People v. Bailey

2020 IL App (5th) 160458

162 N.E.3d 405

443 Ill.Dec. 771

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.Caleb R. BAILEY, Defendant-Appellant.

NO. 5-16-0458

Appellate Court of Illinois, Fifth District.

July 23, 2020

N. Scott Rosenblum, of Rosenblum, Schwartz, Rogers & Glass, PC, of St. Louis, Missouri, for appellant.

Thomas D. Gibbons, State's Attorney, of Edwardsville (Patrick Delfino and Patrick D. Daly, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

JUSTICE WHARTON delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 The defendant, Caleb R. Bailey, appeals his conviction for first degree murder in the shooting death of Travis Mayes. Evidence at trial revealed that, in the weeks leading up to the shooting, the defendant was hurt and angry because Mayes was involved with the defendant's girlfriend, Brittney Bess. The defendant asserted that he shot Mayes because he was afraid that Mayes was going to shoot or stab him. On appeal, the defendant argues that the court erred by failing to ask jurors whether they understood all four principles embodied in Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b) (eff. July 1, 2012). He acknowledges that counsel did not object, but he urges us to review this claim under the plain error doctrine. He also argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney failed to (1) request that jurors be instructed that a witness is not required to speak to an attorney before testifying, (2) object to evidence and argument concerning his invocation of the right to remain silent, and (3) object to evidence of other bad acts or request a limiting instruction. We affirm.

¶ 2 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 3 The defendant and Bess began dating when they were in high school. Their relationship had its ups and downs. The defendant joined the Army National Guard at 17 and deployed to Egypt in 2010 and 2011. Both the defendant and Bess were unfaithful to each other during the defendant's deployment. According to the defendant, however, they forgave each other and moved on.

¶ 4 The defendant became acquainted with Mayes because Mayes worked as a bouncer at the Rust Bucket, a bar the defendant frequented. Although the defendant characterized their friendship as being "bar buddies," he also testified that he spent time with Mayes away from the bar participating in activities related to their mutual interest in motorcycles. At some point, the defendant introduced Bess to Mayes and asked Mayes to help Bess get a job at the Rust Bucket.

¶ 5 Shortly after the defendant's return from his deployment in Egypt, Bess became pregnant with their daughter, Avery. At some point after Avery's birth, Bess broke up with the defendant and began an affair with Mayes. It is not entirely clear which of these events came first. A few weeks before the shooting, Bess had an argument with Mayes. She moved back in with the defendant, and the two agreed to try to rekindle their relationship and fix the problems they had. However, Bess either continued or resumed her relationship with Mayes during this period.

¶ 6 On May 17, 2014, Bess went to a bar with some of her friends. There, she met up with Mayes. The defendant and Bess exchanged text messages and phone calls while she was at the bar. According to the defendant, Bess asked him to come to the bar to talk to Mayes. The defendant encountered Mayes outside the bar. Ultimately, the two men confronted each other in the parking lot of a chiropractic office a mile down the road. Shortly thereafter, Mayes's body was found in that parking lot with his motorcycle lying on top of one of his legs. The defendant acknowledged that he shot Mayes. He claimed that Mayes reached towards his waistband and said, "I've got something for you." The defendant claimed that he then shot Mayes because he feared for his life.

¶ 7 The defendant drove home after shooting Mayes. He called his father, Willie Bailey, and asked him to bring his daughter, Avery, home. Bess arrived home shortly after Willie arrived with Avery. The defendant told them that he shot Mayes and asked them to call 9-1-1.

¶ 8 The defendant was arrested at his home during the early morning hours of May 18, 2014. He gave a brief video-recorded statement in the police cruiser while it was parked in front of his house. The officer, Illinois State Police Agent Elbert Jennings, advised the defendant of his Miranda rights (see Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) ), and the defendant signed a waiver form. Agent Jennings then asked the defendant, "What happened with you and Travis?" The defendant replied, "Um, I'd prefer to have a lawyer, I think." Agent Jennings responded, "Okay." Without further prompting, the defendant said, "We talked, and the conversation ended, and I came home." Agent Jennings then asked the defendant, "Did you say you want to have a lawyer?" The defendant replied, "I think when it comes to questions involving myself and Travis, that would be best." Agent Jennings did not ask any further questions. He transported the defendant to the Madison County jail.

¶ 9 That afternoon, the defendant indicated that he wanted to speak to Agent Jennings and that he was willing to give a statement without his attorney present. He gave another video-recorded interview at the jail, beginning at approximately 3:25 in the afternoon. At the outset, Agent Jennings asked the defendant to confirm that he wanted to speak to him without his attorney present and that he was the one who reinitiated contact. After the defendant did so, Agent Jennings again provided the defendant with the Miranda warnings and had him sign a waiver form.

¶ 10 Agent Jennings then asked the defendant to tell his story. The defendant began by stating that he caught Bess cheating on him with Mayes, a man he thought was his friend. He told Agent Jennings that in the weeks leading up to the shooting, he and Bess were "trying to work on [their] relationship." He then recounted the events of May 17 and 18, 2014. He stated that on May 17, both he and Bess worked until approximately 10 p.m. While they were at work, they exchanged text messages and talked on the phone. During these discussions, Bess told the defendant that she wanted to go out after work. The defendant preferred to stay home. He also wanted to "work on" trusting Bess again. For these reasons, he told Bess to go out with her friends, but he asked her to be home by 1 a.m.

¶ 11 The defendant told Agent Jennings that while Bess went out with her friends, he stayed home, caught up on some yard work, and cleaned his motorcycle. He admitted that he drank margaritas while he was doing so. He noted that although he had only three margaritas, he used almost an entire fifth of tequila to make them.

¶ 12 The defendant stated that he and Bess continued to exchange texts while she was out with her friends. Bess told him that she was at Nick's Bar with three friends, including a girl named Sammie. The defendant drove by Sammie's house and saw that her vehicle was parked in the driveway. He admitted that he photographed Sammie's vehicle. He also drove past Nick's Bar and saw that Mayes's motorcycle was parked nearby. He stated, "And I was like, okay, well they're still doing the same shit, she's just fucking with me."

¶ 13 The defendant told Agent Jennings that he drove home after seeing Mayes's motorcycle and continued to drink. He acknowledged that he "started to up the tequila in [his] margaritas." He told Agent Jennings that he and Bess continued to exchange text messages and phone calls. He sent her a message asking if she wanted to go for a motorcycle ride with him. She said, "No." The defendant admitted that he replied by stating, "Well maybe if I painted my bike green and white, you'd want to ride home on my bike." He explained that those were the colors of Mayes's motorcycle. At some point, Bess sent the defendant a text message telling him that she did not really want to reconcile with him and explaining that she only moved back in with him because she was afraid of losing custody of their daughter, Avery.

¶ 14 Agent Jennings asked the defendant why he went back to Nick's Bar. The defendant explained that during the evening, he and Bess had been discussing the state of their relationship through text messages and phone calls. He stated that during this exchange, Bess asked him to come to Nick's to discuss the situation with Mayes. He also told Agent Jennings that, prior to this time, Mayes had agreed to tell the defendant if Bess contacted him.

¶ 15 The defendant continued his narrative. He told Agent Jennings that as he sat in his vehicle outside Nick's Bar, he saw Mayes leave the bar and get on his motorcycle. He stated that they both drove the same direction down Route 203, but he denied that he intentionally followed Mayes. According to the defendant, he pulled up next to Mayes, and Mayes waved for him to pull over. The defendant stated that he and Mayes both pulled into the parking lot of a chiropractic office, where they discussed the situation. According to the defendant, Mayes told him to leave Bess alone, telling him, "That's my girl, that's not your girl."

¶ 16 It was at this point, approximately 18 minutes into the interview, that the defendant first mentioned that when he pulled over, he took his pistol out of the glove box and placed it on his lap. He explained, "I'm kind of scared of the guy. He's got a big rap sheet." The defendant continued his story, telling Agent Jennings that after Mayes told him to leave Bess alone, he asked Mayes, "Well, what are we gonna do?" At this point, according to the defendant, Mayes stood up, started reaching towards his waistband, and said, "I've got something for you, motherfucker." The defendant stated that he was scared by this and "freaked out." He picked up his pistol, fired one shot, and saw Mayes fall. He admitted that he "freaked out" and drove off.

¶ 17 The defendant stated that he...