People v. Ramos

1

2024 IL App (1st) 230150-U

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. WILLIAM RAMOS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-23-0150

Court of Appeals of Illinois, First District, Fourth Division

September 26, 2024

This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County. No. 19 CR 9150 Honorable Geary W. Kull, Judge, presiding.

JUSTICE OCASIO delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Hoffman and Lyle concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

OCASIO, JUSTICE

¶ 1 Held: Defendant's convictions are affirmed over his contention that counsel was ineffective for failing to properly support the theory of self-defense and for presenting two competing theories of defense, one of which undermined the other.

¶ 2 Following a bench trial, defendant William Ramos was found guilty of one count of armed violence (720 ILCS 5/33A-2(a) (West 2018)) and two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle (720 ILCS 5/24-1.2(a)(2) (West 2018)) and sentenced to concurrent terms of 15, 9, and 9 years in prison, respectively. On appeal, Ramos contends that he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel where counsel failed to properly support the theory of self-defense and "presented legally incorrect arguments that undermined self defense." For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

¶ 3 Ramos's convictions arose from the events of June 1 2019, when he exchanged gunfire with a team of police officers who had a warrant for his arrest and had been conducting surveillance of a Melrose Park house associated with him. Following arrest, Ramos was charged by indictment with six counts of attempted first degree murder of a peace officer, one count of armed violence, six counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward a peace officer, two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm toward an occupied vehicle, three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (AUUW), and one count of possession of a controlled substance.

¶ 4 In his answer to the State's motion for pretrial discovery, Ramos indicated that, at trial, he would be raising the affirmative defense of "Use of Force in Defense of Person." Also prior to trial, the State filed a motion in limine seeking to prohibit Ramos from introducing hearsay evidence of his own statements at trial, unless he were to testify himself. In court, the State explained that it was specifically seeking to prohibit testimony regarding a statement Ramos made to police officers at the scene. Defense counsel responded that Ramos was "planning on testifying" and that the court would "certainly" hear the statement at that time. As to hearsay, counsel suggested that Ramos's statement to the police was admissible as an excited utterance. The court deferred ruling on the motion at the time, stating that it would "see how the witnesses testify and what's going on."

¶ 5 In opening, the State asserted that the evidence would show that two members of the police surveillance team were attempting to execute a plan to apprehend Ramos when he fired into their unmarked vehicle. Defense counsel asserted that when the two officers sped directly toward Ramos, he thought his life was in danger, in that the vehicle "was looking to hurt and/or kill him." At that point, according to counsel, Ramos "shoots twice to get the [vehicle] from coming at him." Counsel further stated that Ramos had been associated with gangs since he was 12 years old and lived his life in "survival mode" and in constant fear of someone trying to hurt him. Counsel argued, "Every morning waking up, he doesn't know if someone from another gang, from his gang, is going to be looking to hurt him, looking to kill him." As such, according to counsel, when Ramos saw a vehicle driving directly toward him, he believed his life was in danger. Counsel concluded with an argument that Ramos could not be found guilty where he was acting in self-defense and "discharged [a weapon] only in the defense of his well-being and his life."

¶ 6 The State's first witness was Melrose Park police investigator Leonard Bartemio, who testified that, on June 1, 2019, he was part of a team conducting surveillance for the execution of a search warrant of a house. The target of the warrant was Ramos, whom he identified in court. Bartemio estimated that he had known Ramos for about 15 years and had had "encounters" with him over 12 times.

¶ 7 On the day in question, Bartemio and his partner, Jose Velazquez, were in an unmarked gray Volvo SUV with tinted side windows, parked in a church parking lot across the street from the house. They were wearing vests with police markings on the front that he described as "reflector patches." About 6:50 p.m., a black vehicle with tinted windows pulled up, and Ramos exited the vehicle and walked into the house. Bartemio radioed the team and was told to "hold off until further." The black vehicle moved to a nearby parking area for a few minutes and then returned to the front of the house. Ramos exited the house, locked the door, and began walking toward the black vehicle.

¶ 8 Bartemio backed out of the space where he was parked and drove toward Ramos. When asked about the manner in which he approached, Bartemio answered, "We just drove not to draw attention to us." Bartemio pulled up on the house's "drive parking pad." He described what happened next: "As we pulled up, the target was pretty much arm's-length to the hood car [ sic ]. He looked at us; he turned around, and he turned around again and started shooting." Bartemio specified that when Ramos "looked at us," they made eye contact. He did not know how many times Ramos shot at their Volvo.

¶ 9 As Bartemio ducked, Velazquez returned fire. Velazquez then exited the Volvo and chased Ramos on foot. Bartemio also exited the Volvo, which, because it was still in drive, rolled and hit two parked cars. Ramos was "taken down" several feet from the front of the Volvo.

¶ 10 On cross-examination, Bartemio confirmed that he did not identify himself as a police officer to Ramos and that nothing on the Volvo identified it as a police vehicle. However, he stated that Ramos "could see police reflecting" on his and Velazquez's vests. He agreed that, when Ramos exited the black vehicle, he seemed paranoid and was looking all over. He also agreed that the reason he pulled up onto the driveway was to cut off Ramos's escape route.

¶ 11 In response to questions posed by the court, Bartemio stated that none of the police vehicles at the scene had dashboard cameras and none of the officers present had body-worn cameras. He recalled that the team included 10 to 20 officers and several vehicles from multiple towns, but did not remember the exact numbers.

¶ 12 Melrose Park police detective Jose Velazquez testified that, on the day in question, he and Bartemio were in a Volvo with tinted windows, conducting surveillance of the house from the church parking lot across the street. Their aim was to execute an arrest warrant for Ramos, whom he identified in court.

¶ 13 Around 7 p.m., Velazquez observed a black vehicle pull up to the house. Ramos exited the vehicle and ran inside the house. When he came back out, Bartemio backed the Volvo out of their parking spot, drove toward the house, "slowed down and then *** pulled up right next to the driveway." Velazquez denied that they drove fast and described their approach as "controlled," as they were trying not to startle Ramos and cause him to run. Bartemio pulled up in front of Ramos, who was by the "parkway driveway place."

¶ 14 According to Velazquez, Ramos looked inside the Volvo. He testified, "I would say he saw me, because I saw his eyes look at me." Ramos slightly turned and, as he did so, he reached inside his waistband. He pulled out a gun, pointed it at the windshield, and fired one or two shots at Velazquez. Velazquez heard a "loud bang, explosion." He ducked, pulled his own weapon, and fired back approximately five times. He checked to make sure Bartemio had not been hit, exited the Volvo, and chased Ramos, who was running from the scene. Ramos ran "kind of like into a house" and then fell or tripped onto the grass. Other officers who had arrived on the scene and were assisting in placing Ramos in custody searched him and recovered a "bag of drugs" from his person.

¶ 15 On cross-examination, Velazquez agreed that when Ramos exited the house, the black vehicle, which had appeared to be waiting for him, started driving toward him. However, Velazquez "couldn't say" that Bartemio blocked the path of the black vehicle. He agreed that he did not identify his office to Ramos. Velazquez did not hear Ramos say anything as he was being handcuffed. On redirect, he testified that it was difficult for him to hear at the time of arrest because his ears were ringing as a result of firing his weapon inside the Volvo.

¶ 16 In response to questions from the court, Velazquez clarified that he shot at Ramos through the Volvo's windshield, and that Ramos was four or five feet from him at the time of the shooting.

¶ 17 Melrose Park police lieutenant John Schillinger testified that his surveillance location was at the end of the block approximately six or seven houses from the house in question, and that a church building blocked his view of the house. Around 6:15 p.m., he heard a radio transmission reporting that Ramos, whom he had seen "dozens" of times before and whom he identified in court, was walking into the house. He stated, "At that time, we were told to stand down because there was a vehicle that was still waiting that had dropped him off; waited to see if he came out of the residence." A few minutes...