People v. Peo

SUPREME COURT CASES

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People v. Peo

State: Illinois

Court: 2nd District Appellate

Docket No: 2-06-0481 Rel

Case Date: 05/20/2009

Preview:No. 2--06--0481 Filed: 5-20-09 ______________________________________________________________________________ IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS SECOND DISTRICT ______________________________________________________________________________ THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of Du Page County. ) Plaintiff-Appellant, ) ) v. ) No. 05--CM--4510 ) MARIA C. PEO, ) Honorable ) Cary B. Pierce, Defendant-Appellee. ) Judge, Presiding. ______________________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court: The State appeals from an order of the circuit court of Du Page County granting the motion of defendant, Maria C. Peo, to suppress an incriminating statement that she made after she was arrested for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia (720 ILCS 600/3.5(a) (West 2004)) but before she was given warnings under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 86 S. Ct. 1602 (1966). On appeal, the State argues that the statement is admissible because it was volunteered, or alternatively, because it falls under the "rescue doctrine" exception to Miranda. We reverse and remand. I. BACKGROUND Defendant was charged by complaint on July 5, 2005, with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. On October 31, 2005, she moved to suppress a statement that she made after her arrest, on the basis that the police questioned her before advising her of her Miranda rights.

No. 2--06--0481 A hearing on defendant's motion to suppress took place on January 31, 2006. Officer Bischoff1 testified as follows. On July 5, 2005, he initiated a traffic stop on a car for failing to signal a turn. Officer Bischoff observed the vehicle's occupants "shuffling around," so he requested backup. The car contained three individuals, with defendant seated in the front passenger seat. After another officer arrived, Officer Bischoff arrested the vehicle's driver for driving on a revoked license. He next removed the passengers, searched the vehicle incident to the arrest, and found three glass smoking pipes. One pipe was in an empty cigarette box in the driver's-side door panel, the second pipe was "smashed between the driver's seat and the center console," and the third pipe was "smashed between the seats and the rear passenger." Officer Bischoff then took defendant and the other passenger into custody; at that point, they were not free to leave. When Officer Bischoff first removed defendant from the car, she was complaining that she was not feeling well. After he found the pipes and placed her in custody, she continued to complain about feeling sick; defendant was hunching forward and saying " 'my stomach, I'm not feeling well.' " Defendant was "very jittery" and her eyes were "very constricted." Based on his experience, Officer Bischoff thought that she was on drugs. He asked defendant, "What's wrong[?]" She replied, " 'I have been using crack cocaine, prescription medication and been drinking. I think I may be overdosing because my chest and stomach is [sic] hurting.' " At this point, Officer Bischoff had not yet given defendant Miranda warnings. In response to defendant's statement, Officer Bischoff called an ambulance, and it transported her to the hospital. He later learned that she was in intensive care. Defendant testified that, when the car was pulled over by the police, she "was pretty out of it," "felt very sick," and "was very dazed and confused." Defendant thought that there was more than

1

Officer Bischoff's first name is not present in the record. -2-

No. 2--06--0481 one officer present but did not really remember. She initially testified that she did not "really even remember speaking to the officers" but later testified that she remembered being asked if she was using drugs. Defendant had been using heroin the entire day, and she did not remember exactly what she told the police, but she "just kept telling them that [she] felt sick." The police called an ambulance, which took her to the hospital. She was very ill and was on life support for three days. On January 31, 2006, the trial court granted defendant's motion to suppress and made the following findings. Officer Bischoff arrested defendant for unlawful possession of drug

paraphernalia and observed that she was under the influence of drugs. He had not given defendant Miranda warnings before asking what was wrong with her, to which she replied that she might be overdosing because she had been smoking crack cocaine and taking prescription drugs all day long. The trial court stated that Officer Bischoff asked defendant what was wrong with her to support his suspicion that she was under the influence of drugs, and it ruled that his failure to give her Miranda warnings required the suppression of defendant's answer. The State filed a motion to reconsider on March 1, 2006, which the trial court denied on April 21, 2006. The trial court stated that Officer Bischoff did not need to ask defendant what was wrong, because she had previously said that she was not feeling well and that her stomach hurt and the officer was already suspicious that her condition was probably caused by drugs. The State filed a certificate of impairment, and it appeals the trial court's ruling under Supreme Court Rule 604(a)(1) (210 Ill. 2d R. 604(a)(1)).2

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We note that this court held in People v. Marker, 382 Ill. App. 3d 464, 477 (2008), that a

motion by the State to reconsider an interlocutory order suppressing evidence would not toll the time for filing an appeal under Supreme Court Rules 604(a)(1) and 606(b) (210 Ill. 2d Rs. 604 (a)(1), -3-

No. 2--06--0481 II. ANALYSIS When reviewing a ruling on a motion to suppress, we accord great deference to the trial court's factual findings and reverse those findings only if they are against the manifest weight of the evidence. People v. Luedemann, 222 Ill. 2d 530, 542 (2006). Such deference is based on the recognition that the trial court is in a superior position to determine and weigh the witnesses' credibility, observe their demeanor, and resolve conflicts in their testimony. People v. Pitman, 211 Ill. 2d 502, 512 (2004). However, we review de novo the ultimate ruling on the motion to suppress. Pitman, 211 Ill. 2d at 512. The State first argues that Officer Bischoff was not required to provide defendant with Miranda warnings before asking her what was wrong, because his inquiry was a "reflexive and responsive question" to information volunteered by defendant. We begin by examining the constitutional underpinnings of Miranda. The fifth amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. V) and article I, section 10, of the Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I,

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