People v. White, s. 1–09–2852

CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois
Citation2011 IL App (1st) 092852,357 Ill.Dec. 596,963 N.E.2d 994
Docket NumberNos. 1–09–2852,1–10–0094.,s. 1–09–2852
PartiesThe PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Alan J. WHITE and Demond Carter, Defendants–Appellants.
Decision Date23 December 2011

2011 IL App (1st) 092852
357 Ill.Dec.
596
963 N.E.2d 994

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff–Appellee,
v.
Alan J. WHITE and Demond Carter, Defendants–Appellants.

Nos. 1–09–2852

1–10–0094.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

Dec. 23, 2011.


[963 N.E.2d 998]

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Alan D. Goldberg, Deputy Defender, David T. Harris, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for Appellant Alan J. White.

Jennifer L. Blagg, for Appellant Demond Carter.

Anita M. Alvarez, State's Attorney, County of Cook, Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, Michelle Katz, Christine Cook, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
OPINION
Presiding Justice EPSTEIN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

[357 Ill.Dec. 600] ¶ 1 Following a jury trial, defendants Alan White and Demond Carter were convicted of first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. On appeal, Carter and White argue that (1) the trial court abused its discretion by admitting cumulative prior inconsistent statements and by sending copies of these statements back to the jury; (2) they were denied effective assistance of counsel because their trial counsel failed to request jury instructions on self-defense and second degree murder; (3) they were denied effective assistance of counsel because their trial counsel failed to move to strike or move for a mistrial when a witness testified that one of the detectives claimed that Carter had “beat so many murders”; (4) the trial judge committed reversible error when, through his comments at trial, he suggested that the jury should need little time to reach a verdict; and (5) the trial court violated defendants' right to a jury trial when it enhanced their sentences by 15 years based on the possession of a firearm. Additionally, Carter separately argues that he was denied his right to conflict-free counsel because his trial counsel represented[357 Ill.Dec. 601]

[963 N.E.2d 999]

a potential State witness. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

¶ 2 BACKGROUND

¶ 3 Defendants Alan White and Demond Carter were charged with first degree murder of Chester Alexander and attempted first degree murder of Derrick Nelson in connection with a shooting on July 6, 2006. Carter and White were represented by separate counsel and were tried jointly before the same jury.

¶ 4 I. Trial Testimony of Occurrence Witnesses

¶ 5 During the trial, the State presented the testimony of eight occurrence witnesses: Larmarius Brooks, Derrick Nelson, Davon Turner, Geremy Johns, Charles Henderson, Tyrone Thomas, Michael Pitchford, and Shukeyina Godfrey. Although several of these witnesses provided prior statements identifying Carter, White, or both as the shooters, at trial all the witnesses testified that they did not see who fired shots.

¶ 6 A. Events Leading up to the Shootings

¶ 7 Lamarius Brooks, known as “Bobo,” sold drugs on the evening of July 6, 2006, at the corner of Wilcox and Keeler in Chicago. Brooks belonged to the Traveling Vice Lords gang, though he was selling drugs on a corner controlled by the Four Corner Hustlers. Carter and White pulled up to the corner in a car. The jury heard testimony that Carter and White were members of the Gangster Disciples and Four Corner Hustlers gangs, although the testimony did not specify who belonged to which gang. Carter got out of the car and asked Brooks for “rocks,” or cocaine. Brooks gave Carter the cocaine, but Carter did not pay and instead told Brooks to “get the fuck on,” which meant get off the corner. Brooks argued with Carter and White and then walked toward the house at 4231 West Wilcox, where Brooks' girlfriend, Re–Re, lived with her mother. Carter followed Brooks, who told Carter to return the drugs.

¶ 8 Carter then snapped his fingers and White hit Brooks over the head with a heavy metal object. Brooks ran into Re–Re's house to get a towel for his bleeding head. Carter and White went to a porch across the street that was a few houses down from Re–Re's house.

¶ 9 While in the house, Brooks called a fellow member of the Traveling Vice Lords gang, Chester Alexander. Brooks was angry because he had lost money and was injured. The jury heard testimony that Brooks was “running his mouth, steady talking, talking about wait until his man come pull up,” referring to Alexander. Alexander arrived in a Range Rover, picked up Brooks, and drove to a gas station at Laramie and Jackson. En route, Alexander made a phone call and asked several “guys” to meet there. At the gas station they met six or seven other men, including Charles Henderson. Brooks, Alexander, Henderson, and five or six other men then drove to Keeler and Wilcox. As to the reasons for the group's return, Henderson testified that it was Alexander who eventually decided to go over to Keeler and Wilcox and “see what's going on.” Henderson elaborated that the group went to back to the area to “[d]uke it out” and “do whatever,” but when asked if he was “going to fight it out somehow, one way or another, fists, whatever it was going to be,” Henderson replied, “Just fists.”

¶ 10 When Brooks and Alexander returned to the area, Carter and White were still there, on the porch across the street and a few houses down from Re–Re's house. Derrick Nelson, Geremy Johns, Davon Turner, and Tyrone Thomas were near Re–Re's house when Brooks and Alexander[357 Ill.Dec. 602]

[963 N.E.2d 1000]

returned. Michael Pitchford was also in the area. Brooks and Alexander testified that upon returning to Keeler and Wilcox, they did not carry or fire weapons, nor did anyone in their group.

¶ 11 B. The Shootings

¶ 12 Sometime after Alexander and Brooks returned to Keeler and Wilcox, shots rang out. As the shots began, a crowd of people rushed into Re–Re's house. Nelson tried to enter with the crowd, but he was shot once in the back. Shukeyina Godfrey, who was also in the area, ran eastbound on Wilcox toward Keeler and saw Alexander at the corner. Godfrey saw a white van driving along Wilcox turn onto Keeler, and as she continued running, she heard more gunshots from the area on Keeler that she had just passed. Alexander was found wounded in the grass at 142 S. Keeler and subsequently died from his injuries. His autopsy revealed four gunshot wounds.

¶ 13 All witnesses testified that they did not see who fired shots. For example, Johns testified that he heard “a lot of different shots coming from different places” and that the shots were “coming from everywhere * * * from across the street, down the street.” Turner testified that the shots were “coming from the opposite side of the street, but from gangways.”

¶ 14 II. Prior Inconsistent Statements and Claims of Coercion and Intoxication

¶ 15 After all eight occurrence witnesses testified that they did not see the shooters, the State confronted all witnesses, except Godfrey, with prior inconsistent statements identifying or otherwise implicating White or Carter as the shooters. When the witnesses denied their prior inconsistent statements, the State introduced, through the testimony of several assistant State's Attorneys, both a written statement and grand jury testimony for six occurrence witnesses and a written statement for Pitchford. The jury also heard testimony from Detective Dan Gallagher as to the identification of defendants in photo arrays and lineups by several witnesses.

¶ 16 As detailed below, several witnesses testified that they were coerced to make statements or identifications by Detective Gallagher. Gallagher denied all accusations of threats and coercion and that he identified Carter and White to the witnesses. All assistant State's Attorneys testified that the witnesses provided statements voluntarily, never claimed they were coerced or threatened by police, and were not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

¶ 17 A. Brooks

¶ 18 In Brooks' prior written statement, he stated that he saw Carter go to a porch across the street after he gave Carter drugs, and he saw a dark-skinned black male in a white T-shirt shooting from the ground level near the porch. Brooks gave similar testimony to the grand jury. Brooks acknowledged at trial that he previously gave a statement and grand jury testimony, but denied saying that he saw a dark-skinned black man shooting toward him from across the street.

¶ 19 B. Nelson

¶ 20 Nelson's prior statements included that he saw Carter and White on a porch across the street after the argument with Brooks. He then saw people shooting from that porch. In his written statement, he identified “a black guy” shooting from the porch, but when asked during his grand jury testimony if the shooter “might have been” White, Nelson responded “Yes.” Nelson stated that he saw a white minivan driven by a black female stopped in the street, Carter and White jumped in the van, and the van then headed toward [357 Ill.Dec. 603]

[963 N.E.2d 1001]

Keeler. Nelson identified Carter in a photo array and in a lineup as someone he saw argue with Brooks and later enter a white minivan. He identified White in a photo array as the person who hit Brooks, and he identified White in a lineup as a person who entered a white minivan during the shooting. At trial, Nelson denied portions of his statement regarding Carter's and White's presence on the porch across the street or in the van, and he denied telling the grand jury that White was one of the shooters. Nelson also testified that Gallagher coerced him into implicating the defendants in his prior statements and that when Nelson identified someone other than defendants in the physical lineups, Gallagher had him choose Carter and White.

¶ 21 C. Turner

¶ 22 In his prior statements, Turner stated that he saw Carter “on the porch walking down the stairs shooting a gun” toward “everyone outside of Re–Re's.” Turner also saw White “standing by a gate on ground level near the porch” where Carter stood and shooting a gun in Turner's direction. Turner identified Carter in a photo array as the...

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