People v. Feliciano

2020 IL App (1st) 171142

218 N.E.3d 336

467 Ill.Dec. 1

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

v.Gilbert FELICIANO, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-17-1142

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, SECOND DIVISION.

October 20, 2020

James E. Chadd, Patricia Mysza, and Jennifer L. Bontrager, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (Alan J. Spellberg, David H. Iskowich, and Jessica L. Wasserman, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

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

¶ 1 Following a jury trial, defendant Gilbert Feliciano was convicted of first degree murder, home invasion, and robbery and received consecutive prison sentences of 40 years for one count of first degree murder, 10 years for one count of home invasion, and 4 years for one count of robbery, totaling 54 years' imprisonment. On appeal, Feliciano argues (1) that the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce inadmissible hearsay statements made by the victim, Stanley Letkiewicz; (2) that the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce evidence regarding a confrontation between Feliciano, the victim, and one witness prior to the incident; and (3) that the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of first degree murder, home invasion, and robbery. We affirm.

¶ 2 BACKGROUND

¶ 3 Feliciano was charged by indictment with 11 counts of first degree murder ( 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1), (2), (3) (West 2010)), 2 counts of home invasion (id. § 12-11(a)(2) ), 4 counts of residential burglary (id. § 19-3(a)), and 1 count of robbery (id. § 18-1(a) ), following an incident in Chicago continuing from October 11 through October 13, 2010. Before the case reached trial, the State nol-prossed all counts except six counts of first degree murder, one count of home invasion, and one count of robbery.

¶ 4 A. Motion to Admit Evidence—Spontaneous Declarations

¶ 5 Prior to trial, the State brought a motion to admit evidence of Letkiewicz's statements under the hearsay exceptions of forfeiture by wrongdoing, dying declaration, and spontaneous declaration. Later, the State withdrew its forfeiture by wrongdoing theory but proceeded on the other theories.

¶ 6 At an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the State called Letkiewicz's neighbor, Francisco del Angel, who testified that the City of Chicago had told Letkiewicz to clean the basement of Letkiewicz's house. Letkiewicz met Feliciano in a parking lot and told Feliciano that, if he helped clean the basement, Letkiewicz would pay Feliciano and let him stay in the basement. Feliciano moved into Letkiewicz's basement and lived there for about eight months.

¶ 7 On October 13, 2010, just before 9 p.m., Francisco's son called Francisco and told him Letkiewicz's window was open. Francisco approached Letkiewicz's house, saw the basement window was broken with a curtain hanging out, and noticed the light in Letkiewicz's bedroom was on. Then Francisco entered Letkiewicz's house with a spare key he received from Letkiewicz. He heard "mumbling" and "screaming" and entered Letkiewicz's bedroom to see Letkiewicz on the floor with a tall, six-drawer dresser on top of the left side of his body. Letkiewicz's eyes were swollen shut, his face was swollen and covered in dry blood, he was bleeding from his mouth and nose, his hands were shaking, and his arms were swollen and bruised. Francisco asked if Letkiewicz was okay, and Letkiewicz stated, "Gilbert did this to me, Frank. Gilbert did this to me. He took my wallet, my money. I want my money. I want my money." Francisco went outside, told his son to call the police, reentered Letkiewicz's house, and lifted the dresser off Letkiewicz. Letkiewicz repeated four or five times that "Gilbert had beat him up." The police and paramedics arrived five or six minutes after Francisco had found Letkiewicz, and Letkiewicz stated about six or seven more times that "Gilbert had beat him up."

¶ 8 Chicago Fire Department paramedic Vicki Hernandez testified that, at about 9 p.m., she and her partner Mark Holiday arrived at Letkiewicz's house, which was "ransacked," "dirty," and had furniture and clothing scattered around. She found Letkiewicz in his bedroom with a bruised face and arms and dried blood around his mouth and nose. Hernandez and Holiday moved Letkiewicz out of his house. Holiday tested Letkiewicz's orientation using the Glasgow Coma Scale test, and Letkiewicz received a perfect score, but Hernandez could not remember whether the test was performed in her presence. Letkiewicz told Hernandez and Holiday multiple times that "Gilbert beat him up."

¶ 9 On cross-examination, Hernandez confirmed that, when Letkiewicz said "Gilbert" beat him up, she could not remember whether she had asked Letkiewicz what happened to him and she did not overhear anyone ask Letkiewicz who injured him. She and Holiday did not test Letkiewicz for dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

¶ 10 Holiday corroborated Hernandez's testimony but added that they took Letkiewicz to the ambulance and ran tests on Letkiewicz. There, they found that Letkiewicz was responsive to questions, did not appear confused, and had a fully oxygenated brain. Holiday and Hernandez then took Letkiewicz to a hospital. Holiday stated that they also ran the Glasgow Coma Scale test to assess Letkiewicz's level of consciousness. On direct examination, he testified that Letkiewicz scored a perfect score of 15. On cross-examination, however, Holiday was presented with the Glasgow Coma Scale test results and confirmed that Letkiewicz received a score of 11, which was "still within the normal range." Holiday further confirmed that Letkiewicz received a 2 out of 5 as to verbal responses and that some of Letkiewicz's statements were "[i]ncomprehensible." Holiday confirmed that "incomprehensible" only meant that they could not understand Letkiewicz sometimes "because of a dialect or an accent." Letkiewicz also received a 5 out of 6 for motor responses, which meant he could feel pain and was responsive.

¶ 11 Chicago police officer Juan Alvarado testified that on October 13, 2010, at about 8:45 p.m., he and his partner, Officer Rolly Ramirez, arrived in the vicinity of Letkiewicz's house in response to a medical emergency call. Alvarado and Ramirez spoke with Francisco, who told the officers he had not seen his neighbor Letkiewicz for "several days" and "was concerned for his wellbeing." Francisco told Alvarado that, after seeing the broken basement window, he entered Letkiewicz's house and found Letkiewicz in his bedroom with a dresser on top of him.

¶ 12 Alvarado went to the ambulance outside Letkiewicz's residence and found Letkiewicz in "[s]evere medical condition," with "blood all over his face," a blanket over him, and an oxygen mask on his face. Alvarado entered the ambulance and asked Letkiewicz, "Who did this to you?" Letkiewicz removed his oxygen mask and stated, "Gilbert did." According to Alvarado, Letkiewicz appeared "[f]rail, * * * exhausted, tired, and angry."

¶ 13 Dr. Alice Kim testified that just after 9 p.m. that night, she was working as a physician at the hospital where Letkiewicz was taken, and she treated Letkiewicz. Letkiewicz was "disheveled with multiple trauma [sic ] to his face and his extremities," had dried blood in his mouth, "was covered in feces and urine," had "multiple facial fractures," had contusions throughout his body, and had a "contusion in his brain with some bleeding." Dr. Kim asked Letkiewicz what happened to him. Letkiewicz looked "upset and angry" and stated, "Gilbert did it." Dr. Kim testified that Letkiewicz was able to state his name and respond to questions about his medical history and condition. He also appeared aware of what was going on and showed no signs of confusion. Additionally, Letkiewicz had no issues moving his limbs and appeared oriented to himself, his location, and "what was going on."

¶ 14 On cross-examination, Dr. Kim testified that Letkiewicz had both old and new bruises on his body. Under examination by the trial court, Dr. Kim clarified that the new bruises were on Letkiewicz's face and extremities and appeared to be "[o]ne or two days" old. However, Dr. Kim could not confirm how old the older bruises were, as doing so "would be very difficult to do with an elderly patient."

¶ 15 Erlinda Sibal testified that she was working as a nurse when she saw Letkiewicz in the emergency room. Letkiewicz's face was swollen on the left side; his left eye was swollen shut with an orbital fracture ; he had "black and blue * * * bruises" around his eyes, ears, arms, and one of his legs; and he had a "skin tear on his leg." Later that same night, Sibal spoke with Letkiewicz in the intensive care unit (ICU) and asked what happened to him. Letkiewicz responded, "I was beaten up by my caretaker, Gilbert," and said that "Gilbert" had taken $1400 from him. Sibal described Letkiewicz as "alert," "oriented," and responsive to questions. On cross-examination, Sibal confirmed that Letkiewicz was in the emergency room for four hours before going to the ICU.

¶ 16 The State rested.

¶ 17 The defense presented Dr. Matthew Galloucis, a psychologist, who testified that on January 11, 2010, Letkiewicz was admitted to the hospital with an inguinal hernia and an ankle fracture that resulted from a "mechanical fall" at home. On January 17, 2010, Dr. Galloucis evaluated Letkiewicz. Letkiewicz told Dr. Galloucis that he had a son who lives out of state. Letkiewicz also reported feeling "somewhat dysphoric," "sad," and "depressed," which "was likely related to the stress of his injuries, medical condition and hospitalization." Additionally, Letkiewicz told Dr. Galloucis that he "felt mixed up" and that "everything seems mixed up." Dr. Galloucis noted Letkiewicz had a "slowed speed of mental processing" but stated "that comes with age." Additionally, Dr. Galloucis noted that Letkiewicz had "some cognitive...