People v. Tijerina

• Decision Date: 31 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 1-06-0682.,1-06-0682.
• Citation: 886 N.E.2d 1090
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Raul TIJERINA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

886 N.E.2d 1090

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Raul TIJERINA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-06-0682.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fourth Division.

March 31, 2008.

Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender and Erin G. McFeron, Asst. Appellate Defender Chicago, IL, for Appellant.

Richard A. Devine, Cook County State's Attorney James E. Fitzgerald, Ashley Romito, Peter Fischer, Sari London, Assistant State's Attorneys, Of Counsel, Chicago, IL, for Appellee.

Justice MURPHY delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant, Raul Tijerina, was convicted of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2004)) and intentional homicide of an unborn child (720 ILCS 5/9-1.2(a)(1) (West 2004)) for the July 9, 2000, death of Sonya Garcia. At the time of her death, Garcia was 14 years old, approximately 8 months pregnant, and residing with defendant. The trial court sentenced defendant to 60 years' imprisonment for first degree murder and a consecutive 40 years' imprisonment for the intentional homicide of an unborn child pursuant to sections 5-8-1(a)(1)(a) and 5-8-4(a)(i) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5-8-1(a)(1)(a), 5-8-4(a)(i) (West 2004)).

On appeal, defendant argues five issues. Defendant claims that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on involuntary manslaughter and second degree murder based on provocation. Defendant contends that he was denied a fair trial because of prosecutorial misconduct during the State's rebuttal argument. Defendant asserts that the State improperly presented extensive evidence of his relationship with the victim in violation of pretrial assurances not to present evidence of other crimes. Finally, defendant asserts that the sentence of 100 years' imprisonment was excessive. For the following reasons, we affirm the findings of the trial court.

I. BACKGROUND

In July 2000, Teresa Morgan resided in the first-floor-rear apartment at 4716 South Troop Street. Defendant and the victim had moved into in the second-floor-front apartment of the building sometime in the spring of 2000. Defendant's sister Deana Tijerina lived in the first-floor-front apartment. Morgan assumed that the victim was defendant's girlfriend as she had seen them holding hands and kissing at different times.

At approximately 1 a.m. on July 9, 2000, Morgan and her boyfriend were watching television in her apartment when she heard a female voice hollering "stop hitting me." Morgan went to the front of the building because the woman continued hollering. Morgan heard the woman still hollering and a man speaking in Spanish from the second-floor-front apartment and recognized the voices as defendant's and the victim's. Morgan understood some Spanish and heard defendant hollering "bitch" and "whore." Morgan also heard the sound of someone being hit. After about 10 minutes, Morgan went to the corner to call the police on the pay phone because she did not have phone service in her apartment.

Five police officers arrived on the scene shortly thereafter. When the police knocked on defendant's door, Morgan heard defendant ask what the police wanted. The policeman told defendant to open the door and defendant told the police to "get the f___ away from his door." The police then left and Morgan did not hear any more noise from defendant's apartment that night. A few hours later, Morgan was awakened by a knock on her door from homicide detectives who informed her that the victim was dead. Morgan admitted to being on probation for a 2003 felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance, but denied being under arrest when she testified before the grand jury.

Officer Chris Hackett of the Chicago police department was dispatched to defendant's apartment at about 1:20 a.m. on July 9, 2000. Hackett, his partner and a sergeant went inside and Hackett knocked on the door to defendant's apartment. Hackett heard movement inside, but no response and knocked again, announcing his agency and requesting that the occupant open the door. A man came to the door and said that he would not open the "f____g" door. The door was locked and Hackett heard no other voices, crying sounds or indications of a disturbance. The policemen were not advised to enter the residence, so they cleared the job and left the scene at 1:28 a.m. Hackett returned to defendant's residence after a second 911 call was received around 5 a.m. that same morning.

Defendant's sister, Deana, testified that defendant had lived with the victim for a couple months before July 9, 2000. Prior to that, defendant had lived with the victim's mother. Deana testified that their family looked out for defendant because he was not bright and that he could not read or write. She stated that the victim smoked marijuana and that she advised defendant to kick her out, stating that the victim was trouble. Defendant responded to Deana that the victim was like a daughter to him and he did not kick her out of the apartment. Despite this, Deana said defendant and the victim were lovers.

Deana returned home at about 1:30 a.m. on July 9, 2000, and did not see any police or any sign of a disturbance. Later that morning, defendant awoke Deana saying that something was wrong with the victim. Defendant admitted that he had smacked and shaken the victim because she was acting strange and to find out who gave her drugs. Defendant said that the victim was "acting crazy" and had fought back.

Deana went upstairs to defendant's apartment and found the victim on the bed. Deana described the victim as purple and her face was both purple and swollen, though she did not see any blood. Deana stated that they had to call the police and went down the block to the pay phone with defendant to call 911. After dialing 911, Deana turned around and defendant had disappeared, despite the fact he was not wearing any shoes. Deana did not hear from or see defendant until he was arrested in 2004.

Deana testified on cross-examination that defendant and the victim were not lovers. She only said that they were lovers because the State wanted her to say that they were. Deana had signed a statement and testified to the grand jury that they were lovers and was told that she would be charged with perjury if she changed her testimony. On redirect, Deana stated that she was not changing her testimony and again stated that defendant and the victim were lovers. The trial court denied defendant's motion for a mistrial based on the introduction of evidence of defendant's relationship with the victim and the State's representation it would not introduce other crimes into evidence.

Detective Anthony Padilla was assigned to investigate the victim's death at 5:45 a.m. on July 9, 2000. Padilla arrived at the scene of the crime and found the victim lying on the bed. The victim appeared to be dead with multiple abrasions on her face, her eyes swollen shut, and blood on her mouth, nose, legs, and clothing. Padilla moved the victim's body to check for other injuries. Padilla also observed blood on the wall of the living room, on the hallway, on a cooler near the bedroom and on the blades of a fan. Three blood swabs taken from these areas were each identified as the victim's blood. Though she appeared to have been beaten, the victim's death was initially classified as a noncriminal matter.

The incident was eventually assigned to the cold case squad. In May 2004, Detective Richard Milz learned that defendant was living in Carrizo Springs, Texas, and he obtained a warrant for defendant's arrest. Milz traveled to Texas with Padilla, two other police officers and Assistant State's Attorney Lou Longhitano. With assistance from Texas Rangers, the officers located defendant and followed him to his home, eventually finding him hiding in the garage. Defendant was arrested and taken to a jury room in the Dimmit County Courthouse, advised of his rights and questioned.

Milz testified that when defendant was asked if he knew why they were there, defendant put his head down and indicated that he knew. Defendant told the officers that the victim was his girlfriend and she was eight months pregnant with his baby when she died. Defendant stated that on July 9, 2000, he woke up from a nap to find the victim glassy-eyed and he thought she might be using drugs. When the victim denied taking any drugs, defendant slapped her 13 to 15 times across the face. The victim still maintained that she did not take any drugs and defendant stated that he went back to sleep and when he woke up, the victim was dead on the floor.

Milz told defendant that they did not believe defendant and they had information from the medical examiner, including a list of the injuries suffered by the victim. Defendant lowered his head, began to cry and admitted that he was not telling the whole truth. He admitted to also hitting the victim with a closed fist a couple times, causing her lip to swell and bleed, and biting her on her back and shoulder two to three times. Defendant then admitted to choking the victim for three or four minutes until she fell off the bed crying and gasping for air. The victim continued to deny using any drugs and defendant went back to sleep.

When defendant awoke, he said that she was dead on the floor and he picked her up, put some clothes on her and went to tell Deana what had happened. Defendant admitted that he filed while his sister called 911 because he was scared and did not want to be around when the police arrived. Defendant stayed at a hotel for a couple days and then took a bus to Texas.

Defendant was informed that Longhitano was a prosecutor and not his attorney. Defendant stated that he understood and agreed to give a videotaped statement to Longhitano. However, the microphone did not work and Longhitano and the detectives had to return to Texas to take a second statement 13 days later. Defendant agreed to give a second videotaped statement that was...