People v. Sullivan
| Decision Date | 19 June 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-03-3130.,1-03-3130. |
| Citation | 853 N.E.2d 754 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. John SULLIVAN, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Michael J. Pelletier,, Deputy Defender, Elizabeth A. Botti, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for Appellant.
Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Cook County, Chicago (James F. Fitzgerald, Peter Fischer, Veronica Calderon Malavia, Annette Collins, Carol L. Gaines, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for Appellee.
Defendant John Sullivan was convicted after a jury trial of the first degree murder of Charlie Hill and sentenced to 22 years in prison. He appeals, claiming he was denied a fair trial because: (1) the trial court allowed inadmissible hearsay statements; (2) the trial court allowed inadmissible gang evidence; (3) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct; and (4) the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We affirm.
The victim was shot and killed on the night of April 14, 2001, near a housing complex known as the Manor at 18th Street and Kildare Avenue. The victim was the leader of the K-Town faction of the Gangster Disciples (K-Town GDs) street gang. Defendant, the alleged leader of the rival Manor faction of the Gangster Disciples (Manor GDs), was arrested nine months later. On February 8, 2002, defendant was charged with first degree murder. Larell Williams and Brandon Ayres, also Manor GDs, were charged but tried separately.
Many of the parties here were known by one or more nicknames. We use only those nicknames attributed to defendant: "John," "Big John," "Jigga," "Jigger," "Jiggler" and "Jay." All other parties are identified by their surnames. The parties and their gang affiliations were: Manor GDs-defendant, Williams and Ayres; K-Town GDs-Michael Solomon, Frank Brown, Decorey Stamps and the victim. Solomon was murdered before the trial began.
Two pretrial hearings were held. In the first, the trial judge allowed an out-of-court, inculpatory statement by Solomon, an alleged witness to the murder, under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule. The judge deemed inadmissible Solomon's grand jury testimony that implicated defendant. In a second pretrial hearing before a different judge, the State moved to establish that defendant and the victim were street gang members through the testimony of a police officer who knew defendant. The judge ruled that the officer could testify that there were two rival gang factions and that defendant was a member of one of those factions.
Defendant's jury trial began on April 15, 2003. The State called Stamps. Stamps testified he was a member of the K-Town GDs. He identified defendant in court as someone he had seen at the Manor. Stamps said he had seen defendant "plenty of times" before the shooting and both were members of the GDs. Stamps testified that on the night of the shooting the victim decided to go to the Manor because the GDs there were having a meeting about the K-Town GDs. The victim wanted to know what was being said. Stamps drove the victim to the Manor. Solomon and Brown rode in the backseat. Stamps said he parked beside Dumpsters. The Dumpsters did not block Stamps' view of the buildings. The victim got out of the car. Stamps saw Williams, a Manor GD, wave for the victim to come toward him. Stamps said he then saw the man he recognized as John emerge from the side of a building. He identified John as defendant. Stamps said he saw John shooting at the victim. Stamps then saw Ayres, whom he knew to be a gang member from defendant's territory, come out of the Manor. Ayres also shot at the victim. Defendant then started shooting at the victim again. After that, the gunfire stopped and Stamps could no longer see the victim. Stamps said he, Solomon and Brown were seated inside Stamps' car during the shooting. Stamps then drove around the block to intercept the victim if he was running away. He stopped the car and sent Solomon to look inside the Manor where Solomon reported he saw the victim on the ground.
Stamps said he viewed a lineup on April 17, 2001, where he identified Williams. He identified Ayres in a lineup on July 2, 2001, as one of the men who shot at the victim. Stamps testified that on January 21, 2002, he identified defendant in a lineup and in a photo array. Stamps testified that other people said defendant held a rank in a street gang. Defense counsel objected to the testimony as hearsay and the trial court sustained the objection. Stamps admitted he was on probation for a narcotics offense and had another narcotics case pending.
Stamps admitted on cross-examination that his cousin was arrested at Stamps' house for the murder of Solomon. Stamps also admitted he had been a marijuana smoker for six to seven years. Stamps said the victim's son was his best friend. Stamps testified that he and his friends had been waiting for a barbeque to begin before Stamps drove the victim to the Manor. Stamps said that although it was dark outside at 8:50 p.m. on the night of the shooting and he was 30 to 35 feet away from Williams, he could see Williams waving his hand and the other people who were present because there were lights in the hallway of the Manor. After Williams waved, Stamps saw defendant walk forward. Stamps said he knew defendant's name at the time of the shooting. He said the shooters were about 25 feet from the victim and he saw defendant shooting toward the victim. He said he saw defendant after he heard the gunshots and defendant was holding a silver-colored revolver. Stamps admitted he did not see defendant fire the gun, but he heard defendant fire four or five shots in rapid succession. He said, "I just saw [defendant] when he posed up and started shooting, pow, pow." Stamps admitted he could not tell whether defendant's bullets hit the victim. Stamps said he did not see the victim get wounded and he expected the victim to return to the car. Stamps said he spoke to Pellegrini that night and told the police that John, whose nickname was Jigger, did the shooting. Stamps said he did not then know defendant's last name.
Stamps testified on redirect that he identified Williams, whom he knew to be defendant's friend, on the night of the shooting. Stamps said he knew defendant only as "John" or "Jigger" that night. Stamps testified that his cousin confessed to the murder of Solomon and that crime had nothing to do with the victim's murder.
The State called Frank Brown. Brown testified he grew up with the victim and knew him to be a leader of the K-Town GDs. Brown made an in-court identification of defendant. He said that in 2001 he knew defendant only as Big John. Brown said that he, Stamps, Solomon and the victim were GDs. Brown said that the four of them rode together to the Manor. Stamps parked the car behind some Dumpsters in a way that they had a view of the Manor. The victim exited the car. Brown said he saw "[a] guy * * * waving his hand, and I saw John and [Ayres] start shooting." Brown said he wore glasses at that time and he obtained new glasses one week later because "[his] eyes had gotten a little bad." This testimony followed:
A. Not at the time, no.
Q. Did you ask anyone in the car —
A. I asked [Solomon] and [Stamps] who is that.
MS. ROTUNNO [defense counsel]: Objection.
Q. What — who did [Solomon] tell you the shooters were?
A. Jigga.
Q. He said Jigga and [Ayres]?
A. Yes.
Q. What did you say then?
A. I said who is Jigga.
Q. What did [Solomon] say?
A. Big John.
Q. When he said Big John, did you know who he meant?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Did you know him to mean the defendant Big John?
A. Yes.
* * *
Q. * * * [W]hen you saw the guy shooting, were you able to see any part of [the victim]?
A. Just his hat.
* * *
Q. What did you see happen?
A. After the shooting, I seen the hat jump off his head.
Q. That was after you saw two people shooting and [Solomon] told you it was [Ayres] and Big John, right?
A. Correct.
Brown further testified that on July 2, 2001, he identified Ayres in a lineup and on January 21, 2002, he identified defendant in a lineup.
On cross-examination, Brown admitted to being a gang member for about 10 years and that he was still a member. Brown testified that on the night of the shooting, Stamps did not mention a barbecue. Brown said after the victim exited the car, he saw the victim walk about 90 feet when Brown lost sight of him behind the Dumpsters. Brown said that one shooter wore a white hat and the other wore a black hat. When he heard gunfire he could see figures of people and asked who was shooting. Solomon said Jigga. Brown said "who the hell is Jigga" because he knew defendant only as John. He lost sight of the victim from the moment he saw the victim's hat jump off his head. Brown said on the night of the shooting, he gave the police the first names of the people responsible, including the name John. He told the police he saw the figures of people and sparks when shots were fired. He said the shooters came out one by one, with the first firing three shots, the second firing three shots, and then the first firing again. He said it could be possible that another person was shooting as well. He admitted he identified defendant based on what Solomon told him.
Detective John Pellegrini testified that Stamps and Brown viewed a lineup on July 2, 2001, and...
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