People v. Randall

• Citation: 408 Ill.Dec. 64,64 N.E.3d 1149
• Decision Date: 30 September 2016
• Docket Number: No. 1–14–3371.,1–14–3371.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Terrell RANDALL, Defendant–Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

64 N.E.3d 1149

408 Ill.Dec. 64

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

v.Terrell RANDALL, Defendant–Appellant.

No. 1–14–3371.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

Sept. 30, 2016.

Michael J. Pelletier, Patricia Mysza, and Benjamin A. Wolowski, all of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Anita M. Alvarez, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg and Peter D. Fischer, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

Presiding Justice GORDON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Following a jury trial, defendant Terrell Randall was convicted of the first degree murder of Tonnisha Johnson. The jury also found that defendant personally discharged the firearm that caused Johnson's death. The trial court sentenced defendant to a total of 90 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). On this appeal, defendant argues (1) that the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on second-degree murder where there was some evidence tending to show that defendant was acting under a serious provocation; (2) that defendant was denied effective assistance of counsel where his trial counsel opened the door to the introduction of other crimes evidence; and (3) that, in sentencing defendant to 90 years in prison for first-degree murder, the trial court improperly relied upon an aggravating factor inherent in the offense, and thus defendant should receive a new sentencing hearing. For the following reasons, we affirm.

¶ 2 BACKGROUND

¶ 3 The following facts were adduced at trial¹ :

¶ 4 Tonia Worthen testified that she was the mother of the victim, Tonnisha Johnson, who was 28–years–old in August of 2011. Worthen was living in Minnesota in 2011, while Johnson was living in Chicago. Mother and daughter talked on the phone every two or three days, including in the evening hours of August 26, 2011. Johnson was speaking to her mother on a speaker phone, when Johnson told her mother she was with her friend Terrell, and a male voice said "my name is Terrell Randall." Worthen had never spoken to defendant before and had never heard of him at the time. At the end of the phone conversation, Johnson asked her mother to call her back in 45 minutes at the same number, but Worthen did not have the opportunity to call back.

¶ 5 Worthen testified that she received another call from her daughter that same night around 1:30 a.m. Johnson said: "Mom, I am shot, mom. I can't breathe, mom." Then Johnson hung up the phone and Worthen tried to call her back, but Johnson did not answer. Worthen reported the incident to the police, drove to Chicago, and went to Christ Hospital. When she arrived there, Worthen observed her daughter lying in a bed with IVs in her arms and tubes in her neck and mouth. Johnson was alive but unable to speak. Johnson died on September 6, 2011.

¶ 6 Amy Cartage testified that she was 22 years old at the time of the trial and had two children. She met defendant in February 2009, when she was 17 years old, and they began dating. Cartage and defendant split up the same year, and Cartage began to date a man named Kevin Newsome in July 2010. Defendant reconnected with Cartage in May 2011, at which time Cartage was pregnant with Newsome's child. At that time, defendant asked if he could date Cartage again, and she said no, although she said that they could be friends. Cartage gave birth to her first child in July 2011. After giving birth, Cartage discovered that Newsome was cheating on her, at which point her communication with defendant increased.

¶ 7 Cartage testified that she was spending the night at Newsome's house on the night of August 25 into August 26, 2011. That night, Newsome changed the voicemail on Cartage's phone to state, in his voice, "Hi. You have reached Mr. and Mrs. Newsome. Please leave a message." Cartage had a Cricket phone, for which she could pay by the day. This phone expired around midnight. Even though it was disconnected, Cartage could still receive voicemails.

¶ 8 Cartage testified that she fell asleep at Newsome's house that night. She woke up around 4:00 a.m. to find that Newsome was not there with her, and she went outside to look for him. Cartage found Newsome asleep in a vehicle outside with another woman named Charmaine, who was in the driver's seat. Cartage knocked on the window of the vehicle and told Newsome to exit the vehicle. After Newsome exited, Charmaine drove away. Cartage and Newsome stood on the porch of Newsome's house and discussed how to fix their relationship.

¶ 9 During the conversation on Newsome's porch, Cartage turned and observed defendant walking toward her from the driveway. Defendant had a gun pointed at them. Cartage stepped down, put her arms out and said "no." When Cartage said "no," defendant pulled the trigger. Cartage observed the flash of the gun, heard the gunshot, felt a burning sensation in her stomach and fell. She realized she had been shot when she looked down and observed blood. Then defendant shot Newsome, walked away, and drove off in his 1999 goldish-brown Malibu.

¶ 10 Cartage testified that an ambulance transported her to Christ Hospital, where she underwent surgery. Later on the same day, Cartage realized she had two voicemails from defendant. Cartage had not listened to these messages before being shot. At trial, Cartage identified defendant's voice on one of the voicemails, which was admitted in evidence and played in court before the jury.² in the voicemail, defendant sounds angry that Newsome's voice is on Cartage's voicemail, and he states, "you're going to play me like that." On the voicemail, defendant calls Cartage names and threatens her. He says he is on the run from the police, but he is going to find her first. He ended the message by stating, "one of you all dying tonight."

¶ 11 Cartage testified that she received a phone call from defendant on September 11, 2011. The call was recorded and also admitted into evidence and played for the jury.³ In the call, Cartage tells defendant she still loves him but begs him repeatedly to tell her why he shot her and why he shot Johnson. Defendant replies, "man, I don't even know." In the call, Cartage asks defendant what Johnson did to cause him to shoot her. He does not reply. During the call, defendant attempts to persuade Cartage to not testify against him. She replies that defendant shot her and she loves him, but she is going to testify. On cross-examination, Cartage testified that at some point defendant told her that he was drugged during the shootings.

¶ 12 Michael Narish, a crime scene investigator for the Illinois State Police, testified that he processed the crime scene of the Johnson shooting on August 26, 2011. The crime scene was located on the east side of Cicero Avenue, just north of 154th Street in a parking lot. He received a call asking him to come to the scene at 2:30 a.m., and he arrived at 3:20 a.m. Upon his arrival, he was informed that the Oak Forest police had arrived to find a woman shot two times, and the paramedics transported her to Christ Hospital. At the crime scene, he observed a purse with the contents spilled out; a flip-flop shoe; a red, blood-like substance on the pavement; and two 9–millimeter Luger shell casings.

¶ 13 Sean Grosvenor, another Illinois State Police crime scene investigator, testified that he processed the crime scene of the Cartage shooting on South Honore Avenue in Markham on August 26, 2011. Grosvenor arrived at 6:35 a.m. and took a sample from a blood-like stain on the walkway leading up to the main entrance of the house in front of which the crime scene was located. He found a 9–millimeter Luger casing on the roof of the passenger's side of a red Nissan Sentra and a hole in the gutter on the east side of the entrance to the building. Grosvenor recovered a bullet from inside that gutter.

¶ 14 Oak Forest Police Investigator Casey Gallagher testified that on August 26, 2011, at 1:35 a.m. he received a call notifying him of a woman lying in the roadway in the South 15400 block of Cicero Avenue. He arrived to find a female victim, who was identified as Johnson, with an apparent gunshot wound

to the abdomen. Johnson was breathing, conscious, and appeared to be in a lot of pain. She was moaning and having trouble communicating. Gallagher called for a paramedic unit. He asked Johnson what happened, and she replied "Terrell shot me." He asked, "who is Terrell?" and all the victim could say was "boyfriend." He asked her more questions, but she did not respond. Johnson's purse was in the parking lot, and her Illinois identification card was lying near the purse. There was a phone partially in the opened purse.

¶ 15 Oak Forest Detective Robert Frias arrived at the 15400 block of South Cicero Avenue between 1:30 a.m. and 1:50 a.m. Other police and emergency personnel were on the scene and Johnson was in an ambulance. Frias entered the ambulance and attempted to speak to Johnson, who was being treated by paramedics while lying on her back on a stretcher and wearing an oxygen mask. Frias asked Johnson who shot her, and she said "Terrell." He asked for other information about Terrell, but she only responded by saying " Terrell." After Johnson stopped responding, she was taken to Christ Hospital. Frias followed the ambulance to the hospital, where he spoke to members of Johnson's family. After speaking to Johnson's family members, Frias determined that defendant was a suspect. An investigative alert was established for a 1999 gold or tan Chevy Malibu with a certain license plate number. The parties stipulated that, as of August 26, 2011, defendant was the registered owner of a gold or tan 1999 Chevy Malibu with that certain license plate number.

¶ 16 Frias testified that he became aware at 12:45 p.m. on August 26, 2011, that defendant's vehicle was located in Lansing, Illinois, at a Howard Johnson motel. Frias and other investigators went to the Howard Johnson...