People v. Riley, 1-18-0710
| Decision Date | 24 December 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-18-0710,1-18-0710 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SEAN RILEY, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The Honorable Catherine Marie Haberkorn, Judge Presiding.
¶ 1 Held: Defendant's conviction of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol is affirmed, where (1) evidence showed defendant struck a pedestrian with his truck without slowing down, had glassy eyes and smelled of alcohol, and was unresponsive and unable to walk steadily; (2) the trial court did not base its judgment on any inaccurate recollections of the facts in evidence; and (3) defendant's right to remain silent was not violated, as his unresponsive conduct following the accident was physical evidence of impairment and not testimonial evidence.
¶ 2 Following a bench trial, defendant Sean Riley was found guilty of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and sentenced to 6½ years' imprisonment. On appeal, Riley argues that (1) the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, where he passed his field sobriety tests, the State's witnesses presented conflicting testimony, there was no credible testimony regarding "the typical indicators of impairment," and there was no evidence that Riley's driving proximately caused the victim's injuries; (2) the trial court wrongfully considered facts not in evidence when finding him guilty; and (3) the trial court violated his fifth amendment right to remain silent and the "no comment rule" by considering his silence as evidence of guilt. We affirm.
¶ 4 Riley was charged by indictment with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a), (d)(1)(F), (d)(2)(G) (West 2014)), following an incident in Chicago on August 24, 2014.
¶ 5 At trial, Chicago police officer Alejandro Vargas testified that on August 24, 2014, at about 8:24 p.m., he was off-duty, wearing plain clothes, and driving to work on the left eastbound lane of North Avenue. Vargas drove "just over 40 miles per hour," even though the speed limit was 30 miles per hour. At the intersection of North and California Avenue, Vargas saw a pickup truck "about a car-and-a-half to two cars" ahead in the right eastbound lane of North. Vargas noticed the truck was "going faster than" him, as Vargas "wasn't gaining" on the truck. Then, about "a half block ahead," he saw a pedestrian, Jose Serrano-Collazo, holding a can and a plastic bag at the intersection of North and Washtenaw Avenue. There were streetlights at that intersection, but no traffic lights or stop signs. At the crosswalk on the west side of Washtenaw, Serrano-Collazo walked three-fourths of the way southbound across North.
¶ 6 Vargas was able to slow down, and Serrano-Collazo passed his traffic lane. However, Vargas did not notice the pickup truck reduce speed and "didn't see taillights on." Vargas saw Serrano-Collazo walk in front of the truck and heard a "nasty sound" like "bones breaking and metal crashing." The truck drove about a quarter of a block and pulled over to the curb.
¶ 7 Vargas parked behind the pickup truck and exited his vehicle. Then, Riley exited the pickup truck from the driver's side door. Vargas asked Riley where he was going, and Riley "mumbled something unintelligible" but "didn't respond." Rather, Riley "just started walking in a catatonic state" in Vargas's direction toward Serrano-Collazo. Riley had an "unsteady gait," was "kind of stumbling, stiff legged," and "looked to be in a state of intoxication." Riley walked by Vargas without making eye contact, and Vargas smelled "an odor of alcohol" wafting from Riley's body "like the wind blew."
¶ 8 Then, Vargas approached the pickup truck and saw a big dent on the hood with the right headlight smashed. Vargas confirmed that a photograph entered into evidence reflected this damage, along with Serrano-Collazo's plastic bag, which was tangled in the vehicle's broken signal light. After Vargas observed the truck, he saw Riley "get close" to Serrano-Collazo and "kind of just stand*** there *** looking." A police vehicle arrived at the scene within a minute of the accident. Vargas observed the truck once more, walked back toward the scene, and saw an officer escort Riley to a police vehicle. Vargas opined that Riley was under the influence of alcohol while he was driving the pickup truck, based on Riley's smell of alcohol, "unsteady gait," "unfixed" stare, and the fact that Riley "didn't respond to [Vargas] in an intelligible manner" and "just kept walking."
¶ 9 On cross-examination, Vargas stated that the streetlights near the accident were not on, and that he did not see Riley's truck strike Serrano-Collazo. Rather, he saw Serrano-Collazo walk in front of Riley's truck and "disappear***" and then heard a "crash." He also clarified that he saw Serrano-Collazo hold a beer can when crossing North but did not see Serrano-Collazo drink the beer. Additionally, Vargas stated that after interacting with Riley, he saw Sergeant HeatherDaniel's vehicle approach "[a]s soon as [he] turned around," and he saw Officer Cecchin1 arrest Riley. Vargas did not see Daniel exit her vehicle. He also denied making any notes or reports on his observations from that night.
¶ 10 Chicago police sergeant Daniel testified that she drove eastbound on North and saw a group of people standing around a person laying in the street. Daniel parked her vehicle and approached the person on the ground, who was unconscious and "looked mangled." The group of people pointed out a pickup truck less than a block away. Daniel approached the truck, Riley exited the truck and walked towards her, and Daniel grabbed Riley's arm. Daniel noticed Riley's eyes were "glassy," and he had a "far away look," "seemed *** out of touch," and smelled like alcohol. Riley said, "I'm scared," in a tone that was "[v]ery quiet and seemed a bit slurred." Then, Daniel "took hold of his arm" and "walk[ed] him back" towards her vehicle. She noticed Riley "walk[ed] very slowly." Cecchin and Officer Alfredo Mendez arrived in another police vehicle and placed Riley in the back seat of their vehicle.
¶ 11 On cross-examination, Daniel testified that she did not see Riley stand over Serrano-Collazo when she arrived, and she did not see Vargas until after Riley was placed in a police vehicle. While she noticed Riley "walk[ed] extremely slowly," she did not recall him having balancing issues. She also stated she did not prepare any reports on the incident, but she was on patrol "[i]n a supervisory capacity."
¶ 12 Chicago police officer Isidor Ramos testified that he arrived at the scene of the accident and saw Riley handcuffed at the back of a squad vehicle with Officers Cecchin and Mendez "standing to the side." He spoke with Daniel, who directed him to Riley's vehicle located "about three storefronts" east of Washtenaw. Ramos noticed that the vehicle had dents on the hood andwheel well and a dislodged headlight. At about 11:41 p.m., over three hours after the accident, Ramos joined Mendez in the police station's processing room, saw Riley sleeping and handcuffed to a bench, and noticed a "very strong smell of alcohol" upon entering. Ramos remained at the station for another three hours to finish his case report and assist in processing Riley's arrest, which "was for DUI." Ramos could smell alcohol every time he reentered the processing room, where Riley remained sleeping.
¶ 13 Ramos opined that Riley was under the influence of alcohol when the accident occurred, based on the smell of alcohol in the processing room. Ramos also believed Riley was under the influence because most people who experienced an accident would "be worried about the well-being of the person that they were in the accident with as well as *** what's going to happen to me next." Riley, however, was "not capable" of doing that and was "just sleeping." Defense counsel objected, stating that Ramos was improperly drawing a conclusion based on Riley's silence. The trial court overruled the objection and explained, "He's just talking about [Riley] sleeping and what that means to him." Ramos then stated, "I really think that somebody will be *** aware *** of what's going on at that point when you're being processed as an arrestee and *** people tend to [ask], hey, what's going to happen to me next ***." Defense counsel objected again, and the court sustained the objection "as to any statements from the defendant," but allowed Ramos to testify based on Riley's sleeping.
¶ 14 On cross-examination, Ramos testified that when he arrived at the scene, Riley was outside the police vehicle, and Ramos did not observe Riley sway or lose balance "[a]t that time." Ramos prepared the traffic crash report and ticket, but did not have the notes he took at the scene. He confirmed that the traffic crash report and ticket were prepared for "[s]triking the pedestrian in the roadway" and "[f]ailure to use due care." The narrative portion of the report, however, did notstate that Ramos thought Riley was under the influence. Ramos denied writing in his report that Daniel told him there was "a possible DUI," or that Vargas told him he believed Riley was under the influence. He also denied that he was the arresting officer and stated he did not write the arrest report.
¶ 15 Chicago police officer Cecchin testified that he and his partner, Mendez, arrived at the scene at about 8:25 p.m. and saw a crowd gathered around Serrano-Collazo, who was motionless on the ground past the western crosswalk of North. Daniel pointed out Riley,...
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