apparently chose to accept his version of the transaction over the testimony of the defense witnesses. Further, as pointed out in the opinion of the appellate court, there is some degree of corroboration of Gubin's testimony. From our review of the record we find no basis to reject the testimony as incredible. We conclude that the proof presented by the People, if believed, was sufficient to support the conviction. The sufficiency of the evidence was thoroughly reviewed and discussed by the appellate court, and further discussion here would serve no useful purpose.

Defendant argues here, as he did in the appellate court, that the People improperly attempted to inform the jury of other criminal conduct. The transcript shows that a few sentences into his opening statement the assistant State's Attorney told the jury that Gubin would testify that he had obtained both heroin and cannabis from defendant. Defense counsel immediately objected to the reference to cannabis, and a conference was held outside the presence of the jury. In the course of the conference the People argued that defendant had given notice of the defense of entrapment and the evidence was properly admissible to rebut that asserted defense. Defense counsel stated that no defense of entrapment would be presented. Following the conference the court advised the jury that the objection by defense counsel was sustained and directed the assistant State's Attorney to start over with his opening statement. The opening statement as presented to the jury contained no reference to cannabis. Under the circumstances shown, assuming arguendo that the reference to cannabis was error, it was not so prejudicial as to require reversal. An improper remark...