In re Jerome S.

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In re Jerome S.

State: Illinois

Court: 4th District Appellate

Docket No: 4-06-0113 Rel

Case Date: 04/18/2007

Preview:NO. 4-06-0113 IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FOURTH DISTRICT In re: JEROME S., Alleged to be a Delinquent Minor, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Petitioner-Appellee, v. JEROME S., Respondent-Appellant.

Filed 4/18/07

) Appeal from ) Circuit Court of ) McLean County ) No. 04JD150 ) ) Honorable ) G. Michael Prall, ) Judge Presiding. _________________________________________________________________ JUSTICE COOK delivered the opinion of the court: Respondent minor, Jerome S. (born July 24, 1991), appeals the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence, which resulted in his delinquency adjudication for unlawful use of a weapon and revocation of court supervision. affirm. I. BACKGROUND On November 5, 2004, the State filed a petition for adjudication of wardship, alleging Jerome S. had resisted a police officer. Jerome S. admitted the allegation. On March 28, We

2005, the trial court sentenced Jerome S. to 12 months of court supervision. On November 8, 2005, the State filed a supplemental petition for adjudication of wardship. The petition alleged

unlawful use of a weapon and attempted disarming of a police officer stemming from events that occurred in Miller Park in

Bloomington on the evening of November 5, 2005. Jerome S. filed a motion to quash his arrest and suppress evidence, urging he was illegally arrested without a warrant or probable cause. At a hearing on the motion on Decem-

ber 6, 2005, Jerome S. offered the testimony of his sister, Jolene S., and four of his sister's friends, Sharee Conely, Shea Brown, Jessica Burkes, and Margiana Jackson, all of whom were with him in the park on November 5. Each testified that they went to the park with a group of friends to fight another group of girls, whom Brown identified as "Dub City" girls. Jerome S. went along. Conely, Brown,

Burkes, and Jackson gave various estimates that there were between 10 and 15 people in their group. The other group was

larger, about 20 or 30 people, according to Brown and Burkes. The two groups of girls did not fight. S. fought with another boy. Instead, Jerome

Burkes testified she heard but did Jackson also

not see Jerome S. try to use a taser on the boy.

indicated she did not see Jerome S. with a taser but saw electricity coming from a taser. Conely, Brown, and Jolene did not

mention whether Jerome S. tried to use a taser during the fight. The fight broke up, apparently because the groups spotted a police officer, though Jolene testified she did not see the officer until later. Conely, Jolene, Burkes, and Jackson Brown

stated their group turned around and started walking away. - 2 -

indicated her group was backing up, still facing the other group. Conely, Jolene, and Burkes said Jerome S. was yelling at the other group, but Brown and Jackson denied Jerome S. was doing so. Conely, Burkes, and Jackson testified the police officer pulled his car onto the grass near their group, and the headlights lit the area. Brown and Jolene stated there were no Brown specified that the All of

car lights and the area was very dark.

officer parked on the street and walked through the park.

them testified Jerome S. had nothing in his hand at the time. Brown testified the officer walked over to the other group and told them to leave, and they did. Jackson, however, Burkes

stated the officer did not tell either group to leave.

said the other group remained in the area and saw the officer "jump" on Jerome S., only leaving when the officer called for backup. Conely testified Jerome S. was walking away when the officer told Jerome S. to get down; Jerome S. laid on the ground, and the officer hit Jerome S. in the head. officer said Jerome S. needed to calm down. Brown stated the She said Jerome S.

was "moving back" to leave the park, and the officer told him to get to the ground; Jerome S. did not, so the officer threw him to the ground and hit him. Jolene, Burkes, and Jackson also testi-

fied their group was leaving the park, but they stated the officer did not say anything to Jerome S. before knocking him to - 3 -

the ground and punching him.

Jolene said Jerome S. got up and

the officer put Jerome S. back on the ground, but Jackson testified Jerome S. pushed the officer off him and punched the officer before she and the rest of their group grabbed Jerome S. Jackson testified the officer then told Jerome S. to get down, so Jerome S. got on his knees, but the officer told Jerome S. to lay on the ground. All five witnesses agreed Jerome

S. did not grab at or struggle with the officer after the initial scuffle. At some point more officers arrived. Jolene, Jackson,

and Conely's testimony differed on when that occurred. Jerome S. also testified. park to fight the other group. He stated he had gone to the

The two groups were still yelling

at each other when the officer came, but he denied yelling that he was part of "Dub City," as that is a different group of kids. Jerome S. said his group was walking away and the other group was following them when the officer drove between the two groups. Though he looked back to yell at the other group, his When he saw the lights from the The

body faced away from them.

police car come from behind the group, he turned around. officer then attacked him without saying anything. up and the officer punched him in his cheek.

Jerome S. got

Jerome S. admitted

he was getting ready to hit the officer when members of his group grabbed him. Jerome S. testified the officer told him to get on the - 4 -

ground, so he got on his knees.

The officer again told him to The officer Jerome S. denied

get on the ground, so he laid on his stomach. handcuffed Jerome S. and searched his pockets.

grabbing at or struggling with the officer but admitted yelling at the officer. The State offered the testimony of John Swartzentruber, the Bloomington police officer involved in the November 5, 2005, incident. Swartzentruber stated that when he responded to a call

about a potential fight in the park, he saw a group of about 50 kids. He parked his squad car on the street and spoke with the Swartzentruber

group, who said they were going to play ball.

started to leave but stopped to speak with a woman who was standing on her porch. about fighting. She told him she had heard some kids talk

He said he would make sure the kids left.

Swartzentruber then saw another group of about 20 people standing more closely together and yelling. He drove near

to that group, and a young female told him a young, black male wearing a white T-shirt had a stun gun. She pointed toward the

smaller group, which was about 100 feet away, before she walked away from Swartzentruber. toward the group. stun gun. At that time, the smaller, more compact group was walking away and yelling "Dub City." - 5 The larger group was spread He called other units and walked

As he walked, he heard the ticking sound of a

out, walking toward the smaller group and yelling "Fuck Dub City." Swartzentruber identified himself as a police officer and Those people walked out of his When he

told the larger group to leave. line of sight.

He then told the smaller group to stop.

told them a second time, they turned and faced him.

Jerome S.,

who was with the smaller group, was a black male wearing a white T-shirt. Jerome S. had a stick in his hand, which he dropped

when Swartzentruber said to do so. As a young female talked to Swartzentruber about the other group, Jerome S. walked in the direction the other group had headed. Jerome S. was mumbling, "You want a piece of me,"

and other things of that nature. Swartzentruber pointed at Jerome S. and told him to stop three or four times. When Jerome S. kept walking,

Swartzentruber pushed him to the ground and attempted to take him into custody. Though Swartzentruber admitted he did not say

anything to Jerome S. when he pushed Jerome S. down, Swartzentruber testified he intended to take Jerome S. into custody for "obstructing." Jerome S. got to his knees and wrapped his arms around Swartzentruber's waist. Members of the smaller group began to

pull at Swartzentruber from behind, and the officer felt someone pulling at his duty weapon from the front. When Swartzentruber

pushed Jerome S. away, Jerome S. stood up and swung at - 6 -

Swartzentruber. officers.

The officer hit Jerome S. and called for more

As Swartzentruber was waiting for backup, he directed his taser at the group. He told Jerome S. he was under arrest After the third command, Jerome

and to get down on the ground. S. complied.

Other officers arrived, and Swartzentruber got on Jerome S. was cursing at

top of Jerome S. to handcuff him.

Swartzentruber and would not cooperate when Swartzentruber began to search his pockets, so the officer forced Jerome S. to his side. pocket. The trial court denied Jerome S.'s motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence, finding that because Jerome S. failed to comply with the officer's demands to stop, the officer had a right to stop and arrest him. Alternatively, the court Swartzentruber found a stun gun in Jerome S.'s left

found that the officer had probable cause to arrest Jerome S. for disorderly conduct "because certainly, approaching a hostile group in a fight situation is going to cause a, potentially a major problem." The parties then stipulated that the trial court could consider the testimony from the hearing as evidence for Jerome S.'s trial on the charges. The State also presented the testi-

mony of two other Bloomington police officers, Martin Krylowicz and Bill McGonnigal, who arrived at Miller Park on November 5, - 7 -

2005, as Swartzentruber had Jerome S. face down on the ground. Krylowicz helped arrest Jerome S., and McGonnigal ordered back the 10 to 15 people who were nearby yelling at Swartzentruber. The trial court adjudicated Jerome S. a delinquent minor. It found Jerome S. committed the offense of unlawful use

of a weapon but found him not guilty of attempting to disarm an officer. On December 16, 2005, the State filed a petition to revoke court supervision alleging Jerome S. had violated his supervision by committing the weapon offense. The trial court At a

revoked Jerome S.'s supervision on December 19, 2005.

hearing on January 31, 2006, the court resentenced Jerome S. to 12 months of probation. The court also imposed 30 days' deten-

tion, with credit for the 44 days Jerome S. had already served. This appeal followed. II. ANALYSIS Jerome S. contends Swartzentruber did not have probable cause to arrest him for obstructing a peace officer because Jerome S. merely ignored Swartzentruber. He also urges no

probable cause existed to arrest him for disorderly conduct, as the trial court alternatively found, because there was only a potential that his actions would disturb the peace in the future. Accordingly, Jerome S. argues the trial court should have granted his motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. - 8 -

"Review of a motion to suppress presents both questions of law and fact." In re Christopher K., 217 Ill. 2d 348, 373, "A trial court's credibility deter-

841 N.E.2d 945, 960 (2005).

minations and findings of historical fact will be upheld on review unless they are against the manifest weight of the evidence." Christopher K., 217 Ill. 2d at 373, 841 N.E.2d at 960.

However, we review de novo the ultimate legal question of whether the evidence should be suppressed. at 373, 841 N.E.2d at 960. As an initial matter, we note that the trial court rejected the testimony of Jolene, Burkes, Jackson, and Jerome S. that Swartzentruber did not say anything to Jerome S. before knocking Jerome S. to the ground. Instead, the court found that Christopher K., 217 Ill. 2d

Swartzentruber repeatedly ordered Jerome S. to stop and Jerome S. failed to comply with the officer's demands. The court also

found that Jerome S. had been "approaching a hostile group in a fight situation" when Swartzentruber knocked Jerome S. down to the ground. Because the court was in the best position to

determine the credibility of the witnesses, we cannot say these factual findings are against the manifest weight of the evidence, especially in light of the inconsistencies in Jerome S.'s witnesses' testimony. Both the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. IV) and article I, section 6, of the - 9 -

Illinois Constitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I,

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