People v. Rodriguez-Aranda

2022 IL App (2d) 200715

219 N.E.3d 481

467 Ill.Dec. 471

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

v.Jose B. RODRIGUEZ-ARANDA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-20-0715

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

Filed June 29, 2022

James E. Chadd, Douglas R. Hoff, and Jonathan Yeasting, of State Appellate Defender's Office, of Chicago, for appellant.

J. Hanley, State's Attorney, of Rockford (Patrick Delfino, Edward R. Psenicka, and Lynn M. Harrington, of State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor's Office, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

PRESIDING JUSTICE BRIDGES delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Defendant, Jose B. Rodriguez-Aranda, appeals his conviction of first degree murder ( 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2016)) relating to the stabbing death of his wife, Martina Chagoya-Espinoza. Defendant was sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment. After an Illinois Supreme Court Rule 402 (eff. July 1, 2012) conference, defense counsel represented to the trial court that defendant intended to enter a guilty plea, with a 35-year sentencing cap. As the court questioned defendant, who spoke only Spanish, regarding whether he intended to plead guilty, defendant indicated he did not wish to plead guilty and asked for a new attorney, or a new interpreter, or to represent himself. The court denied defendant's request to represent himself, on the ground that, because defendant had schizophrenia, spoke only Spanish, and exhibited unspecified courtroom behavior, he was unable to represent himself. Additionally, prior to trial, defense counsel requested that defendant's hands be unshackled. The court then ordered that one hand be unshackled. Defendant now appeals, arguing that the court erred in denying his request to represent himself and erred in leaving him mostly shackled for the duration of the trial. For the following reasons, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

¶ 2 I. MOTION TAKEN WITH CASE

¶ 3 As a preliminary matter, we address the State's motion to strike the citations contained in footnotes 2-5 of defendant's brief, which reference secondary sources and any references thereto.

¶ 4 The State argues that these authorities are not proper secondary sources, do not refer to matters over which the court may take judicial notice, and were not presented to the trial court, and therefore should be stricken.

¶ 5 Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341 (eff. Oct. 1, 2020) "expresses no restriction on the nature or source of material which may be cited in support of an argument. Whether the authority cited may be nonprecedential, irrelevant, or incomplete will be determined by the reviewing court as a proper consideration in assessing the merits of a proponent's argument." In re M.M. , 156 Ill. 2d 53, 56, 189 Ill.Dec. 1, 619 N.E.2d 702 (1993). Further, while an appellant must preserve issues or claims for appeal, there is no requirement that arguments or authorities be limited strictly to those made at trial. See Brunton v. Kruger , 2015 IL 117663, ¶ 76, 392 Ill.Dec. 259, 32 N.E.3d 567. Accordingly, we deny the State's motion; however, we will take the State's arguments regarding these authorities into consideration and assign them the weight we believe is appropriate.

¶ 6 II. BACKGROUND

¶ 7 On the night of November 20, 2015, after an argument, defendant stabbed his wife 23 times in the chest and face, resulting in her death. Defendant then tried to take his own life, cutting his wrists and throat and stabbing himself several times in the abdomen. Sometime in the early morning hours of November 21, 2015, defendant's son discovered his mother's body, as well as his father, barely conscious in the bathtub. Defendant told his son to call 911, and defendant was taken to the Order of St. Francis Medical Center for treatment. When defendant arrived at the hospital, he had very low blood pressure, had a very high heart rate, and was near death.

¶ 8 After spending over a week in the hospital, defendant was placed under arrest and taken to the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center on November 30, 2015, by Detective Bob Juanez of the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department. While being transferred, defendant asked Detective Juanez about his children. Detective Juanez informed him they were doing all right, and defendant became emotional, cried a lot, and began repeating, "I can't believe I did this. I can't believe I did this to her. I can't believe I failed my kids." When they arrived at the station, defendant was taken to an interview room and read his Miranda warnings (see Miranda v. Arizona , 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) ). Detective Juanez then proceeded to interview defendant.

¶ 9 In that interview, defendant described how on the night of November 20, 2015, he and his family were watching a movie. He noticed his wife was texting someone and demanded to know who. He believed that she was texting with another man. He had been drinking and, after the children went to sleep, he confronted her about the cellphone messages again, asking her to unlock her phone. She refused loudly; defendant believed she did so in order to wake the children so he would stop. She said she wanted to leave with the children. He then grabbed a knife and told her to unlock her phone. She refused and went to stand up from the chair she had been sitting in. He then proceeded to stab her. Realizing what he had done, he lowered her to the ground. He cut his wrists and arranged himself and his wife's body as if they were going to sleep. He awoke the next morning. The children were awake, and he told them to stay in their room. He began stabbing himself. He tried to cut himself further but felt the knife was no longer sharp. He grabbed another knife and tried to sharpen the knives. Not much blood was coming out. He passed out and awoke in the kitchen. He took several pills to try to kill himself, and possibly vomited. He remembered going to the bathroom but could not recall anything else from before he awoke in the hospital. The interview and conversations with Detective Juanez were conducted in Spanish.

¶ 10 Defendant was charged in a December 21, 2015, indictment with three counts of first degree murder.

¶ 11 A. Dr. Lichtenwald's Report

¶ 12 On September 13, 2016, defendant filed a motion to suppress the statements he made while he was being transported from the hospital and during his November 30, 2015, interview with Detective Juanez. Defendant argued that he could not knowingly and intelligently waive his Miranda rights because he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, he had been prescribed the psychotropic medication Zyprexa, and his suicide attempt left him in a compromised physical state. In support of that motion, defendant sought to have Dr. Meyer interview defendant and prepare a report. The State hired Dr. Lichtenwald to examine defendant and prepare a report regarding his capacity to waive his Miranda rights. Dr. Meyer's report was never entered into the record, as defendant chose to withdraw his motion to suppress, but defendant's trial attorney testified in a posttrial hearing that his report was similar to Dr. Lichtenwald's.

¶ 13 Dr. Lichtenwald's report included summaries of his interview with defendant, as well as medical reports from defendant's treatment at the hospital after his suicide attempt and medical records from the jail. According to Dr. Lichtenwald's report, defendant was evaluated at the hospital by psychiatrist Dr. Martin Fields. On November 25, 2015, Dr. Fields noted that defendant was exhibiting "no evidence of psychosis, impaired thinking, or severe depression." On November 27, 2015, his notes indicated that defendant began reporting that he saw people who came through the walls and threatened to kill him. His notes on November 28, 2015, reflect a similar state, though Dr. Fields questioned the veracity of defendant's claims, as his anxiety did not seem high. His notes from November 29, 2015, indicated that defendant's symptoms were worsening and that he was

"[v]ery delusional, claims that all the staff are out to kill him, that one person here is in communication with his wife and is recording the things done to him, there is a book kept by another person here that is recording things done to him for his children and he wants to see that book."

Dr. Fields diagnosed defendant with paranoid schizophrenia and prescribed Zyprexa.

¶ 14 Progress notes from the Winnebago County Justice Center were likewise provided to Dr. Lichtenwald. Per these notes, on December 1, 2015, defendant denied being suicidal, stating he was suicidal for the first two days after killing his wife, but was no longer so, as he wanted to be there for his children. The notes indicated that defendant "[d]id not present as confused. Thoughts were organized and coherent." Defendant denied being suicidal or mentally ill. A note dated December 9, 2015, indicated that

"[s]ince being incarcerated, he denied auditory or visual hallucinations. He denies feeling paranoid believing others are listening to him, or are reading his thoughts. He states he feels upset but mostly because of what happened to his wife. *** Assessment: Rule out psychotic Disorder unspecified. [L]ikely acute stress reaction vs. delirium while hospitalized. Monitor closely while tapering off meds."

Another note, dated December 28, 2015, stated that defendant "[h]as been in jail almost one month and off psych meds X 3 weeks. Denies current symptoms, mood, affect, speech, thoughts within normal limits. Psychiatria [sic ] believes symptoms in hospital were related to the situation." A note dated April 22, 2016, stated that defendant had no reported symptoms of mental illness and could be removed from special housing. The reports continued through to February 13, 2017, with no indication of hallucinations or mental illness.

¶ 15 Dr. Lichtenwald's report ultimately concluded that defendant was competent to waive his Miranda rights, stating that his "[j]udgment with regard to decisions...