People v. Hopkins

SUPREME COURT CASES

Laws-info.com » Cases » Illinois » 1st District Appellate » 2006 » People v. Hopkins

People v. Hopkins

State: Illinois

Court: 1st District Appellate

Docket No: 1-04-1317 Rel

Case Date: 03/20/2006

Preview:FIRST DIVISION March 20, 2006

No.1-04-1317 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. RALPH HOPKINS, Defendant-Appellant. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County Nos.. 01 CR 696 01 CR 707 Honorable Robert M. Smierciak, Judge Presiding.

MODIFIED ON DENIAL OF REHEARING JUSTICE CAHILL delivered the opinion of the court:

PRESIDING

Defendant Ralph Hopkins was convicted of armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/18-2(a)(2) (West 2000)) and attempted armed robbery (720 ILCS 5/8-4(a), 18-2(a)(2) (West 2000)) after a jury trial. He was sentenced to two concurrent prison terms of 12 years each. On appeal, defendant claims his inculpatory statement should have been suppressed because the police had neither a reasonable suspicion to stop him nor probable cause to arrest him. We conclude that defendant was arrested without probable cause. We vacate his convictions and remand this cause for a hearing on whether defendant's statement was sufficiently attenuated from his illegal arrest to be admissible. The record shows defendant was arrested on the night of December 9, 2000, in Oak

1-04-1317 Lawn. In the early morning hours of December 10, 2000, he made an inculpatory statement about the attempted armed robbery at the police station that was transcribed in longhand by Detective Charles Zylius and signed by defendant. At 6 p.m. on December 11, 2000, defendant gave an inculpatory statement about the armed robbery to Assistant State's Attorney Joel Buikema. Defendant was charged by indictment with two offenses committed on the night of December 9, 2000: the armed robbery of Alfonso Casarrubias (No. 01 CR 696) at 9:49 p.m. in Evergreen Park and the attempted armed robbery of Beverly Hajek (No. 01 CR 707) at 10:40 p.m. in Oak Lawn. Defendant's accomplice, Jeffrey Sampson, also was charged with the offenses. Sampson was arrested soon after defendant, but Sampson gave an inculpatory statement to the police before defendant gave his statement. Before defendant's trial, defense counsel filed a motion to quash defendant's warrantless arrest as lacking in probable cause and to suppress his statement. At a hearing on the motion, the following testimony was presented. Scott O'Neill, an Oak Lawn patrolman, testified that around 10:42 p.m. on December 9, 2000, he was in uniform in a marked police car when he was dispatched to an armed robbery in progress near 53rd Court and 89th Street. The dispatch described the suspects as "two black males in their 20s" who were armed and headed eastbound on foot. There was no physical description of the men or their clothing. O'Neill said he drove toward the location given. When he turned his car from 91st Street onto 53rd Court, he saw one car in the area. The car's headlights were on and it was stopped about two blocks away from O'Neill on Kimball Avenue at 53rd Court. That was the same block where the reported robbery occurred. O'Neill drove

2

1-04-1317 toward Kimball Avenue and stopped at the intersection. He remained stopped for about 20 seconds. The car under observation did not move. O'Neill said he could see a person in the car but he could not tell whether the person was male or female. As O'Neill began to turn right onto Kimball Avenue, the observed car began to turn left onto 53rd Court. O'Neill said he was then about 10 feet away from the car at a lighted intersection in a lighted residential neighborhood. O'Neill looked inside the car and made eye contact with the driver, whom he identified as defendant. O'Neill said when he made eye contact, the driver shifted in his seat from a forward position to a leaning-back position with his arm extended. O'Neill testified that the driver was a black male in his early 20s. O'Neill also testified that the population of the neighborhood was predominantly white. O'Neill testified he called for backup, pulled defendant's car over and approached the driver's side with his gun drawn. He asked the driver to get out of the car. When defendant exited the car, O'Neill noticed snow on his pants from mid-calf down. There were snow drifts on the ground that night. O'Neill testified that when he performed a pat-down search of defendant, he noticed defendant was breathing heavily and his heart was beating rapidly. O'Neill told another officer to handcuff defendant. O'Neill testified that defendant was not free to go after he was handcuffed. O'Neill estimated that the elapsed time between the dispatch and his arrival at 53rd and Kimball was, at most, two minutes. Defendant testified that on the night of December 9, 2000, he was driving through Oak Lawn on his way home from a movie when he saw about seven police cars at an intersection. As he passed through the intersection, he gave the officers the right of way because of the flashing

3

1-04-1317 lights on their cars. Defendant was stopped by the police, and an officer pulled him from his car. The officer asked defendant incomprehensible questions, threw defendant to the ground and kicked defendant with his boots. Defendant said he was breathing heavily and had a rapid heartbeat because he was "scared for [his] life." Defendant said the officers pointed their pistols at him, blocked him in and told him if he did not put his hands up, they would shoot him. Defendant said he probably had snow on his shoes but not on his pants. Defendant said after his arrest, he gave a statement while behind closed doors in an interrogation room with three officers, including the one who kicked him. The trial court denied defendant's motion to quash his arrest and suppress his statement in a written ruling, finding: "that Officer O'Neill possessed knowledge of sufficient articulable facts at the time of the stop *** to create a reasonable suspicion that the [d]efendant had committed a crime. Further, that once the [d]efendant exited his car[,] Officer O'Neill became aware of additional facts that together with the facts he already possessed were sufficient to warrant a man of reasonable caution to believe that a crime had been committed and that the [d]efendant committed that crime." Defendant later filed another motion to suppress the statement he gave during his interrogation. At a hearing on the motion, O'Neill testified that defendant, when apprehended, struggled, yelled and swore at the police. O'Neill said that in the struggle to handcuff defendant, O'Neill, defendant and another officer fell to the ground. O'Neill said he transported defendant in a squad car to the Oak Lawn police station.

4

1-04-1317 Sergeant Quigley testified that there was a struggle during defendant's arrest in which defendant and Officers O'Neill and Joe Garrett fell to the ground. Quigley next saw defendant at about midnight in an interview room at the police station. Quigley said he did not see any injury to defendant or hear defendant complain of being injured. Quigley said he did not know if defendant remained in the interview room or was taken to the holding cell. At about 2 a.m. on December 10, 2000, Quigley and two other officers were in an interview room with defendant. Quigley said one of the officers informed defendant of his rights under Miranda. Defendant said he understood his rights and he signed a form to that effect. During questioning, defendant gave a statement that was handwritten by Detective Charles Zylius. The statement implicated defendant in the attempted armed robbery of Hajek. Quigley said he was out of the interview room long enough to have defendant's statement typed. Quigley signed defendant's completed statement at about 4:50 a.m. Quigley denied that defendant was questioned continuously from 12:00 a.m. to 4:50 a.m. Quigley said procedures other than questioning took place during that time. Quigley said defendant never asked to leave or complained of being injured or struck, nor did he ask for medical attention, food, a telephone or a restroom. Detective Zylius testified that he saw defendant at about 11:30 p.m. after defendant's arrest. He read defendant his rights under Miranda from a preprinted form. Defendant acknowledged that he understood his rights. Zylius said he was with defendant for 5 to 10 minutes. Zylius then left and defendant went either to his cell or to a location for processing. Zylius said he was not certain if he had a conversation with defendant between midnight and 4 a.m. but, during that period, defendant went from the interview room to a cell and back to the

5

1-04-1317 interview room. Zylius said he did not know if defendant ate, slept or used the restroom or telephone. Zylius next saw defendant between 4 and 5 a.m. when he again advised defendant of his rights under Miranda and transcribed his statement. Defendant signed the statement in Zylius' presence at about 4:50 a.m. Zylius said he saw no injuries to defendant and defendant made no complaints. Zylius said he did not strike or see another officer strike defendant. Detective Christine Maguire testified that she arrived at the scene of defendant's arrest as O'Neill was approaching defendant's car. She said she drew her weapon and asked defendant to get out of the car. She put her weapon away when O'Neill patted down defendant and another officer arrived. When O'Neill tried to put handcuffs on defendant, defendant started yelling and pulling away. This caused defendant and the officers trying to handcuff him to fall to the ground. Within 10 seconds, the officers brought defendant back up and told him to "just relax. We will explain everything to you *** we got to make sure we're safe first, then we will explain to you why we stopped you." Maguire admitted defendant fell face forward on the icy snow. She denied that she or another officer kicked or struck defendant. Maguire said she was at the police station between 4 and 5 a.m. for part of the interview with defendant. Zylius and Quigley were in the interview room with defendant when she arrived, but she did not know how long they had been there before she arrived or after she left. Maguire said she did not see that defendant had physical injuries and he appeared to be relaxed and was smoking a cigarette. Defendant testified to essentially the same events as he had at the earlier hearing. He said even though he was handcuffed and cooperative, O'Neill kicked him in the ribs four or five times, causing a bruise and swelling . Defendant said when he was thrown to the ground, he

6

1-04-1317 struck his chin or cheek but it did not leave a mark. Defendant testified that while he was seated in a chair near the wall in an interview room at the police station, O'Neill pushed defendant's head against the wall and told him to stop lying. Defendant said he was told to sign documents but he was not allowed to read them. He was told the documents were paperwork for getting bond. He said he signed the documents only because he was afraid. Defendant said he was never told of his rights under Miranda during his interrogation. He denied giving a statement to Zylius and he said he signed only what he was told to sign. The trial court denied defendant's motion to suppress his statements, finding there was no physical or mental coercion that resulted in defendant giving the statement. Before defendant's trial, the State moved to consolidate the two charges against him: No. 01 CR 696, the armed robbery of Casarrubias; and No. 01 CR 707, the attempted armed robbery of Hajek. Defendant objected on the grounds that the joinder of the charged offenses would result in prejudice. He argued, "[t]he charged offenses are not related, nor are they proved by evidence common to both cases. The only features the charged offenses share are that [(1)] they both occurred on the evening of December 9, 2000[,] in southwest Chicago suburbs; and [(2)] they both involve black males using a gun to demand money." The court granted the State's motion and consolidated the cases. The cases proceeded to a jury trial. Casarrubias testified that on the night of December 9, 2000, he was robbed of cash and his watch. Casarrubias selected defendant and his accomplice in a lineup conducted on December 12, 2000, and he identified defendant in court. Casarrubias also identified a watch entered into evidence as his watch taken in the robbery. He testified that

7

1-04-1317 one of the robbers wore a maroon jacket with a blue hood and the other wore a black jacket with yellow stripes. Hajek testified that she was confronted by two men on December 9, 2000, one of whom was wearing a blue and white jacket. She was walking with her two children and her dog in her neighborhood, which is predominantly white. The men who confronted her were black. She testified that she was so terrified that she urinated on herself. When she told the men she had no money, defendant told her she could run away. She and her children and dog did so. She stopped a driver in a passing car. The driver had a cell phone and called the police. Hajek saw a man get into a car and pull away. A police car arrived while she was still on the phone with 911. Officer Quigley drove her children home while she and the dog walked back to her house. Quigley then drove her to the location where O'Neill had pulled over defendant's car. Hajek said she identified defendant as one of the robbers. Hajek admitted that the blue and white jacket she saw might have been brown and white. She described the other robber's clothing only as dark. She said she could not recall if the men wore hats, gloves, shoes or boots. O'Neill testified to the same essential facts as at the earlier hearings. Quigley's testimony included reading defendant's statement about his attempted robbery of Hajek to the jury over defense counsel's objection. Quigley read that defendant and his friend Sampson were driving in Oak Lawn at the time in question. Defendant was short of money. Defendant and Sampson saw a woman with her children and a dog and decided to take any cash the woman had. Defendant said that Sampson told him that he, Sampson, wanted to do it. Defendant parked the car at a corner. Sampson exited the car and got a gun from the trunk.

8

1-04-1317 Defendant said it was a small caliber revolver. Defendant said in his statement, "I do not know where the gun was before I got it, but I do not take any responsibility for those previous actions." The statement went on to say that defendant and Sampson then attempted to rob the woman, Hajek, at gunpoint. The woman then ran away and defendant told Sampson he would get the car and pick him up. By the time defendant returned in the car, Sampson was gone. Defendant then pulled the car around the corner and the police stopped him. The statement said defendant was treated fairly by the police, offered food and drink and allowed to use the bathroom. Quigley testified that Sampson also was apprehended that night. Quigley said he spoke to Sampson for about 1 1/2 hours. Quigley testified that Sampson told him the gun used in the robbery may have been in a coat Sampson received from defendant. Defense counsel did not object to Quigley's reference to Sampson's implication of defendant. Quigley testified that Sampson gave a statement that was memorialized in writing. Quigley said that after speaking to Sampson, he went in to talk with defendant. On cross-examination, defense counsel asked Quigley if he had received a statement similar to defendant's from Sampson. Quigley answered "yes." Assistant State's Attorney Joel Buikema testified that he first met with defendant on the night of December 11, 2000, and advised him of his rights under Miranda. Buikema then took a statement from defendant, inculpating him in the armed robbery of Casarrubias. Buikema said after the statement was reduced to writing, defendant asked him to include in the statement that the police were "rough" with him, and Buikema did so. Buikema read the statement to the jury. On cross-examination, defense counsel began questioning Buikema about the statement

9

1-04-1317 he took from Sampson. The trial judge called a side bar, explaining that he had interrupted defense counsel's cross-examination of Buikema out of concern about defense counsel's continuing reference to Sampson's statement which implicated defendant. Defense counsel responded to the trial judge's concerns about the jury hearing that Sampson had identified defendant as being one of the perpetrators, saying "[t]hose concerns are, in fact, weighing rather heavily on me." In a discussion about the tactical implications of eliciting Buikema's testimony about Sampson's statement, the trial judge said: "THE COURT: *** So far the overwhelming evidence regarding Sampson's statements has been elicited by you. And particularly since the State's case is based in part on the theory of accountability, I don't see where you are. The rewards are outweighing the damage that could possibly be done. But if you make a conscious decision that that is your trial tactic *** I don't feel I should stop you from doing that. MR. BROWN (Defense Counsel): You are letting me know that I proceed at significant peril? THE COURT: Well, I think so, but it's not for me to decide what you should do." Defense counsel said he was using the line of questioning to impeach Sampson's statement, but decided to withdraw it after the discussions in the side bar. The parties agreed that the trial judge would give a limiting instruction, directing the jury to disregard the statements of other persons

10

1-04-1317 on defendant's guilt. Defendant called four witnesses, including his cousin Leon Hopkins, who testified he was at the movies with defendant on the night in question. Defendant contended in his closing argument that the witnesses' identification of him was unreliable, given their vague descriptions of the perpetrators after the robbery and the conditions under which the witnesses saw both the robbers and defendant. The prosecutor opened the rebuttal portion of his closing argument by saying, "the one thing that did not come out in [defense] counsel's argument was the word conspiracy, because basically that's what he is saying happened here." The prosecutor also made other comments that characterized defense counsel's argument as a claim that the State's witnesses engaged in a "grand conspiracy" against defendant. The trial court's instructions to the jury included "[a] statement made by one defendant may not be considered by you against any other defendant." The jury found defendant guilty of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. Defendant filed a motion for a new trial, claiming the trial court erred in: (1) admitting a gun and photographs into evidence; and (2) denying his motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The trial court denied the motion. At defendant's sentencing hearing, the court heard the testimony of defendant's mother, father and fianc

Download People v. Hopkins.pdf