People v. Teran

• Decision Date: 19 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2-02-1408.,2-02-1408.
• Citation: 353 Ill. App.3d 720,818 N.E.2d 1278,289 Ill.Dec. 75
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. David TERAN, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

818 N.E.2d 1278

353 Ill. App.3d 720

289 Ill.Dec. 75

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. David TERAN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-02-1408.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

November 19, 2004.

G. Joseph Weller, Deputy Defender and Darren E. Miller (Court-appointed), Office of the State Appellate Defender, Elgin, for David Teran.

Joseph E. Birkett, DuPage County State's Attorney, Wheaton, Martin P. Moltz, Deputy Director, David A. Bernhard, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, for the People.

Justice HUTCHINSON delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant, David Teran, was convicted of committing the first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 1998)) of Roderick Floyd. In finding defendant guilty of this offense, the jury rejected defendant's claim that he was insane under section 6-2(a) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (the Criminal Code) (720 ILCS 5/6-2(a) (West 1998)). After denying defendant's motion for new trial, the trial court sentenced him to 45 years' imprisonment. Defendant appeals, contending that section 6-2(a) of the Criminal Code is unconstitutional in that it violates equal protection, due process, and the proportionate penalties clause of our Illinois Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. XIV, § 1; Ill. Const.1970, art. I, §§ 2, 11). We affirm.

At trial, the State presented evidence reflecting that on August 28, 1998, the victim was working for a moving company in Addison. Terry Frazier testified that on August 28, 1998, he and Bill Patterson and the victim returned from a job in Grayslake and in Addison at approximately 10 p.m. The victim paid them, and then Frazier and Patterson left. Frazier testified that, before he left, the victim told him that he was going to drive a smaller van home, and the victim checked a load in that van.

Przemysklaw Krynski testified that on August 28, 1998, at approximately 11 p.m., he was driving east on Fay Avenue in Addison, when he observed the victim lying in the street. Krynski telephoned 911 and reported this to the operator. Richard Imbordino, a firefighter, testified that he arrived at the scene at 11:42 p.m., and the victim had no vital signs. Imbordino further testified that the Addison police arrived right after he did.

Shaku Teas, a forensic pathologist, testified regarding his autopsy on the victim. Teas testified that he found six gunshot wounds and that the victim died of multiple gunshot wounds. Other witnesses testified regarding their collection of the evidence, including the bullet fragments and gun shell casings found in and around the victim, and testified that the recovered shell casings were fired from the same firearm.

Teresa Burke testified that she was defendant's former spouse. She testified that she and defendant married in 1985 and had three children. She first separated from defendant in 1987 because of his "temper mostly" and because he was "threatening" toward her. Burke described an incident on Father's Day where defendant wanted to get cash from their credit card "so he could buy marijuana." At the time, she was seven months pregnant. Burke thought that defendant was going to hit her, but he did not. Burke further testified that, after they reconciled, they would go out occasionally. When they went out, Burke was concerned that defendant "might make a scene" because he was "very impatient" and she feared that he might "start yelling and yelling at people." Burke and defendant again separated for five months in 1991. When he returned, he became employed at Cumbee Freight as an over-the-road truck driver.

Burke testified that she told defendant in 1997 that she wanted a divorce. Burke agreed that there were arguments and incidents of threats and violence, but she had not known defendant to be delusional or to have hallucinations. She testified regarding specific incidents where defendant was verbally and physically threatening toward her and her mother. According to Burke, defendant relocated to Florida but returned in June 1997.

Burke testified that, although defendant resided in Florida, when he was in Illinois he would occasionally stay in his truck at Louis' Diner in West Chicago. He would arrange to visit the children. Burke and the children visited defendant in Florida in April 1998. While there, defendant told her that he had learned that Louis Teran was not really his father. Burke testified that she believed defendant was happy about this information because Louis Teran had abused defendant as a child. Defendant made attempts to locate his natural father, Richard Klein.

Burke testified that on the morning of August 29, 1998, she picked up defendant from Louis' Diner and took him to a bar in West Chicago at 11 a.m. When she picked up defendant from the bar approximately three hours later, he was "pretty intoxicated." While she drove defendant back to his truck, defendant mentioned that he had been "abducted." Burke told him to stop talking because the children were in the car.

Burke further testified that on September 3, 1998, defendant told her that he needed to take some time off from work and that he did not believe his employer would allow this. Defendant explained that he might quit his job, and he asked Burke to help him clean out his truck. She agreed to do so, and then Burke followed defendant to Cumbee Freight in Chicago Ridge to give him a ride after dropping off the truck. Burke testified that, while they were driving away from Cumbee Freight, defendant spoke of having "alien enzymes" that he needed to "release." Defendant informed Burke that the world was going to end on September 26 with a meteor striking the earth. Defendant said that his natural father was the head of the "mob" and that "he was given a choice" to either kill Burke or kill someone else. Defendant told Burke that he chose to kill someone else because he did not want to kill her.

Burke further testified that, when she asked defendant whom he had killed, defendant replied that he killed "some Nigger" with his 9-millimeter pistol at an "[i]ndustrial park in Addison." Defendant described to Burke that he knocked on the victim's truck, and the victim asked what he had ever done to him. Defendant said the victim's wife and child saw him commit the shooting. Defendant told Burke that he had a license to kill and that the police could do nothing.

Burke testified that on September 7, 1998, she reported to the police what defendant had told her. Burke testified that, other than the prior conversation, defendant never spoke of being an alien, having alien DNA, being a hit man, or being an undercover agent. Other than when defendant used "hard drugs" as a teenager, Burke did not know defendant to have any hallucinations or delusions. On cross-examination, Burke admitted that she "tried to get him committed" before she contacted the police.

Michael Simo testified that in September 1998, he was a detective with the Addison police department and investigating the victim's murder. On September 8, 1998, he spoke with Burke and with James Chambers, defendant's stepbrother, regarding defendant's alleged participation in the shooting. Simo testified that on September 9 he went with other officers to Aurora to speak with defendant about the shooting; defendant agreed to accompany the officers to the police station. Detective Van Stedum was also present during the interview. Simo read Miranda warnings to defendant, and defendant initialed the form.

Simo testified that defendant initially denied having any knowledge of the shooting and claimed that he had sold his 9-millimeter gun in 1997 in Florida. The officers told defendant that his brother had told them that defendant had picked up his gun on the night of the shooting and that someone informed them that he was involved in the shooting. Defendant then asked the officers whether they had run his name through their computer, as it would reveal that he was not to be apprehended if he was wanted for murder. Defendant claimed that he worked at the Treasury Department and had special assignments that he could not discuss. When Van Stedum asked defendant whether his brother was involved, defendant became angry and said, "I shot the goddamn coon, no one else was involved, no one else was in the truck with me." Until this point, the officers never disclosed to defendant that the victim was black.

Simo further testified that defendant said that the shooting occurred near VFN Fiberglass, where his brother worked. Defendant described a box van in the area, parked on Fay Street. Defendant approached the victim and started shooting. Before the shooting, the victim asked defendant what he ever did to defendant. Defendant said that the last shot was to the back of the victim's head. After the shooting, defendant went to Louis' Diner. Simo testified that defendant assisted him in drawing a depiction of the scene of the shooting.

Simo testified that defendant stated that he had disposed of the weapon in pieces in various locations. Defendant noted that he had thrown the barrel of the gun into the Cal-Sag Canal a few days after the shooting. Defendant said he used "regular" 9-millimeter ammunition. At approximately 10 p.m. on September 9, 1998, the officers transferred defendant from Aurora to the Addison police station.

Simo further testified that, at the Addison police department, defendant told the officers that "he had been given his directions and been told what to do." When he asked defendant whether he would put that in writing, defendant appeared to become angry and told him to call the Treasury Department to verify his version of the events. Simo and Van Stedum then brought defendant to the crime scene, and defendant directed them to the area of the shooting. According to Simo's testimony, defendant accurately reenacted the shooting but would not allow the officers to photograph him.

Simo testified that defendant said that he had...