People v. Johnson

2021 IL 126291

202 N.E.3d 220

460 Ill.Dec. 678

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant,

v.Todd L. JOHNSON, Appellee.

Docket No. 126291

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Filed October 7, 2021.

Modified Upon Denial of Rehearing April 8, 2022

Kwame Raoul, Attorney General, of Springfield (Jane Elinor Notz, Solicitor General, and Michael M. Glick and Erin M. O'Connell, Assistant Attorneys General, of Chicago, of counsel), for the People.

James E. Chadd, State Appellate Defender, Thomas A. Karalis, Deputy Defender, and Jay Wiegman, Assistant Appellate Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, of Ottawa, for appellee.

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

¶ 1 A Peoria County jury found defendant, Todd L. Johnson, guilty of armed robbery. The evidence at trial established, inter alia , that a 9-millimeter pistol and a BB pistol were discovered on the premises where he was arrested following his commission of the offense. The 9-millimeter was subsequently swabbed for DNA, but the swabs were never tested for DNA. On direct appeal, defendant argued that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request that the swabs be tested. A majority of the appellate court panel agreed and granted defendant a new trial. For the reasons that follow, we reverse the judgment of the appellate court and affirm defendant's conviction.

¶ 2 FACTS

¶ 3 In March 2015, defendant was indicted on one count of aggravated robbery ( 720 ILCS 5/18-1(b)(1) (West 2014)) and one count of armed robbery (id. § 18-2(a)(2)). The charges stemmed from a gas station robbery that occurred on March 10, 2015, and Aaron Ferguson, the manager on duty at the time, was the named victim. The armed robbery count alleged that defendant committed the robbery while armed with a firearm, and the aggravated robbery count alleged that defendant committed the robbery while indicating that he was armed with a firearm.

¶ 4 In June 2016, the cause proceeded to a jury trial. In its opening statement, the State advised the jurors that they would be shown surveillance videos of the robbery, which included footage of defendant's flight from the gas station. The State further advised that, immediately after the robbery, two eyewitnesses had observed defendant get into a Cadillac parked on an adjacent street and drive away. When the Cadillac and defendant were later located by the police, one of the witnesses identified defendant as the man who had driven away. Defendant also attempted to flee when he was subsequently approached by the police.

¶ 5 The State informed the jurors that, during a search of the premises where defendant was located and arrested, a 9-millimeter handgun, a BB gun, and clothing matching the robber's description were found. Maintaining that its evidence would prove defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the State asked the jury to find defendant guilty on both robbery counts.

¶ 6 In response, stating that "[l]ike anything in life, the devil is in the details," defense counsel urged the jurors to pay close attention to the evidence that would be presented for their consideration. Counsel encouraged the jurors to examine the 9-millimeter pistol and determine for themselves whether it matched the handgun seen in the surveillance videos. Suggesting that defendant had been wrongly identified, counsel asked the jury to consider whether there was "any forensic evidence, any DNA, fingerprints, footprints, anything scientifically linking [defendant] to a crime." Counsel reminded the jurors that defendant was presumed innocent and asked that they hold the State to its burden of proving defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

¶ 7 Ferguson testified that on the morning of March 10, 2015, he was working at the Marathon gas station on West Forrest Hill Avenue in Peoria after opening the station for business at 6 a.m. At approximately 8 a.m., when no customers were present, a man in a dark ski mask brandishing a black handgun entered the store, placed a black satchel-type bag on the checkout counter, and demanded money. In response, Ferguson opened the store's cash register and placed its cash into the bag. The man with the gun then walked behind the counter, where he and Ferguson briefly struggled before the man grabbed the bag and fled.

¶ 8 During the struggle, the robber repeatedly struck Ferguson in the head with the barrel end of the gun that he was carrying. Ferguson activated a silent alarm during the struggle and immediately called the police after the robber fled. Ferguson estimated that the man with the gun was at least six feet tall and weighed approximately 200 pounds. Ferguson also estimated that less than $100 was stolen from the station's cash register. When cross-examined, Ferguson acknowledged that his head had been scraped when he was hit by the robber's gun.

¶ 9 The gas station's surveillance system recorded the robbery, and videos of the incident were shown at trial. The videos depict the robber as a black male wearing black gloves, a white zippered jacket over a white hoodie, and a black balaclava-looking ski mask covering most of his face. A video taken by an exterior camera shows the man exiting the store with the black bag and then jogging toward West Forrest Hill Avenue before turning in the direction of Wilson Drive.

¶ 10 Earl Hensley testified that on the morning of March 10, 2015, he was part of a work crew that had been repairing a home on Wilson Drive, "a block from the Marathon gas station." While arriving at the home that morning, Hensley noticed an unoccupied white Cadillac coupe parked down the street with its engine running. Hensley testified that he had not seen the Cadillac on the street in the preceding days and that the car's rear driver's side window was broken and covered with plastic.

Hensley explained that, while subsequently sitting in his van waiting for his coworkers to arrive, he saw a man run around the corner of West Forrest Hill Avenue from the direction of the Marathon station. The man passed Hensley's van while running through front yards on Wilson Drive and then entered the Cadillac and drove away. Hensley testified that the man was wearing a hooded jacket and a stocking cap and had long braids or dreadlocks. Hensley further testified that the man was holding his left arm close to his stomach, "as if he was holding something."

¶ 11 Hensley testified that he had a "police scanner app" on his cellphone and that, minutes after the Cadillac drove away, the app indicated that a robbery had just occurred. Hensley subsequently heard police sirens and reported what he had seen to a responding officer. Shortly thereafter, Hensley was contacted by an investigator, who drove him to a house on New York Avenue. There, Hensley identified defendant's Cadillac as the one he had seen, and he identified defendant as the man he had seen. At trial, Hensley also identified defendant as the man he had seen.

¶ 12 When cross-examined, Hensley acknowledged that, when he saw defendant on Wilson Drive, defendant was neither carrying a weapon nor committing a crime. Hensley further acknowledged that he had not seen defendant leave the Marathon station. Hensley agreed that defendant had not sped off "excessively fast" when driving away.

¶ 13 Fred May testified that he lived on Wilson Drive and that on the morning of March 10, 2015, he noticed a white Cadillac parked across the street from his house. May stated that the car's lights were on and that the rear driver-side window was broken and covered with cardboard. May testified that he subsequently saw a man run to the Cadillac from West Forrest Hill Avenue. May testified that the man ran through the front yards on Wilson Drive, got into the Cadillac, and "took off" toward Interstate 74. May indicated that the man was a tall black man with long braids or dreadlocks, wearing a white jacket. May further indicated that the man looked back as he ran and "had his right hand or his left arm up against his chest or belly." May acknowledged that he had not seen the man's face.

¶ 14 When cross-examined, May again acknowledged that he had not seen the man's face. May further acknowledged that he had not seen the man carrying anything or doing anything illegal.

¶ 15 Detective Craig Williams of the Peoria Police Department testified that, after being dispatched to the robbery at the Marathon station, he and Detective Richard Linthicum began searching for the suspect Cadillac. "Within 30 minutes," the detectives found the car parked in the alley behind the house at 1810 New York Avenue. Consistent with May's description of the vehicle, the driver's side rear window was covered with cardboard. Williams testified that, while he and Linthicum were subsequently surveilling the house from a nearby street, he observed defendant walk from the house, remove something black from the Cadillac, walk toward the detached garage, and then walk back to the house. Williams testified that Detective Steven Garner subsequently arrived at the scene with Hensley. When Garner went to the front of the house after Hensley identified defendant, defendant "took off running down the alley" but was quickly apprehended.

¶ 16 When cross-examined, Williams acknowledged that Garner and Hensley had arrived at the house in an unmarked police car. Williams further acknowledged that Garner was a large man and had been wearing plain clothes when he approached defendant outside the house. Williams agreed that the 1800 block of New York Avenue was a "pretty high crime area." Williams testified that he had not seen defendant with a gun and had not seen him do anything illegal.

¶ 17 Linthicum testified that defendant entered the detached garage with what appeared to be a black bag and that he stayed in the garage a short time before exiting and entering the house. Linthicum testified that, after defendant entered the house, a minivan pulled up and parked in the alley. When defendant subsequently exited the...