Case Information
*1 Fourth Division July 10, 2008 No. 1-06-0679
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the
) Circuit Court of Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Cook County.
) v. ) 05 CR 10852
) FATIMA GIVENS, ) Honorable
) Daniel P. Darcy, Defendant-Appellant. ) Judge Presiding.
PRESIDING JUSTICE NEVILLE delivered the opinion of the court: Fatima Givens was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. At the close of the State's case, the trial court granted Givens' motion for a directed verdict and dismissed the count for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Following a bench trial, Givens was found guilty of the lesser included offense of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to 12 months' probation. In this appeal, Givens presents the following issues for review: (1) whether she received ineffective assistance of counsel because her trial counsel filed but withdrew a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence; (2) whether the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she had either actual or constructive possession of the drugs recovered inside her friend’s apartment; (3) whether the State failed to establish a sufficient chain of custody where the inventory numbers of the items recovered did not match the number of the items that were tested; and (4) whether the trial court abused its discretion when it refused to sentence her to probation pursuant to section 410 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act (720 ILCS 570/410 (West 2006)). For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand this case for a hearing on a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence and, if necessary, a new trial.
BACKGROUND
Pretrial On July 13, 2005, Givens' counsel filed a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence that alleged that the arrest was made without authority of a valid search or arrest warrant. Givens’ motion also alleged that her conduct prior to the arrest could not reasonably be interpreted by the arresting officers as constituting probable cause that she had committed or was about to commit a crime. Givens’ motion further alleged that, due to the improper arrest, evidence recovered by the police should have been suppressed.
On January 11, 2006, Givens' counsel made an oral motion for leave to withdraw the July 13, 2005, motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence. The trial court granted the motion to withdraw the motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence.
Trial
The State’s Case
Officer Robert Graves testified that, on April 9, 2005, he, Officers Rafael Bonifazi and Stephen Lotts received information from a confidential informant that drugs were being sold in apartment 366 at 2804 N. Leavitt in Chicago. The apartment was not rented by either Givens or Loving. Instead, the apartment was rented by Teri Matthews, who was one of Givens’ friends. Officer Graves testified that he and his fellow officers arrived at the building and met Matthews outside. According to Officer Graves, Matthews signed a consent form that allowed the police to enter her apartment and gave them a key. Officer Graves testified that the officers entered the apartment and approached the sole bedroom found therein. Officer Graves entered the bedroom and found Givens and Loving “still half asleep.” According to Officer Graves, he and the other officers observed a clear plastic bag that contained 21 smaller plastic baggies. Each of the smaller plastic baggies contained crack cocaine. There was also a razor blade on the night stand next to the bed. Officer Graves also testified that the police recovered $355 of United States currency.
Officer Graves testified that he placed the subjects in custody, and he and his partner transported them and the recovered items to the 19th District for processing and inventory. Officer Graves testified that his partner, Officer Bonifazi, was responsible for conducting the actual inventory. Finally, Officer Graves testified that the recovered items were inventoried at the 19th District and the drugs were placed in a vault and the other items were placed in an inventory bin.
The State also presented a stipulation that if Officer Bonifazi testified his testimony would be that he inventoried the recovered narcotic items under inventory number "10513558" and heat- sealed them into an inventory envelope for delivery to the Illinois State Police crime lab. According to the stipulation, when the items left Officer Bonifazi's possession, they were in a sealed condition.
Next, the State presented a stipulation for the testimony of Hasnain Hamayat, a forensic chemist with the Illinois State Police crime lab. According to the stipulation, if Hamayat had been called to the stand, he would have testified (1) that he received the inventory from the Chicago police department in a heat-sealed condition; (2) that he opened the inventory envelope and found that it contained 21 plastic baggies; (3) that all of the equipment he used to test the inventory was tested, calibrated and functioning properly; (4) that Hamayat employed commonly accepted forensic chemistry tests for ascertaining the presence of controlled substances; (5) that, after performing the tests on the contents of 14 of the 21 items recovered, Hamayat concluded that the items tested positive for the presence of cocaine and that the actual weight was 1.2 grams; (6) that the total estimated weight of the 21 items was 1.8 grams; and (7) that, after testing and analyzing inventory number "10515338," he resealed the items, would identify them in court as the same items he tested, and that a proper chain of custody was maintained.
Following the stipulations concerning Officer Bonifazi's and Hamayat's testimony, the State rested. The defense made a motion for a directed finding and argued that Givens was not seen holding, possessing, carrying or trying to sell any of the recovered narcotics. The defense also argued that no buyers were arrested. The State argued that the police entered the apartment with Matthews' permission and saw 21 bags of crack cocaine and other empty bags along with a razor blade. Based upon the aforementioned facts, the State argued that Givens had constructive possession of those items.
The trial court found that “[b]ased upon the evidence presented with regard to the motion for directed finding as to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, it will be granted, but I find the State has put forth sufficient evidence to establish the lesser-included offense of possession of a controlled substance.”
The Defendant’s Case
Crystal Giles, a friend of the defendant, testified that on April 9, 2005, at 11:30 a.m., she was walking from 2890 North Clybourn to 2816 North Leavitt when she observed her mother’s friend, Teri Matthews, being held up against a wall by police officers who were going through her pockets. Giles also testified that she observed a police officer with Matthews’ keys and she observed Matthews go up the stairs into her building with the police officers.
Teri Matthews testified that she did not voluntarily sign a consent-to-search form. Matthews testified that she was on her way home when Officer DeLaFont approached her. According to Matthews, the police brought her into her apartment after they had been upstairs. Matthews testified that she was told that she would lose her house if she did not sign a consent form, so she signed it.
Fatima Givens testified that she was in Teri Matthews’ apartment on April 9, 2005, at 11:30 a.m. Givens testified that she was a houseguest in Matthews’ apartment the night before. According to Givens, she invited Loving to stay with her that night. The following morning, Matthews knocked on the bedroom door and told Givens that she was going to the store. Then Matthews left the apartment. Givens also testified that, when she got up to use the washroom, she opened the bedroom door and three police officers rushed in. According to Givens, the officers put handcuffs on her and Loving and led them out of the bedroom while they searched it. Givens testified that the police showed her a signed consent-to-search form and told her they found something but refused to tell her what it was. Givens also testified that she and Loving were taken to the 19th District police station. Finally, Givens denied storing or selling cocaine.
The State's Rebuttal
Officer Stephen Lotts testified in rebuttal that he went to 2804 North Leavitt to follow up on a tip from a confidential informant that drugs were being sold out of apartment 366. According to Officer Lotts, Matthews gave written consent to search the apartment and gave them keys. Officer Lotts denied that he or any of the police officers on the scene held Matthews against a wall. He also denied that any officer made threats to Matthews in order to get her to sign the consent-to-search form. Officer Lotts testified that Matthews remained outside the apartment building the entire time the apartment was being searched. Following Officer Lotts’ testimony, the State rested in rebuttal.
The trial court found Givens guilty of possession of a controlled substance. On February 2, 2006, Givens filed a motion for new trial. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion for a new trial and, after hearing arguments in aggravation and mitigation, sentenced Givens to 12 months of probation, 50 hours of community service, and DNA indexing. The trial court also assessed costs and fees of $1,259. The defendant made an oral motion to reconsider the sentence and requested that she be sentenced to probation pursuant to section 410 of the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. 720 ILCS 570/410 (West 2006). The trial court denied the defendant’s oral motion.
ANALYSIS
Givens argues that she received ineffective assistance of counsel when her counsel filed a motion to quash her arrest and suppress the evidence gathered after her arrest but withdrew the motion on the day of trial. Givens argues that her counsel should not have withdrawn the motion because the evidence adduced at trial cast doubt on the voluntariness of Matthews’ consent to allow the police to enter and search her apartment. Givens also argues that her motion had a reasonable probability of success.
The State argues that Givens did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel because the motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence would have been futile. The State bases its argument on the fact that Matthews voluntarily consented to the search and that, based upon that voluntary consent, counsel was not required to proceed to a hearing on the motion. The State also argues that, based on the evidence presented at trial, counsel’s decision was trial strategy, which cannot form the basis of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
The law of ineffective assistance of counsel is well established. “The sixth amendment to
the Constitution ‘recognizes the right to the assistance of counsel because it envisions counsel's
playing a role that is critical to the ability of the adversarial system to produce just results.’ ” People
v. Cunningham,
There are strict criteria for determining whether counsel is incompetent. People v. Houston,
Under the deficiency prong of the Strickland test, “a defendant must overcome a strong
presumption that, under the circumstances, counsel's conduct might be considered sound trial
strategy.” Houston,
In evaluating the performance of trial counsel, we recognize that “[d]efense counsel, at a
minimum, must act as an advocate for the accused by subjecting the State's case to meaningful
adversarial testing.” Spann,
1037 (1996). In order to determine whether counsel has failed to subject the State’s case to
meaningful adversarial testing and prejudice to the defendant has resulted, the United States Supreme
Court instructs us to consider whether there has been a complete failure to oppose the State’s case.
People v. Abdullah,
The test for deficient performance is whether counsel's performance was objectively
unreasonable under prevailing professional norms. Deleon,
An attorney's decision whether to file a motion to quash arrest is generally a matter of trial
strategy that should be accorded great deference and is not ordinarily challengeable as ineffective
assistance of counsel. People v. Rucker,
In order to successfully bring a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel based upon the
failure to file either a motion to quash arrest or a motion to suppress evidence, “ ‘ "a defendant must
show that a reasonable probability exists both that the motion would have been granted and that the
outcome of the trial would have been different had the evidence been suppressed." [Citations].' ”
Rucker,
The record reveals that the trial court judge believed Officer Graves' and Officer Lotts' testimony (1) that Matthews gave oral consent to Officers Graves and Bonifazi to enter her apartment and gave them her key; and (2) that Matthews memorialized her consent by signing a Chicago police department consent-to-search form. [1] The record also reveals (1) that the police did not ask Givens for her consent to enter her bedroom; (2) that Givens did not give her consent to the police to enter the bedroom that she and Loving slept in; and (3) that the police went to Matthews' apartment, based upon an unidentified informant's tip, and entered Givens' bedroom without exigent circumstances or a search warrant, an arrest warrant, or Givens' consent.
“The Fourth Amendment [to the United States Constitution] guarantees: ‘[t]he right of the
people to be secure in their
persons, houses
, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by
Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things
to be seized.’ ” (Emphasis added.) Minnesota v. Carter,
“The people shall have the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and other possessions against unreasonable searches, seizures, invasions of privacy or interceptions of communications by eavesdropping devices or other means. No warrant shall issue without probable cause, supported by affidavit particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. Ill. Const.1970, art. I, §6.
Therefore, at a minimum, under either the fourth amendment to the United States Constitution or
article 1, section 6, of the Illinois Constitution, we find that once the right to privacy is established,
the court must determine whether the State's invasion of an individual's privacy is reasonable.
People v. Caballes,
In determining whether the State's invasion of a person's, here Givens', privacy was
reasonable, this court recognizes that “[i]n the absence of consent or exigent circumstances, the
police are prohibited from making a warrantless entry into a private residence to effectuate a routine
felony arrest.” People v. Williams,
In this case, the police obtained their information from an unidentified informant, and there was no testimony in the record that the police observed Givens committing a criminal offense. Second, while the police received information concerning drug sales at the apartment from a confidential informant, they did not observe Givens selling drugs on April 9, 2005, at 11:30 a.m. Third, Givens was not suspected of a crime of violence. Fourth, there is no evidence in the record that the police believed that Givens was armed nor did the police report seizing a weapon. Fifth, the police did not observe Givens selling drugs or committing any other offense on April 9, 2005, did not provide the specific information provided by the informant, and did not indicate that the informant had provided accurate information in the past, and therefore, they did not have probable cause for Givens' arrest. Sixth, the police did not testify that they believed that Givens would escape, and when the police entered the bedroom Givens and Loving were in, according to Officer Graves, they were "still half asleep." Seventh, the police were told by their informant that Givens and her boyfriend were in the apartment and they entered Matthews' apartment with her key. While the entry into Matthews' apartment was made peaceably, the entry into Givens' bedroom was made without an arrest warrant, a search warrant or Givens' consent and the police did not testify that they knocked on the bedroom door or announced their office. 725 ILCS 5/108-8 (West 2004) (even with a warrant, an officer may only enter a residence without knocking or announcing his office if a judge finds that if notice were given a weapon would be used or if notice were given the evidence would be destroyed). Finally, the State did not present evidence that established that they were in hot pursuit of Givens, that Givens was in the process of destroying evidence, that Givens was attempting to escape, or that an officer was in danger; therefore, there was no evidence in the record to justify the warrantless intrusion into Givens' bedroom.
Next, having established (1) that a right to privacy exists under both the United States
Constitution and the Illinois Constitution, and (2) that the police lacked consent and there were no
exigent circumstances that would justify their warrantless entry into Givens' bedroom, we turn to the
question of whether the right to privacy extends to Givens while a short-term houseguest in
Matthews' apartment. The United States Supreme Court has historically included “an overnight
guest in a house” in the class of persons who “ha[ve] the sort of expectation of privacy that the
Fourth Amendment protects.” Carter,
“ ‘To hold that an overnight guest has a legitimate expectation of
privacy in his host's home merely recognizes the every day expectations of privacy that we all share. Staying overnight in another's home is a longstanding social custom that serves functions recognized as valuable by society. We stay in others' homes when we travel to a strange city for business or pleasure, when we visit our parents, children, or more distant relatives out of town, when we are in between jobs or homes, or when we house-sit for a friend....
From the overnight guest's perspective, he seeks shelter in
another's home precisely because it provides him with privacy, a
place where he and his possessions will not be disturbed by anyone
but his host and those his host allows inside. We are at our most
vulnerable when we are asleep because we cannot monitor our own
safety or the security of our belongings. It is for this reason that,
although we may spend all day in public places, when we cannot
sleep in our own home we seek out another private place to sleep,
whether it be a hotel room, or the home of a friend.’ ” Carter, 525
U.S. at 89,
1684, 1689 (1990).
In light of the fact that United States Supreme Court case law holds that a houseguest like
Givens has a reasonable expectation of privacy sufficient to trigger fourth amendment protections
(Carter,
Therefore, based on Carter and Pittman, we find (1) that Givens had a reasonable expectation
of privacy in the bedroom she was occupying as a houseguest (Carter,
Next, we must examine the question of whether Givens’ counsel was ineffective for
withdrawing the motion to quash her arrest and suppress the evidence obtained after the arrest. The
record reveals that Givens’ counsel drafted and filed the motion to quash arrest and suppress
evidence and later withdrew it. Defense counsel's motion establishes that counsel was aware of (1)
the issue concerning the legality of the arrest and search, and (2) the issue concerning the
admissibility of the evidence obtained incident to the arrest. Counsel reviewed the facts and
circumstances of Givens' case and concluded (1) that Matthews, the leaseholder, consented to the
search of the apartment, and (2) that the leaseholder's consent gave the police the right to enter
Givens' bedroom. Defendant's counsel failed to consider Carter and Olson and three facts: (1) that
a house guest like Givens had a fourth amendment right to privacy and thus a right to be free from
unreasonable searches and seizures (Carter,
The question remains whether defense counsel's strategic decision was so unsound that
counsel failed to subject the State’s case to meaningful adversarial testing. Abdullah, 336 Ill. App.
3d at 951, citing Cronic,
We note, as previously indicated, that, as a houseguest, Givens had a right codified in the
fourth amendment and article I, section 6, of the Illinois Constitution, to a reasonable expectation
of privacy in Matthews' bedroom. Carter,
Carter and Olson make it clear that because Givens was Matthews’ houseguest, her motion
to quash arrest and suppress evidence probably would have been granted. Carter,
In light of the violations of Givens’ constitutional rights, it is unnecessary for this court to
reach the defendant’s other contentions on appeal. Both the federal and state constitutions provide
that no person shall be put in jeopardy twice for the same criminal offense. People v. Pinkonsly, 207
Ill. 2d 555, 564 (2003), citing U.S. Const., amends. V, XIV; Ill. Const.1970, art. I, §10. "The double
jeopardy clause protects a defendant from: (1) a second prosecution after an acquittal; (2) a second
prosecution after a conviction; and (3) multiple punishments for the same offense." People v.
Whitfield, 228 Ill. 2d 502, 516 (2007), citing People v. Gray, 214 Ill. 2d 1, 6 (2005). "The
prohibition against double jeopardy forbids a second trial if the evidence was insufficient to prove
the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the initial proceeding." People v. Davis, 377 Ill.
App. 3d 735, 747 (2007), citing People v. Taylor,
CONCLUSION
In light of the foregoing, we reverse Givens’ conviction and sentence and remand this case with directions: (1) to permit defense counsel to file a motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence; (2) to hold a hearing on the defendant's motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence; and (3) if necessary, after the hearing on the motion to quash arrest and suppress evidence, hold a new trial.
Reversed and remanded with directions.
CAMPBELL, J., and O'BRIEN, J., concur.
Notes
[1] The actual signed copy of the consent-to-search form or a facsimile thereof was not included in the record on appeal. However, the record reveals a Chicago police department property inventory form bearing number "10513554" that provides that a consent-to-search form was signed by Terry Matthews and inventoried as item number 924987.
