People v. Sanders

1

2024 IL App (4th) 230746-U

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CHRISTOPHER JAMES SANDERS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 4-23-0746

Court of Appeals of Illinois, Fourth District

September 19, 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 Peoria County No. 21CF31 Honorable Katherine S. Gorman, Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE GRISCHOW delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Harris and Vancil concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

GRISCHOW JUSTICE

¶ 1 Held: The appellate court affirmed, concluding (1) trial counsel's failure to object to the admission of defendant's cousin's prior inconsistent statement incriminating defendant was not tantamount to ineffective assistance of counsel; (2) the trial court was not obligated to conduct a Krankel inquiry into defendant's pro se posttrial claim of ineffective assistance of counsel when the court was not aware of the claim; and (3) the court did not deny defendant a fair sentencing hearing.

¶ 2 Following a jury trial in June 2023, defendant, Christopher James Sanders, was convicted of first degree murder for the fatal beating and strangulation of his girlfriend, Mona Ellison, in January 2021 (720 ILCS 5/9-1(A)(1) (West 2020)). In finding defendant guilty, the jury concluded the State had proven the offense was accompanied by brutal and heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty. The trial court sentenced defendant to natural life imprisonment.

¶ 3 Defendant appeals, arguing (1) he was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel (2) his pro se posttrial claim of ineffective assistance of counsel required the trial court to either conduct a Krankel inquiry (see People v. Krankel, 102 Ill.2d 181 (1984)) or obtain his waiver of said inquiry, and (3) the court denied him a fair sentencing hearing. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

¶ 4 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 5 A. The Charges

¶ 6 On February 2, 2021, the State charged defendant by indictment with two counts of first degree murder in connection with the fatal beating and strangulation of his girlfriend, Mona Ellison, on January 20, 2021 (720 ILCS 5/9-1(A)(1), 9-1(A)(3) (West 2020)). Count I alleged defendant "without legal justification, strangled and struck Mona Ellison knowing such acts created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm." Count II alleged defendant "without legal justification and with the intent to kill Mona Ellison, strangled and struck [her]," thereby causing her death. Both counts alleged the actions at issue reflected "exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty."

¶ 7 B. Jury Trial

¶ 8 Defendant's jury trial was conducted from June 5 to June 7, 2023.

¶ 9 1. The State s Evidence

¶ 10 a. Officer Kenneth Lopez

¶ 11 Peoria police officer Kenneth Lopez responded to a missing person call at Ellison's residence in Peoria on January 20, 2021. Officer Lopez spoke with Brett Zahner, who reported not having seen Ellison in approximately three days. Zahner stated he believed Ellison was missing because "groups of people had stopped by her house also looking for her." Zahner had gone inside the house, but nobody was there. Officer Lopez and a sergeant went into the house through an unlocked back door. In an upstairs bedroom, Officer Lopez discovered a cell phone on Ellison's bed. Officer Lopez explained he called the number for that phone before he went to the house "with hopes that [he] would get an answer." When Officer Lopez did not get an answer, he called again, whereupon the phone "lit up."

¶ 12 Eventually, Officer Lopez left the house and went to defendant's residence, which was approximately six to seven blocks away. Once there, Officer Lopez observed a threewheeled green pushcart with "a red blood-like stained substance on the handles *** [and] on the actual seated portion of the cart." Officer Lopez informed his supervisor, and the crime scene unit "came out and processed the scene." On January 23, 2021, Officer Lopez went to the residence of defendant's cousin, Perry Sanders, which was approximately four to five blocks away from defendant's residence. On the exterior of the rear of the building, Officer Lopez observed a "red blood-like stained substance on a pole as well as [on] the stairwell leading to the basement."

¶ 13 b. Brett Zahner

¶ 14 Brett Zahner lived directly across the street from Ellison. Zahner had known Ellison for approximately two years and saw her "almost every day." In January 2021, Zahner became concerned about Ellison after "[a] couple of her friends stopped by [his] house looking for her, thinking she might be over." Zahner and the other individuals went to Ellison's residence, noticed the doors were unlocked, and went inside. Zahner discovered Ellison's cell phone on her bed upstairs, and "knew that was unusual" because "that phone never left her hand." After checking the house for Ellison, Zahner saw a black car pull up in front. People exited the car and walked up the driveway towards the back door. (Zahner did not believe defendant was among these people because he "didn't get that close.") Zahner caught up with them and asked if he could help them. "And they looked at [him] and said, Is [Ellison] home?" Zahner said no. They "left promptly after that" without going inside. Zahner then called the police.

¶ 15 Zahner explained Ellison was a caretaker for his brother. Zahner had last seen Ellison on either the Sunday or Monday preceding Wednesday, January 20, 2021. On that occasion, Zahner went across the street to Ellison's residence to retrieve the keys to his brother's van, which Ellison would drive to do errands for Zahner's brother. After Zahner knocked on the door, Ellison opened the door "and just cracked it a very little." Zahner thought, "well, that was odd," because they were friends. Ellison returned the keys to Zahner, "but she just cracked the door just enough to slide the keys through." Ellison did not say anything to Zahner-"[n]ot a word." On cross-examination, Zahner testified he did not see defendant at Ellison's residence. Ellison "didn't open the door enough to see anything actually."

¶ 16 c. Tyronda Sanders

¶ 17 Defendant's cousin, Tyronda Sanders, lived near defendant in January 2021. At approximately 6:30 a.m. on January 20, 2021, while outside as her son was boarding the school bus, Tyronda observed defendant rolling a cart down the street. The cart appeared to contain blankets. According to Tyronda, defendant said "he was doing laundry." Tyronda felt this was "nothing out of the ordinary." Later that day, after receiving a phone call about Ellison, she and Perry went to Ellison's residence. They got a ride there in a "black sedan" driven by a person who gives Tyronda rides. While there, Tyronda spoke to a police officer who was already at the house. ¶ 18 d. Sergeant Matthew Mocilan

¶ 19 Peoria police sergeant Matthew Mocilan spoke with Tyronda on January 21, 2021, in connection with his investigation into Ellison's disappearance. During this conversation, Tyronda stated she saw blood on the handle of the cart in front of defendant's residence and defendant was wearing "a red sweater with a brown coat with pants with a white stripe on the side." The body worn camera video of this conversation was played to the jury.

¶ 20 e. Steve Ballard

¶ 21 Steve Ballard lived next door to defendant. One morning in January 2021, Ballard saw a vehicle from Big Daddy Cab pull up to defendant's residence. Ballard observed defendant standing over a large bag before getting in the cab. Eventually, he put this bag in the trunk of the cab, got in, and left.

¶ 22 f. Christopher Watts

¶ 23 Christopher Watts was a cab driver for Big Daddy Cab. At approximately 7 a.m. on January 20, 2021, Watts picked up a passenger at defendant's address. Watts was informed by his dispatcher he was the "second or third cab that had been dispatched to that location, because the previous drivers got tired of waiting for the person to come out, and they left." Prior to his arrival, Watts called the passenger, who "gave [him] this big speech about how he had to go do laundry, or him and his roommate's washer [and] dryer had broken." Upon arrival, Watts called again. Eventually, the passenger exited the residence and "was pushing, looked like an oversized seed spreader or wheelbarrow full of bags through the front yard." The passenger alternated between pushing and pulling. Watts observed the passenger to be "[struggling" with maneuvering this object, "[l]ike it was heavy." It took this passenger approximately six to seven minutes to reach the cab. Watts took a picture of the passenger. The passenger "was having a pretty tough time getting his belongings in the back" of the cab. The passenger asked Watts if he could lay the backseat down "so he had enough room to get them in the car." Watts asked the passenger if he wanted any help, "[a]nd he completely flipped out." The passenger "[d]id not want me touching his bags, didn't want any help, nothing like that." Watts found this "odd because most people don't refuse our help." Once they reached their destination, an "apartment building on [a] hill" in East Peoria, Watts backed up the driveway to the top of the hill. The passenger paid and unloaded his bags. Upon Watts asking again if he would like help, the passenger "flipped out just like he did the first time" and "didn't want [Watts] touching his stuff." When Watts left, the unloaded bags were sitting in the driveway.

¶ 24 The next morning, Watts's manager informed him detectives wanted to speak with him. Watts took the detectives to where he dropped the...