People v. Lawlor
State: Illinois
Court: 2nd District Appellate
Docket No: 2-96-1030
Case Date: 07/31/1997
No. 2--96--1030
________________________________________________________________
IN THE
APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS
SECOND DISTRICT
________________________________________________________________
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Appeal from the Circuit Court
OF ILLINOIS, ) of De Kalb County.
)
Plaintiff-Appellant, ) No. 96--CF--7
)
v. )
)
DENIS C. LAWLOR, ) Honorable
) Roger W. Eichmeier,
Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, Presiding.
________________________________________________________________
JUSTICE RATHJE delivered the opinion of the court:
Defendant, Denis C. Lawlor, was charged by information with
aggravated discharge of a firearm (720 ILCS 5/24--1.2(a)(1) (West
1994)) and three counts of reckless discharge of a firearm (720
ILCS 5/24--1.5(a) (West 1994)). Pursuant to a seizure order,
defendant was required to surrender his firearm and ammunition.
Defendant filed motions to quash the seizure order and to suppress
the evidence. Following a hearing, the court granted the motions.
The State filed a notice of appeal and a certificate of impairment.
On appeal, the State argues that the court erred in quashing the
seizure order because the order was issued based on a written
affidavit and complaint and was found by a neutral judge to be
supported by probable cause. We affirm.
Sergeant Deborrah Pettit of the Northern Illinois University
police force filed the affidavit and complaint for a seizure order.
Pettit stated in her affidavit that on November 22, 1995, there
were reports of gunshots fired into Grant Towers South, a campus
residence hall. Pettit interviewed Darren Burgstiner on
November 27, 1995, and he told her that his cousin (defendant)
stayed with him on the night of the shooting. Defendant went
outside apartment No. 5 at 710 Regent and "shot off a couple of
rounds." Defendant then came back inside the apartment and placed
a black 9 millimeter handgun and 5 bullet casings on the bed.
Later that day defendant was looking at Grant Towers South, and
Burgstiner heard him say that he did not think his bullets could go
that far and that he did not think the gun was pointing in that
direction.
Pettit confirmed with the Chicago police department that
defendant is a Chicago police officer and has a registered Sig
Sauer 9 millimeter automatic pistol. Russell McLain, an Illinois
State Police firearms examiner, told Pettit that the bullets from
the shooting bore markings that could help identify the gun used in
the incident.
Scott Carlson informed Pettit that he heard five to seven
gunshots and then saw four white males standing on the sidewalk in
front of 710 Regent. Carlson observed one of the men go to a car
that matched a description of defendant's car. That person
retrieved a flashlight from the car, picked up several items from
the ground, and then went inside apartment No. 5. Carlson heard
the man with the flashlight say "the evidence is gone now."
Donald McCue told Pettit that he saw defendant holding a black
automatic handgun right after McCue heard gunshots in the area of
apartment No. 5. Ryan Hill told Pettit that he observed three to
four men exit 710 Regent and face south toward the dorms. Hill
heard three shots fired and saw clouds of smoke after each shot.
Hill then saw the men walk into the west entrance to 710 Regent.
From Pettit's observations of the bullet holes, she believed that
the shots came from north of Grant Towers South, and 710 Regent,
No. 5, is north of Grant Towers South.
Based on the information in Pettit's affidavit and complaint,
Judge Douglas R. Engel issued a seizure order for a search of
defendant and for the seizure of all 9 millimeter semiautomatic
pistols, ammunition, and shell casings. In the seizure order, the
trial judge stated that the facts were sufficient to show probable
cause pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 413 (134 Ill. 2d R. 413) for
the seizure and inspection of handguns and ammunition from
defendant.
At the hearing on the motion to suppress, defendant testified
that he had been a Chicago police officer for almost two years. On
December 2, 1995, Lieutenant Lorenz of the seventh district told
him that the next morning he should report to the seventh district
in compliance with an order from the first deputy's office to turn
over his gun, a Sig Sauer 9 millimeter pistol. The next morning,
defendant reported to the seventh district and turned over his
weapon to Sergeant Dennis O'Brien. Defendant was not placed under
arrest, and he was not given a search warrant for the seizure of
his gun. Defendant did not consent to the turnover of his weapon,
and he had not received it back. After defendant turned over his
weapon, he received a substitute weapon and went back to work.
Sergeant Dennis O'Brien of the Chicago police department
testified that on the morning of December 2, 1995, he was told by
the watch commander to bring defendant to the operations command.
When they arrived, O'Brien was told that there was a court order
requiring that defendant surrender any handgun that he owned, as
well as any ammunition, magazines, and spent cartridges. O'Brien
was told that the order was signed by Judge Engel. O'Brien was
shown the order, but he did not read the whole thing. O'Brien was
not told that there was a search warrant. He did see the portion
that indicated what defendant was to surrender. O'Brien took
defendant's Sig Sauer 9 millimeter pistol, along with the magazines
and ammunition, and delivered them to his commanding officer.
Sergeant Deborrah Pettit of the Northern Illinois University
police force testified that she appeared before Judge Engel on
December 1, 1995. She presented the affidavit and complaint for a
seizure order that she worked on with Michael Coghlan, the De Kalb
County State's Attorney. When she received the order, she faxed it
to Herman Cristia at the Chicago police department's Office of
Professional Standards. The order was executed, and Pettit
obtained the 9 millimeter Sig Sauer.
On cross-examination, Pettit testified that the seizure order
looked like a search warrant, but that she now realized that it was
not one. The part of the order that authorized a search of
defendant's apartment had been crossed out by Coghlan.
Michael Coghlan testified that he had been the State's
Attorney of De Kalb County for almost eight years. Coghlan
testified that he appeared before Judge Engel on December 1, 1995,
to obtain an order to seize defendant's gun. Coghlan testified
that he researched and prepared the affidavit and complaint.
Coghlan testified that after researching Supreme Court Rule 413
(134 Ill. 2d R. 413) he decided to call the document a seizure
order but that in retrospect he should have called it a search
warrant. He also asserted that in all practicality the complaint
and affidavit were for a search warrant. Coghlan used the search
warrant form, but changed it to read "seizure order." Coghlan
admitted that no criminal charges were pending when he prepared the
complaint for the seizure order.
The trial judge granted the motions to quash the seizure order
and to suppress the evidence. The trial judge ruled that the
seizure order was not a search warrant.
On appeal, the State contends that the trial court erred in
suppressing the seizure order because it was, in effect, a search
warrant. The State's argument is that the seizure order was issued
based on a written affidavit and complaint and was found by a
neutral judge to be supported by probable cause, and therefore, the
court should have viewed it as a search warrant. We disagree.
Coghlan testified that, after researching the issue, he
changed the search warrant form to a Rule 413 seizure order.
Coghlan was apparently relying on Rule 413(e), which provides that
"[u]pon a showing of materiality, and if the request is reasonable,
the court in its discretion may require disclosure to the State of
relevant material and information not covered by this rule." 134
Ill. 2d R. 413(e). The State concedes that the discovery rules for
criminal cases apply only after an indictment or information has
been filed. See 134 Ill. 2d R. 411. Therefore, if the document
was a seizure order issued pursuant to a Rule 413 request, then the
trial court's ruling was correct because the request for the order
was made before the defendant was charged.
Nevertheless, the State argues that the court should have
relieved the State of its mistake by construing the seizure order
as a search warrant. The State contends that, because the seizure
order was based on an affidavit and complaint and a neutral and
detached magistrate found it to be supported by probable cause, the
court should have construed it as a search warrant. According to
the State, incorrectly captioning the order was a technical defect,
not affecting the substantial rights of the accused. The State
compares the mistake to omissions of noncritical dates and times.
However, the State cites no authority for the proposition that the
title of the order itself is a technical defect or that a search
warrant can be issued by a judge who does not know he is issuing a
search warrant.
The State relies on section 108--14 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure of 1963 (the Code) (725 ILCS 5/108--14 (West 1994)),
which provides that "[n]o warrant shall be quashed nor evidence
suppressed because of technical irregularities not affecting the
substantial rights of the accused." Nevertheless, we cannot agree
with the State that changing the search warrant to an order issued
pursuant to a Rule 413 discovery request is a technical
irregularity, and we disagree that the order was "in all
practicality" a search warrant.
Pursuant to section 108--3(a) of the Code (725 ILCS 5/108--
3(a) (West Supp. 1995)), a search warrant may be obtained "upon the
written complaint of any person under oath or affirmation which
states facts sufficient to show probable cause and which
particularly describes the place or person, or both, to be searched
and the things to be seized[.]" Although the State has not
provided a transcript of the proceedings to obtain the seizure
order, it is clear that the State represented to Judge Engel that
it was proceeding pursuant to Rule 413. In the seizure order, the
judge states that he found "probable cause pursuant to Illinois
Supreme Court Rule 413." However, Rule 413 does not contain a
probable cause requirement. Under the section that the State
relies upon, the court may order disclosure "[u]pon a showing of
materiality, and if the request is reasonable." 134 Ill. 2d R.
413(e). Thus, it is not at all clear that the judge found probable
cause sufficient for the issuance of a search warrant, which would
exist if the facts set forth in the affidavit would cause a
reasonable person to believe that a crime has been committed and
that evidence of that crime is in the place to be searched. See
People v. Fowler, 222 Ill. App. 3d 157, 162 (1991). Although the
judge used the words "probable cause" in the seizure order, we do
not believe that the State has shown that the judge found probable
cause sufficient for the issuance of a search warrant.
Further evidence that the order was not a search warrant is
that the procedures for executing a search warrant were not
followed. Section 108--6 of the Code (725 ILCS 5/108--6 (West
1994)) requires that a copy of the warrant be provided to the
person from whom the articles are seized. The State does not
dispute that that was not done. Further, evidence seized pursuant
to a warrant is to be returned to the court that issued the
warrant, and the court is to issue an order regarding custody
pending further proceedings. 725 ILCS 5/108--10, 108--11 (West
1994). Again, the State does not dispute that this procedure was
not followed here. Thus, we reject the State's contention that
the seizure order was "in all practicality" a search warrant.
Finally, we believe that the doctrine of judicial estoppel
prevents the State from now asserting that the seizure order was a
search warrant. The De Kalb County State's Attorney, Michael
Coghlan, testified under oath that, after looking at Rule 413, he
changed the search warrant form, but that in retrospect he should
have called it a search warrant. The State obtained a seizure
order that was issued pursuant to a Rule 413 discovery request.
The doctrine of judicial estoppel provides that, when a party
assumes a certain position in a legal proceeding, that party is
estopped from assuming a contrary position in a subsequent legal
proceeding. People v. Gayfield, 261 Ill. App. 3d 379, 385 (1994).
For the doctrine to apply, the party must have taken two positions,
the positions must have been taken in separate judicial
proceedings, the party must have intended for the trier of fact to
accept the truth of the facts alleged in support of the position,
the party must have succeeded in asserting the first position and
received some benefit from it, and the two positions must be
inconsistent. People v. Wisbrock, 223 Ill. App. 3d 173, 175
(1991).
Here, the State admittedly changed the search warrant form to
a seizure order and was attempting to use the Rule 413 discovery
provisions. The State received the benefit of that position by
securing the seizure of defendant's gun. When defendant challenged
that seizure, because the discovery rules were inapplicable, the
State asserted that the seizure order was really a search warrant.
We believe that our previous discussion demonstrates why these
positions are inconsistent; the standards for obtaining a search
warrant are different from those for obtaining discovery pursuant
to Rule 413. Thus, we conclude that the State is estopped from
arguing that the seizure order was a search warrant.
The State's only argument is that the trial court should have
viewed the seizure order as a search warrant. For the first time
in its reply brief, the State argues that, assuming the document
was a Rule 413 seizure order, suppression of the evidence was not
an appropriate sanction. The State has waived this argument.
Supreme Court Rule 341(e)(7) (155 Ill. 2d R. 341(e)(7)) provides
that "[p]oints not argued are waived and shall not be raised in the
reply brief, in oral argument, or on petition for rehearing."
Accordingly, the State has waived this argument by not raising it
in its initial brief.
Nevertheless, we briefly note that Supreme Court Rule
415(g)(i) (134 Ill. 2d R. 415(g)(i)) provides that the exclusion of
evidence is an appropriate sanction for a party's failure to comply
with a discovery rule. Further, defendant was forced to surrender
his weapon when a warrant had not been issued, and none of the
exceptions to the warrant requirement were present. Defendant did
not consent to surrendering his gun, he was not searched incident
to a lawful arrest, and there were no exigent circumstances making
it impractical to obtain a warrant. See People v. Gardner, 121
Ill. App. 3d 464, 468 (1984). Thus, defendant's fourth amendment
rights were violated and suppression was the only appropriate
remedy.
In sum, we find that the Rule 413 discovery request was
premature because defendant had not been charged with a crime. We
further find that the court did not err in refusing to construe the
seizure order issued pursuant to the State's discovery request as
a search warrant and in ordering the evidence suppressed.
We affirm the judgment of the circuit court of De Kalb County.
Affirmed.
THOMAS and HUTCHINSON, JJ., concur.
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