People v. Redmond, 022621 ILCA1, 1-19-0950
| Opinion Judge | DELORT, PRESIDING JUSTICE |
| Party Name | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. AARON REDMOND, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Judge Panel | PRESIDING JUSTICE DELORT delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Cunningham and Rochford concurred in the judgment. |
| Case Date | February 26, 2021 |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois, First District |
This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County No. 18 CR 6895 Honorable Domenica A. Stephenson, Judge, presiding.
PRESIDING JUSTICE DELORT delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Cunningham and Rochford concurred in the judgment.
ORDER
DELORT, PRESIDING JUSTICE
¶ 1 Held: We affirm defendant's conviction for delivery of a controlled substance because the fact finder could reasonably accept the witnesses' testimony as credible.
¶ 2 Following a bench trial, defendant Aaron Redmond was found guilty of delivery of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/401(d) (West 2018)) and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argues his conviction should be reversed because the State did not plausibly explain the fact that defendant was not arrested in possession of a prerecorded bill following a drug sale to an undercover officer. We affirm.
¶ 3 Defendant was indicted on one count of delivery of a controlled substance, specifically less than one gram of cocaine or an analog thereof.
¶ 4 At trial, Chicago police detective Kevin Schmit testified that on April 20, 2018, shortly before 4:43 p.m., he was working undercover with a team that included surveillance and enforcement officers. At the northwest corner of Madison Street and Pulaski Road in Chicago, he heard someone say "rocks," which he knew to be a word for crack cocaine from his experience purchasing drugs undercover. Schmit turned around and saw an individual whom he identified in court as defendant. No one else was in defendant's immediate vicinity.
¶ 5 Schmit asked defendant, "Do you have any?" and defendant responded, "yes." The two men walked to a nearby bus stop on Madison, and defendant shouted across the street. Another individual, whom Schmit later learned was Roderick Davis, crossed the street and asked if defendant knew Schmit. Defendant stated, "yes." Davis and defendant then spoke 5 to 10 feet from Schmit. Defendant returned and handed Schmit two clear zipper top bags containing a white rock-like substance, and Schmit gave defendant "a 20-dollar bill, 1505 funds." Afterwards, Schmit walked away and radioed other officers a description of defendant and Davis. Officers detained defendant and Davis, and another officer drove Schmit past them and he identified them. Schmit took the two zipper top bags to the police station and inventoried them under inventory number 14153203.
¶ 6 On cross-examination, Schmit testified that, on the radio, he described the person who sold him drugs as a black man wearing a black coat and blue jeans, but did not mention his height and could not recall providing an age. Two or three minutes passed between Schmit leaving the area and defendant being detained. Schmit identified Defense Exhibit No. 1 as a photograph of the northwest corner of Madison and Pulaski and marked where the drug sale occurred, just west of the bus stop. He also marked the location of the transaction in Defense Exhibit No. 2, which depicted the area from "a different angle."
¶ 7 Chicago police officer Andrew Sherman testified that he surveilled Schmit from an unmarked van parked 15 to 20 yards away in a vacant lot north of Madison, and observed him speak with defendant, whom Sherman identified in court. Defendant contacted Davis, who crossed the street and spoke with defendant. Then, defendant resumed talking to Schmit, before returning to Davis and "exchanging]" a "small item." Defendant returned to Schmit and exchanged a "small item" in a hand-to-hand transaction. Schmit walked away, but defendant stayed by a bus stop with Davis and several other people.
¶ 8 Sherman heard Schmit confirm the transaction on the radio, and observed defendant and Davis walk east behind a building as enforcement vehicles arrived. Sherman "lost sight for a second" before the enforcement officers stopped defendant and Davis. He identified Defense Exhibit No. 2 as a photograph of the northwest corner of Pulaski and Madison, which depicted the bus stop, the vacant lot north of Madison where he was parked behind a building, and a building directly to the east of the lot on the corner, and he marked the lot.
¶ 9 On cross-examination, Sherman testified that he could not hear the conversations that took place and did not see currency exchanged. He did not know where other surveillance officers were located. Two or three minutes elapsed from the time that Schmit left until defendant was detained, and he did not observe any additional hand-to-hand transactions. He lost sight of defendant and Davis when they walked "just past the corner" of a building as enforcement officers exited a vehicle. Sherman did not write in his report that he lost sight of defendant, but explained that "the individuals were never out of the sight of an officer" because the enforcement vehicle was parking as defendant and Davis passed the corner. He did not take any video or photographs of the drug sale, but camera or video equipment was available.
¶ 10 Chicago police officer Justin Homer testified that he worked as an enforcement officer. After Schmit radioed to report a narcotics transaction and a description of the person with whom he interacted, Homer went to Madison and Pulaski and saw an individual matching the description. He identified defendant in court as that person. Defendant was standing in a vacant lot on Madison with a group of people. Homer brought defendant to Homer's vehicle where they waited for Schmit, who identified defendant. Homer then arrested defendant and searched him, but recovered nothing.
¶ 11 On cross-examination, Homer specified that no narcotics or 1505 funds were recovered after the custodial search of defendant. The description he received was of a Black man wearing a black...
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