People v. Grunin

2022 IL App (1st) 200598

216 N.E.3d 1044

466 Ill.Dec. 211

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

v.Adam GRUNIN, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-20-0598

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, FIFTH DIVISION.

Filed June 17, 2022

James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, and Hannah Lazar Pieterse, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

Kimberly M. Foxx, State's Attorney, of Chicago (John E. Nowak and Marci Jacobs, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

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

¶ 1 Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, the defendant-appellant, Adam Grunin, was found guilty of reckless homicide ( 720 ILCS 5/9-3(a) (West 2018)) and two counts of aggravated reckless driving ( 625 ILCS 5/11-503(a)(1), (c) (West 2018)). The circuit court merged the aggravated reckless driving convictions with the reckless homicide conviction. The circuit court imposed concurrent sentences of four years’ imprisonment for reckless homicide, which merged with the three-year sentence for aggravated reckless driving. On appeal, Mr. Grunin contends that the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt when "unrebutted evidence" established that he suffered a focal seizure with loss of awareness prior to hitting the victims’ vehicle. Upon considering a petition for rehearing by Mr. Grunin and the response by the State, we again affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County.

¶ 2 BACKGROUND

¶ 3 On August 28, 2018, Mr. Grunin was charged with reckless homicide and aggravated reckless driving following a motor vehicle collision on July 21, 2018, which caused the death of Alyssa Lendino and injured Tony Lendino and Amanda Lendino. ¹

On January 7, 2020, a jury trial commenced. The evidence at trial established that on July 21, 2018, Mr. Grunin, who was driving a white Hyundai Sonata, was involved in two motor vehicle collisions. The first collision involved Angelica Brito's black Hyundai, and the second involved the Lendinos’ silver Chevrolet Equinox.

¶ 4 Ms. Brito testified that on the afternoon of July 21, 2018, she was driving southbound in the left lane of Milwaukee Avenue in Wheeling, Illinois, with her two children in the back seat. Suddenly, another vehicle hit the rear driver's side of her vehicle. The vehicle that hit her then passed her on the driver's side "[w]ithin seconds." During cross-examination, Ms. Brito acknowledged that she did not see inside the vehicle that hit her and only saw its movements "in the direction it traveled."

¶ 5 Margaret Molitor, who was also driving southbound on Milwaukee Avenue at the same time on that day, testified that she changed lanes after seeing a white vehicle "coming fast" in her rearview mirror. The white vehicle hit a black vehicle, swerved, and then continued driving without slowing. Ms. Molitor could see that the white vehicle was being driven by a man who was looking forward with his hands on the wheel.

¶ 6 Linda Hawkins, who was traveling northbound on Milwaukee Avenue just past the intersection with Hintz Road, at the same time, testified that she saw a white vehicle approach, "swerve a little," and then "straighten out." The vehicle was traveling "very fast," and its front end was "wobbling." Ms. Hawkins watched in her side mirror, as the white vehicle passed her, and then she observed the white vehicle crash into another vehicle. The white vehicle did not decelerate nor change lanes. During cross-examination, Ms. Hawkins did not remember telling police officers that the white vehicle swerved or that the driver lacked control. However, she told officers that she did not see the white vehicle's brake lights activate prior to the collision.

¶ 7 Shaniqua Silva testified that she was in the back seat of a vehicle traveling southbound on Milwaukee Avenue when a black vehicle almost struck the back of the vehicle that she was in. As Ms. Silva looked back, the black vehicle "stall[ed] out" and hit a curb. She next saw a white vehicle "fly up" from behind, straddling the left lane and median. The driver, a "heavier set" white man with one hand on the steering wheel, looked right and then toward his rearview mirror. The vehicle was traveling approximately 100 miles per hour and smoke was coming from its front. During cross-examination, Ms. Silva acknowledged that she may have told a police officer that the driver had his right hand on the steering wheel and that he looked to his left and then to the rearview mirror.

¶ 8 Michele Lendino testified that on the afternoon of July 21, 2018, she was driving her silver Chevrolet Equinox and stopped at a red light at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Hintz Road. Her husband, Tony, was in the front passenger seat, her daughter, Amanda was behind Michele, and her other daughter, Alyssa, was sitting behind Tony. Michele then heard "the most horrible sound," and her vehicle began spinning. When the vehicle stopped, she kicked open a door, exited, and screamed for help. Michelle suffered facial lacerations, and the entire family was taken to a hospital.

¶ 9 The State entered stipulations that the emergency room physician who treated Tony would testify that he suffered fractures to three areas of the lower spine and four left ribs and an injury to his spleen. The emergency room physician, who treated Amanda, would testify that she suffered fractures to her left clavicle, right tibia, pelvis, and vertebral endplate in her spine, and a laceration to her left leg. Later in the trial, an assistant medical examiner testified that Alyssa's autopsy revealed lacerations, abrasions, bruising, a fracture to her left femur, a collapsed lung, a lacerated spleen, a subdural hemorrhage, and cerebral edema and that her cause of death was multiple injuries due to a motor vehicle collision.

¶ 10 Joseph Kasper testified that on July 21, 2018, he was about to stop his delivery van at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Hintz Road when he saw three vehicles colliding. He called 911 and tried to help the "mom" who exited one of the vehicles after the accident. His vehicle was equipped with a camera that filmed the accident. The video of the accident, which was admitted into evidence and published to the jury without objection, is included in the record on appeal. The video showed a white vehicle hitting a light-colored vehicle stopped at a red light, pushing the light-colored vehicle into the intersection and causing it to collide with a black truck.

¶ 11 Radoslaw Swiecicki testified that, on the same day, he was approaching the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Hintz Road when a white vehicle passed "extremely fast" and hit another vehicle. The white vehicle did not change lanes, decelerate, or brake but "went straight." After calling 911, Mr. Swiecicki opened the white vehicle's door, saw that the driver was "okay," and left without talking to the driver. At trial, Mr. Swiecicki identified Mr. Grunin as the driver of the white vehicle.

¶ 12 Wheeling police officer Rick Richardson testified that when he arrived at the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue and Hintz Road, he observed that the driver of the white vehicle, who was still seated in the vehicle, had a laceration over his eye and a bloody face. At trial, Officer Richardson identified Mr. Grunin as the driver of the white vehicle. Officer Richardson accompanied Mr. Grunin to a hospital in an ambulance. Mr. Grunin related his name, address, place of employment, and the date but was confused and did not remember the accident, saying, "let me guess, I fell asleep." Mr. Grunin stated he had worked from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. the previous day and was tired. He said that his mother had told him to nap at his grandparents’ house. He also stated that he had to pack for a trip to San Diego.

¶ 13 The following day, Officer Richardson obtained video footage from a liquor store of traffic on Milwaukee Avenue at the time of the collision. The video footage was published to the jury and was included in the record on appeal. The video footage showed vehicles traveling on Milwaukee Avenue, including a white vehicle moving very fast. When the video was played for the jury, Officer Richardson identified the vehicles of the defendant, Mr. Grunin, and the Lendino family.

¶ 14 During cross-examination, Officer Richardson testified that, at the hospital, Mr. Grunin stated that he had epilepsy and took antiseizure medication. Tests conducted on Mr. Grunin's urine and blood were negative for "illegal substances," and no alcohol or illegal drugs were recovered from Mr. Grunin's vehicle. Prescription antiseizure medication was found inside Mr. Grunin's vehicle. Cell phone records did not indicate that Mr. Grunin was talking or texting at the time of the collision. Officer Richardson later learned that the address Mr. Grunin related in the ambulance was not his current address, nor was his description of his travel plans accurate. Mr. Grunin was traveling to San Francisco rather than San Diego as he had stated, and he had not lived at the stated address for several years. At the scene, Officer Richardson spoke with Ms. Silva and again later in greater depth. His report indicated that she stated that Mr. Grunin looked to the left and then into the rearview mirror.

¶ 15 Wheeling police sergeant Paul Hardt testified that on September 29, 2018, he was asked to videotape a route of travel southbound on Milwaukee Avenue as part of the investigation in this case. He filmed the route on a Saturday at 2 p.m. This video was admitted into evidence and published to the jury and is included in the record on appeal. It shows a route of travel that includes a curve in the road.

¶ 16 Park Ridge police sergeant Kirk Ashleman testified that he was trained in accident collision reconstruction, had worked in the field for approximately 20 years, and previously testified as an expert in accident collision reconstruction. Sergeant Ashleman...