People v. Singleton

• Decision Date: 07 September 2006
• Docket Number: No. 4-04-0043.,4-04-0043.
• Citation: 304 Ill.Dec. 984,854 N.E.2d 326
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael J. SINGLETON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

854 N.E.2d 326

304 Ill.Dec. 984

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael J. SINGLETON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 4-04-0043.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fourth District.

September 7, 2006.

Rehearing Denied September 27, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Presiding Justice TURNER delivered the opinion of the court:

In November 2003, a jury found defendant, Michael J. Singleton, guilty of burglary, theft over $300, animal torture, and aggravated cruelty to a companion animal. In January 2004, the trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent, five-year prison terms on the offenses of burglary and animal torture.

On appeal, defendant argues (1) the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, (2) the trial court erred in allowing the State to inform the jury that a codefendant had pleaded guilty, and (3) statements made by two of the State's witnesses were not admissible as impeachment. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In May 2003, a grand jury indicted defendant on three counts of burglary (count I, III, and IV) and single counts of arson (count II), theft over $300 (count V), animal torture (count VI), and aggravated cruelty to a companion animal (count VII). Count III alleged defendant committed the offense of burglary on October 29, 2002, when, without authority, he knowingly entered Scotty's Place, with the intent to commit a theft therein. Count IV alleged defendant committed the offense of burglary on October 31, 2002, when, without authority, he knowingly entered Buck's Garage with the intent to commit a theft therein. Count V alleged defendant committed the offense of theft over $300 when he knowingly exerted unauthorized control over property of James Sewell with the intent to permanently deprive Sewell of the benefit of the property. Count VI alleged defendant committed the offense of animal torture in that defendant, without legal justification, tortured a dog by beating it about the head with a hammer or mallet so as to inflict extreme physical pain and motivated by the intent to increase or prolong the dog's pain. Defendant pleaded not guilty. The trial court severed counts I and II and proceeded to trial on counts III through VII.

In November 2003, defendant's jury trial commenced. Chris Gordon testified he and defendant broke into Scotty's Place in Pontiac on October 29, 2002, and then fled when the burglar alarm sounded. On October 31, 2002, Gordon and defendant entered Buck's Garage and found "power tools for working on cars." Gordon stated they put the tools in a box and put them in his car. Gordon stated a black or brown dog was in the garage walking around and barking. The dog "barked and growled a bit, at first," and after awhile it acted like it wanted to be petted. Gordon testified defendant hit the dog with a sledgehammer. He then "hung it from a chain." Gordon testified he left his car out in the country a few days later, walked to a farmhouse with defendant, and took a van. Gordon's car was later recovered and he was questioned about the tools.

Gordon testified he remembered being charged for the burglary of Buck's Garage but not Scotty's Place. He "vaguely" remembered talking to police officers in a series of interviews about the burglaries. He also remembered court hearings concerning whether statements he made could be used against him. Defense counsel objected, stating the questioning was irrelevant and immaterial. The trial court overruled the objection, finding defense counsel invited the line of questioning. Gordon pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges arising out of taking the van. He also received immunity from further prosecution as to the events at Buck's Garage and Scotty's Place as long as he testified truthfully in court.

On cross-examination, Gordon testified he went to retrieve his dad's car in the country but it was no longer there. He then called the police to report it stolen. The tools taken from Buck's Garage were in the back of the car. On redirect examination, Gordon testified he told the police about his involvement in the crimes and that of defendant as well.

John Crain testified he is defendant's brother. Defendant spent some nights at Crain's house in Bradley during October and November 2002. During that time, defendant mentioned being wanted in Pontiac and the police questioning him about a dog. Defendant mentioned he had been drinking and his friends beat a dog to stay quiet sometime in June "when we was [sic] out at Rock Creek swimming." The following exchange then occurred:

"Q. Did you tell some U.S. Marshals back on February 6 of 2003 that I asked, he said he was drinking and the dog wouldn't shut up, so his friends beat it to quiet it?

A. No. I told them a way bigger story than that, but they told me only to write that.

Q. Did you write that?

A. Yes. I had to. They said they were going to put me in jail and I was going to lose my job. I would be in federal prison if I didn't."

The State asked Crain to identify People's exhibit No. 16 as the written statement he gave to the marshals on February 6, 2003.

On cross-examination, Crain acknowledged the statement and explained what defendant had told him about an incident with a dog.

"[Defendant] told me him and his friends go out drinking out by a farm, out by a cornfield, they kick their lights off on their car and sit there and they drink. And this dog from one of the farmhouses kept coming out by the cornfield, and barking and everything. So one of his buddies had chased the dog off you know, kicking it, throwing a beer can at it or whatever to get it to run back to the house so the people wouldn't come out and catch them out there. Because they would have been busted for drinking underage."

The trial court ruled the State was precluded from using Crain's prior statement as substantive evidence but was allowed to impeach him with the statement as to its reference to defendant having told Crain that his friends had previously beaten a dog.

Matt Mason testified John Crain called him in November 2002 asking for a ride because his car had run out of gas. Mason then picked up Crain and defendant at a hotel in Bradley. A discussion ensued, and defendant mentioned "they were trying to put him in jail for killing a dog." Defendant denied it. The following exchange occurred:

"Q. Do you remember telling [an officer] that [defendant] told you that he had killed the dog, and you telling [defendant] that was stupid?

A. No.

Q. Do you remember —

A. I never told her that he told me that he did it.

Q. What did you tell her?

A. I told her that him and John told me that he was in trouble, that the cops were trying to put him in jail for it.

Q. Do you remember the business about that was stupid? Do you remember saying that?

A. For all the trouble he was in, I told him that he was stupid. And he needed to stay out of trouble.

* * *

Q. Okay. And you never said to the officers, to the agent that day, that he killed a dog, that [defendant] said he killed the dog by slamming a hammer through the dog's head?

A. No. That is a lie.

Q. Never said that when he told you that he killed the dog, you said that was stupid?

A. I never said that. I said he was stupid for being in trouble, and he needed to stay out of trouble."

Pontiac police commander Roger Newsome testified he interviewed Matt Mason in February 2003. During the interview, Mason stated defendant told him he had killed a dog by slamming a hammer through its head. In November 2002, Newsome conducted a search of defendant's apartment and seized two T-shirts and a gray, hooded sweatshirt.

Livingston County deputy sheriff Marie Margherio testified that on October 31, 2002, "a distraught male, an elderly gentleman that was crying and shaking very badly," approached her vehicle and stated his business had been broken into and his dog had been killed. The elderly gentleman, James Sewell, took her to Buck's Garage and showed her his dog Sadie suspended "from a log chain that was hanging up over the rafters." Margherio noticed a hammer and a "large area of red fluid" on the floor.

James Sewell testified he runs a carrepair business out of Buck's Garage. In the evening of October 30, 2002, he returned to the garage to feed his dog Sadie. The next morning, Sadie did not meet him at the door. Sewell turned on the lights and found Sadie hanging by a chain in the back room.

Sergeant Brian McCabe testified a car belonging to Chris Gordon's family was recovered by police. Gordon's father came to pick up the car, opened the trunk, and found a large number of tools, some that did not belong to him. He left those tools. Police officers ultimately determined the tools had been stolen from Buck's Garage. Officers then interviewed Chris Gordon about the tools.

Jennifer Ayers testified she is the Livingston County animal-control warden. She removed Sadie from the chains, placed her in a bag, and took her to the warden's facility. She then took hair and blood samples from the dog. She said Sadie was a border collie mix and had broken ribs and indentation markings that led her to conclude the dog "obviously had been beaten."

Glenn Schubert testified he worked as a forensic scientist with the Illinois State Police and specialized in the examination of human and animal hairs. He found a dog hair suitable for comparison taken from defendant's gray sweatshirt and compared it to the hair standard taken from Sadie. He concluded the hairs were "microscopically consistent" and could have originated from the same dog. Schubert stated he would put more weight on his conclusion because the hairs came from a mixed-breed animal, which has "more unique" characteristics than a purebred animal.

After the State rested its case, the trial court, over defendant's objection, read to the jury a summary prepared by the State of Chris Gordon's criminal cases. The trial court in Gordon's case granted his motion to suppress statements, and Gordon...