2019 IL App (1st) 161204
Ill. App. Ct.2019Background
- At ~12:50 a.m. three Chicago officers in an unmarked car observed Alvin Brown standing in a 24-hour gas station parking lot drinking a can of beer; Officer Roberts arrested him for violating the Chicago Municipal Code prohibition on drinking on a “public way.”
- During a search incident to arrest Roberts found one pill (later identified as ecstasy) in Brown’s pocket; Brown was charged with possession of a controlled substance and convicted after a bench trial.
- Brown moved to quash his arrest and suppress the pill, arguing the parking lot is private property and not a “public way”; the State argued the officers reasonably (but mistakenly) believed the lot was a public way.
- The trial court denied Brown’s motion, finding the officers’ mistake of law was reasonable; it granted a co-defendant’s suppression motion on separate facts.
- The appellate majority reversed, holding the gas station parking lot did not fall within the Municipal Code’s definition of “public way” and that the officers’ legal mistake was not objectively reasonable; the dissent would have affirmed, emphasizing Brown’s burden to prove the lot was not a public way and faulting the majority for considering materials not presented at the suppression hearing.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether officers had probable cause to arrest Brown for drinking on a “public way” | The State: officers reasonably believed the parking lot was a public way (reasonable mistake of law) | Brown: he was on private property (gas station parking lot), not a public way, so arrest lacked probable cause | Majority: reversed — parking lot is not a “public way” under the Municipal Code and officers’ mistake was not objectively reasonable; dissent: would affirm because Brown failed to meet his burden at the suppression hearing |
| Whether a reasonable-mistake-of-law doctrine can validate the arrest/search | State: Heien/Gaytan permit objectively reasonable mistakes of law to support seizures | Brown: the Municipal Code definition is clear; officers’ mistake was unreasonable | Majority: mistake unreasonable here given Code definitions, police directives, and analogues; dissent: reasonableness is debatable and Brown did not prove the lot was private at trial |
Key Cases Cited
- Dunaway v. New York, 442 U.S. 200 (arrest without probable cause renders evidence fruit of the poisonous tree)
- Wong Sun v. United States, 371 U.S. 471 (suppression of evidence obtained from unconstitutional police conduct)
- People v. Kozak, 130 Ill. App. 2d 334 (grocery store parking lot not a highway where not publicly maintained)
- People v. Bailey, 243 Ill. App. 3d 871 (publicly maintained municipal parking lot can be a "highway")
- People v. Culbertson, 258 Ill. App. 3d 294 (municipal train-station parking lot was a public highway)
- People v. Helt, 384 Ill. App. 3d 285 (publicly maintained parking lot open to public can be a highway even if privately owned)
- People v. Ward, 95 Ill. App. 3d 283 (situs-based enhancements apply where offense occurs in area open to public)
- People v. Jones, 288 Ill. App. 3d 293 ("on a public way" language in enhancement provision is not surplusage)
- People v. Pugh, 162 Ill. App. 3d 1030 (parking lot adjacent to private apartments treated as public way in aggravated battery context)
- People v. Rodriguez, 276 Ill. App. 3d 33 (applied situs doctrine to gas station parking lot for juvenile-transfer statute)
- People v. Dexter, 328 Ill. App. 3d 583 (court refused to find private building passageway a public way for possession enhancement)
- People v. Caliendo, 84 Ill. App. 3d 987 (distinguishing inherently criminal acts from lawful conduct such as alcohol consumption by adults)