People v. Richardson
| Decision Date | 23 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | 1-19-0821 |
| Citation | 2021 IL App (1st) 190821,192 N.E.3d 609,455 Ill.Dec. 780 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Andrew RICHARDSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, and David T. Harris, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.
Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Janet C. Mahoney, and David H. Iskowich, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
¶ 1 Following a bench trial, defendant Andrew Richardson was convicted of two separate counts of aggravated battery based on the striking and burning of Z.W., born October 22, 2008. Richardson and codefendant Caroline Woods were tried separately and simultaneously, with Woods by a jury and defendant by the trial court. The trial court subsequently sentenced defendant to two consecutive terms of 32 years, for an aggregate term of 64 years.
¶ 2 On appeal, defendant argues that he did not knowingly and voluntarily waive his right to be present when the trial court viewed videotaped evidence in camera during a pretrial section 115-10 ( 725 ILCS 5/115-10 (West 2016) ) hearing regarding the admissibility of Z.W.’s outcry statements.
¶ 3 In November 2017, prior to trial, the State moved to admit Z.W.’s prior statements pursuant to section 115-10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (id. ). Specifically, the State sought to introduce Z.W.’s out-of-court statements to several individuals, including Officer Francis Frye, Officer Jaime Garcia-Okon, Sergeant Troy Williams, Lieutenant Jacob Alderden, Detective Bryan Boeddeker, social worker Gabrielle Aranda, and forensic interviewer Alison Alstott. The motion stated that Z.W. would testify at the trial.
¶ 4 At the hearing on the motion, defendant was present and represented by counsel. At the start of the hearing, the prosecutor informed the trial court that the statements to Lieutenant Alderden and Alstott were interviews recorded on video. The prosecutor proposed that she would lay a foundation for each video and then the court could view the videos on its own time. Defense counsel agreed to this proposal.
¶ 5 Lieutenant Alderden testified that he interviewed Z.W. in an ambulance on October 2, 2016. He interviewed Z.W. with another officer who was present, and that officer's body camera recorded the 15-minute interview. He identified the State's exhibit as the video recording of his interview captured on the other officer's body camera. He stated that the video accurately and fairly reflected his interview with Z.W. Alstott, a forensic interviewer supervisor at Comer Children's Advocacy Center, interviewed Z.W. at Comer Children's Hospital on October 3, 2016. She recorded the interview with a travel camcorder, and she identified the State's exhibit as the video of her forensic interview with Z.W. and stated that it accurately and fairly depicted the interview. The State moved to admit the videos into evidence for purposes of the hearing, which the court allowed. Defense counsel did not object to the admission. The court stated it would review the videos.
¶ 6 The next day following arguments, the court granted the State's motion to introduce Z.W.’s prior statements at defendant's trial. In its ruling, the court noted that it examined both videotaped interviews.
¶ 7 The following evidence was presented at defendant's September 2018 bench trial.
¶ 8 Mason Arion was walking his dog at a park near 4800 South Lake Shore Drive in Chicago at around 10 a.m. on October 2, 2016. He noticed a young male child "sort of jogging" north along Lake Shore Drive. He explained that the child was "sort of jogging" because the child was "sort of limping" and did not appear to be able to run at full speed. He observed the child for a little bit because he did not want to scare him into the road. As he caught up to the child, Arion approached him and asked where he was going and where he was coming from. Arion observed scars and bruises on the child's face, arms, and legs. A minute or two later, a police officer arrived at the location. Arion did not learn the name of the child. After the officer arrived, he provided his information to the officer and told the officer what he had observed. Arion identified a photograph of the child in open court.
¶ 9 Sergeant Troy Williams was working on October 2, 2016, as a patrol sergeant, in uniform and driving a marked patrol car. His uniform included a body camera. Shortly before 11 a.m., he heard a radio call of an approximately seven-year-old child running northbound on Lake Shore Drive near 47th and 48th Streets. It was not typical for a sergeant to respond to routine calls on the radio, but because of the nature of the call, he went to the scene. He drove to the area near 47th Street and Lake Shore Drive, which had a playground and baseball fields. As he approached the area, Arion raised his hand to get Sergeant Williams's attention. He spoke with Arion and then with the child, whom he identified as Z.W. Sergeant Williams observed facial scars and bruises as well as a limp. He also noted what appeared to be a diaper protruding from Z.W.’s waistband.
¶ 10 Z.W. told Sergeant Williams that he "just wanted to go to the park." The sergeant asked Z.W. about the observed injuries, and Z.W. told him that they were "punishment wounds from his parents." Sergeant Williams asked who his parents were, and Z.W. answered "Caroline," "Carol," and "Richardson." Z.W. showed Sergeant Williams a burnt wound or scar on his back and told him that he had been placed on a stove by his father "Richardson." When the sergeant asked Z.W. where he lived, Z.W. pointed at two buildings south of where they were, 4800 South Chicago Beach Drive.
¶ 11 Sergeant Williams notified the dispatcher that he found the child and called for the fire department because of the child's condition. An ambulance was sent to the scene, and the paramedics examined Z.W. He also spoke with his lieutenant, Jacob Alderden. Officer Frye also arrived at the scene. Sergeant Williams directed the ambulance over to 4800 South Chicago Beach Drive, and he relocated to that location as well to help find out where Z.W. lived. Officer Mandy Tucker also arrived at the scene.
¶ 12 Z.W. initially led the officers into the north building. Officer Tucker's body camera was on and operating at this time, and Sergeant Williams turned on his body camera as well. They went up to the twenty-sixth floor, and Z.W. went to an apartment, turned the knob, and then knocked. No one answered the door. The officers knocked on a couple other doors and determined that Z.W. did not live on that floor. They returned to the lobby. Sergeant Williams spoke with the doorman while Z.W. returned to the ambulance. As he was standing in the lobby, a woman entered with a baby. Sergeant Williams learned her name was Caroline Woods, and he identified her in open court. He had a conversation with Woods in the presence of Officer Tucker, and Woods was placed in custody at the scene. Sergeant Williams estimated that he had been with Z.W. from 20 to 30 minutes before Woods entered the lobby. During his conversation with Woods, she told Sergeant Williams that Z.W. was injured in a car accident and in falling down the stairs. She further told him that defendant treated Z.W. very well.
¶ 13 Officer Frances Frye was working on October 2, 2016, as a uniformed patrol officer in a marked vehicle. Shortly before 11 a.m., the officer heard a call over the police radio of a child running northbound around the 4800 block of South Lake Shore Drive. Officer Frye proceeded to that location and observed Sergeant Troy Williams with a child, Z.W., as well as Arion. He observed that Z.W. "looked battered" and had bruises "all over his body," including on his face and arms. After speaking with Sergeant Williams, Officer Frye tried to locate where Z.W. lived. Z.W. pointed to a building that was part of multiple residential high-rise buildings. He went into the lobbies of multiple buildings to ask security and the doormen if they knew Z.W. He was unable to locate Z.W.’s residence, but different officers located Z.W.’s building.
¶ 14 Lieutenant Jacob Alderden monitored the call that Sergeant Williams responded to a child running along Lake Shore Drive on October 2, 2016. He spoke with Sergeant Williams and then went to the scene at 4800 South Chicago Beach Drive. He joined Sergeant Williams and other officers on the twenty-sixth floor of the north tower. He observed Z.W. and noticed "obvious injuries to his face." After the attempts to find Z.W.’s apartment were unsuccessful, he relocated to the lobby, and Woods showed up with Z.W.’s sister. Lieutenant Alderden identified Woods in open court. Z.W. was in the ambulance, and Lieutenant Alderden went to speak with him. Z.W. told him that he was routinely beaten by his mother and father. Z.W. started to detail how he sustained the injuries, including which weapons were used. Lieutenant Alderden stopped talking to Z.W. because he directed another sergeant to obtain a search warrant for defendant and Woods's residence. He then resumed a conversation with Z.W. with Officer Garcia-Okon present. Officer Garcia-Okon was wearing a body camera, and the conversation was recorded. Z.W. told the lieutenant that he last attended school for prekindergarten and was enrolled in home school. The recording of the conversation was played during the trial.
¶ 15 During the recorded conversation, Z.W. told the officers that defendant and Woods hit him with a baseball bat, belt, vacuum, and a metal bottle. Defendant burned him by holding him over a hot stove. Z.W. said that he was not fed when defendant was out of town.
¶ 16 Later that evening, around 7:30 p.m., Lieutenant Alderden returned to 4800 South Chicago Beach Drive to execute a search warrant on defendant and...
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...trial’ " only if he watched the video while the judge was watching it. Flagg , 2021 IL App (1st) 191692-U, ¶ 48 (quoting People v. Richardson , 2021 IL App (1st) 190821, ¶ 53, 455 Ill.Dec. 780, 192 N.E.3d 609 ). Since the video was of defendant's being interviewed by the police, he must hav......