People v. Weatherspoon

• Decision Date: 09 September 2009
• Docket Number: No. 1-06-3174.,1-06-3174.
• Citation: 915 N.E.2d 761
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Emmitt WEATHERSPOON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

915 N.E.2d 761

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Emmitt WEATHERSPOON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-06-3174.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Third Division.

September 9, 2009.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Patricia Unsinn, Deputy Defender, Susan-Amanda Ingram, Asst. App. Defender, Chicago, for Defendant-Appellant.

Anita Alvarez, State's Attorney, Cook County, James E. Fitzgerald, Alan J. Spellberg, Clare Wesolik Connolly, Asst. State's Attys., Chicago, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Presiding Justice MURPHY delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial, defendant, Emmitt Weatherspoon, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 45 years' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argues that (1) the trial court interfered with his right to testify when it deferred ruling on his motion in limine to bar the State from the introduction of one of his prior convictions until he testified; (2) he was denied his right to present a defense when he was not permitted to testify about a conversation he had with the victim's brother that caused him to leave town; (3) a detective's testimony regarding a DNA analysis implied that defendant's DNA was on file at the state crime lab as a convicted felon; (4) the State's comments in closing arguments only served to inflame the passions of the jury; and (5) the trial court erred when it refused to give defendant three days to review his presentence investigation report.¹

I. FACTS

Defendant was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and first-degree murder after Sylvia Chambers was found dead in a garbage can in the alley behind defendant's home.

A. Motion in limine

Before trial, which began August 1, 2006, defendant made an oral motion in limine to bar the State from presenting his theft conviction from 1997. The trial court found the motion premature and ruled that it would determine the relevancy of defendant's conviction if and when defendant testified.

Defendant testified on his own behalf at the trial. Afterward, the State sought to admit defendant's convictions for robbery and theft. Defendant was convicted of robbery on July 21, 1995, and his probation was terminated in April 1997. He was convicted of theft on April 17, 1997. Defendant requested that both convictions be barred because they were more prejudicial than probative, especially given the remoteness of the robbery conviction.

The trial court determined that both cases affected defendant's credibility. Although both convictions "tend not to be recent," the court noted that defendant was outside the jurisdiction from 2001 through 2004. Furthermore, where defendant was being tried for crimes of violence, the theft and robbery convictions "lack any similarity to what is before this jury." After balancing the probative value of the convictions against the danger of unfair prejudice, the trial court permitted the State to present evidence of the convictions.

B. Evidence Presented at Trial

Chambers was last seen alive on July 21, 1999, at 12:30 a.m., when she sat in a car, drinking with her friend. The next morning, her body was discovered in a garbage can in the alley behind 1145 West 112th Place in Chicago. While the police were investigating and processing the scene, neighbors saw defendant in the alley, sitting on the back of a paddy wagon.

Brian Smith, a forensic investigator for the Chicago police, testified that the body was wrapped in black sheeting. He also discovered a purple towel, which was in the alley, and a pair of pliers and a blue plastic bag, which were in the front yard of 11257 South Racine.

Detective Steven Brownfield testified that on July 22, 1999, after speaking to a witness, he went to 11254 South May looking for defendant, but no one was there. The next day, the police executed a search warrant on the house. In the rear bedroom, they found several knives lying around and a belt that had blood on its buckle. The bedsheets were "quite soiled" and appeared to be stained. They put a "stop order" on defendant but were unsuccessful in locating him.

Five years later, in November 2004, Chicago police officer Ted Przepiora was working on the Chambers case with the cold case squad. He testified that on November 3, 2004, he talked to Tanis Wildhaber of the State Police crime lab concerning the work up of evidence recovered during the investigation. Przepiora testified that Wildhaber gave him "some information about some positive findings on some DNA analysis." Based on that information, he "further investigate[d] a possible location of a suspect," i.e., defendant, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He contacted the Michigan Federal Bureau of Investigation task force, and on November 8, 2004, he, an assistant State's Attorney, and other detectives traveled to Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids police officer Daniel Lubbers testified that on November 9, 2004, he went to defendant's place of employment and arrested him. He transported defendant to the police station and contacted the Chicago police detectives to inform them that defendant was in custody. The detectives arrived at the police station at 9:30 or 9:45 a.m.

Przepiora and another detective spoke to defendant in an interview room almost immediately after arriving. They read defendant his Miranda rights, which he said he understood. Przepiora told him that they were investigating the murder of Sylvia Chambers, which occurred on July 21, 1999. At first, defendant denied involvement and claimed that he had left the Chicago area in 1998. However, after officers confronted him with crime scene photos, which showed that he was there, and witness statements that placed him at the scene the day of the murder, defendant said that his and the victim's DNA would be found in his bedroom. Defendant told Przepiora that he and Chambers agreed to smoke crack cocaine in exchange for sex. He purchased two bags of rocks from the dealer down the alley, returned to his bedroom, and smoked the cocaine with Chambers. He then had sex with Chambers, during which time he ejaculated on her chest. Afterward, Chambers, dressed only from the waist up, demanded more cocaine, but he refused and asked her to leave. She became enraged, and a struggle ensued.

As Chambers struggled with defendant, he removed his belt, put it around her neck, and twisted it. Chambers continued to struggle; he released the belt and put his hands around her neck. He then reached for a Swiss Army knife and stabbed her in the neck. After he stabbed her, she began gasping for air and died a short time later. Defendant got black landscaping plastic from the kitchen and wrapped Chambers's body in it. He placed her body in a garbage can in the alley behind his house. When he returned to the house, he wrapped the knife he used to stab Chambers in her pants and then put the pants in a television cabinet in the basement of the house.

When the police arrived, he went outside and watched them process the scene. After the police left the area, he approached his sister Shalonda and told her he had been involved in a murder. He asked her to drive him to Altgeld Gardens, where he stayed for one or two days. He then drove to his sister Nicole's house in Grand Rapids. Nicole confronted him with the fact that he showed up at her door with only the clothes on his back, and he confided that he had been involved in a murder in Chicago and could not return.

During Przepiora's conversation with defendant, he showed him pictures of the scene. Defendant identified the belt he used on Chambers.

After his discussion with defendant, Przepiora left the room and informed Assistant State's Attorney Rob Robertson of defendant's statement. Robertson, the detectives, and defendant moved to a larger conference room, where Robertson also advised defendant of his rights.

Robertson testified that after the detectives interviewed defendant, they informed him that defendant agreed to talk to him. Robertson advised defendant of his constitutional rights, which defendant said he understood. After defendant talked to Robertson about the murder of Sylvia Chambers, Robertson explained the ways that defendant could memorialize his statement. Defendant chose to give a videotaped statement, so defendant, Robertson, and the detectives signed the consent form.

In the videotaped statement, defendant said that the murder had been weighing on his mind for five years. He stated that on July 21, 1999, he smoked crack in his bedroom, which was at the back of the house, located at 11254 South May. Afterward, he sat on the front porch, where he saw Chambers, whom he knew as "Baby Girl" walking down the street. The two talked about exchanging crack for sex, so defendant went down the street and purchased two dime bags of crack. The two smoked crack in his bedroom and then had sex. Afterward, Chambers asked for some of defendant's crack, but when he said no, she became angry and began yelling.

Defendant told Chambers to leave; he was concerned that his sister would come home and discover that he was smoking crack, as he had promised her he would not smoke crack anymore. He tried to push Chambers, who was only wearing a shirt, out the door, but she began "fighting me, swinging me." He pushed her, and she hit the wall and told him he was going to get "f___ked up" if he did not let her go. As she came at him in a "raging force," defendant pulled the belt out of his pants and "wrapped the belt around her neck to try to calm her down." He told her to get "the f___k out of my house" as she scratched his face and neck. He let the belt go and grabbed her, but she was slippery and still refused to leave.

Chambers said that she was going to get paid one way or the other, even if she had to get people to jump him. Defendant then grabbed her around the neck and squeezed to "try to put some fear inside of her." Tired and frustrated, he let her go, but she continued to fight, so he grabbed his...