People v. Taylor

1

2024 IL App (1st) 220848-U

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. TRAVELL TAYLOR, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-22-0848

Court of Appeals of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division

March 15, 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. 16 CR 12862 Honorable Vincent M. Gaughan, Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE LYLE delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Mitchell and Justice Navarro concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

LYLE JUSTICE

¶ 1 Held: We affirm defendant's conviction of first-degree murder where the trial court's failure to properly admonish the jury under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b) did not constitute plain error.

¶ 2 The State charged the defendant-appellant, Travell Taylor by indictment with first degree murder, attempted murder, and aggravated discharge of a firearm. The circuit court conducted a jury trial of Mr. Taylor on the aforementioned charges. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found Mr Taylor guilty of first-degree murder, and that in committing first degree murder, he had personally discharged a firearm, proximately causing death. Mr. Taylor was sentenced to 50 years' imprisonment. On appeal, Mr. Taylor argues that he was denied a fair trial because the trial court failed to admonish the jurors under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 431(b) (eff. July 1, 2012). For the reasons that follow, we affirm Mr. Taylor's conviction and sentence.

¶ 3 BACKGROUND

¶ 4 On August 5, 2016, the State charged Mr. Taylor by indictment with first degree murder of Johnathan Mills and attempted murder of Charles Banks. Mr. Taylor elected to proceed via a jury trial on the charges. On April 30, 2018 the trial court conducted voir dire. Before questioning the jury, the court gave admonishments regarding the essential principles of a criminal trial as set forth in Supreme Court Rule 431(b). The court explained that anyone placed on trial in a criminal case has a right to testify on their own behalf and that if Mr. Taylor chose to testify, the jury should judge his credibility like they would anyone else.

¶ 5 The court then stated that, "anybody placed on trial in a criminal case has a constitutional right not to testify; and if Mr. Taylor decides not to testify, no inference whatsoever can be true [sic] before reaching your verdict." No one in the venire raised their hands to indicate that they did not understand or accept this statement.

¶ 6 During the trial, the State called Chicago police detective Marc Leavitt. Detective Leavitt testified that he was assigned to investigate the shooting that occurred on July 25, 2016, and arrived on the scene after 2 p.m. the same day. The crime scene consisted of an intersection with a strip mall on the northeast corner with a couple of stores, including the Soap Opera Laundromat and Keeler Foods and Liquors. In the nearby parking lot, police officers observed eight expended shell casings, two fired bullets, a large pool of blood and a blood trail leading southwest through the parking lot to the body of Jonathan Mills.

¶ 7 Upon review of the crime scene, Detective Leavitt learned that Keeler Foods had surveillance cameras. He viewed the video from those cameras and observed the events leading up to and after the shooting. Detective Leavitt also discovered there was surveillance video at the Soap Opera Laundromat. He observed that Mr. Mills was accompanied by two other individuals at the time he was shot, and that they arrived in a gray Hyundai Sonata that was parked in the lot. One of the individuals was later identified as Charles Banks. Detective Leavitt searched the Hyundai Sonata and found nine baggies of what he suspected to be cannabis.

¶ 8 Detective Leavitt went to the laundromat and spoke to the manager, Silvia Cruz. He and Ms. Cruz watched the video together. She pointed out that the shooter from the video was doing laundry earlier that day. She also told him that the man left personal belongings in the laundromat and showed him a blue duffle bag. Detective Leavitt found that the bag contained several items, including a sealed envelope from the Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS). The envelope contained an application form with the name Travell C. Taylor. The letter was addressed to Mr. Taylor and contained a phone number.

¶ 9 After obtaining Mr. Taylor's name, Detective Leavitt searched for him in his computer system. He found a photograph of a man he believed to be Mr. Taylor and used this photograph to compile a photograph array containing six pictures. Ms. Cruz viewed the photograph array with the assistance of Detective Mike Kennedy, who acted as an independent administrator, and Officer Pedro Barrera, who acted as a Spanish translator. Ms. Cruz positively identified Mr. Taylor as the person pictured in the camera footage doing his laundry.

¶ 10 On July 28, 2016, Detective Leavitt, with the help of the Chicago Police Organized Crime Unit, tracked the phone number from the DHS letter to the 8000 block of South Normal Street. Detective Leavitt found Mr. Taylor at that location and placed him in custody. During a videotaped interview, Detective Leavitt showed Mr. Taylor still frames taken from the video footage from the scene, including a still of the shooter near the convenience store doorway approaching the victims. Mr. Taylor indicated that he was in the photograph and pointed himself out.

¶ 11 The Chicago Police Department downloaded approximately 16 hours of surveillance footage from the convenience store and the laundromat. These videos comprised of four discs, and they were admitted into evidence at People's Exhibit 5. A compilation video taken from the four discs was admitted into evidence as People's Exhibit 9. The State played People's Exhibit 9 and asked Detective Leavitt to walk the jury through the video as it played.

¶ 12 The surveillance video begins with footage from inside the laundromat at 11 a.m. A man wearing a white tank top, jeans, and long dreadlocks is shown inside the laundromat. The man walks over to a set of washers and places a blue duffle bag on the table. He has a brief conversation with Ms. Cruz by the washers, then continues to put things into the washers.

¶ 13 The video changes to a camera view from inside and outside Keeler Foods, showing the area immediately outside the convenience store, including the nearby sidewalk and parking lot. A gray car enters the parking lot and reverses into a space to park. Three men exit the car and walk inside Keeler Foods. Mr. Mills is identified by Detective Leavitt as one of the men exiting the car. The video then shows Mr. Mills and Mr. Taylor in the store, for a brief period, at the same time.

¶ 14 Later, the same gray car pulls back into the parking lot and reverses into the same spot. The three men again exit the gray car and walk into the convenience store. The video then cuts to footage showing Mr. Taylor on his phone in the laundromat, walking toward the door. He exits the laundromat, makes a right, and walks to the north away from the strip mall.

¶ 15 The video shifts to show Mr. Mills and his two friends exiting Keeler Foods and walking into the laundromat. The men remain in the laundromat for a few minutes then are shown leaving the laundromat and walking into the parking lot. Mr. Taylor is shown walking west on the sidewalk, past the convenience store, then into the parking lot toward the three men. Mr. Taylor outstretches his right arm toward the three men. Mr. Mills falls to the ground, while one man runs to the right, and the other to the left.

¶ 16 Ms. Cruz testified that she worked at the Soap Opera Laundromat. She stated that Mr. Taylor comes into the laundromat nearly every day. On the day of the shooting, she spoke to Mr. Taylor, and he helped her adjust the television. During her testimony, she identified Mr. Taylor as the person she was talking to and that helped her fix the television. She testified that she did not see Mr. Taylor with a gun or see the shooting take place.

¶ 17 Mohammed Mohsen testified, with the assistance of an Arabic interpreter, that he worked at Keeler Foods at the scene of the shooting. He had been working at the store for five to six months. He identified Mr. Taylor as being present in the store that day. He saw Mr. Taylor in the store wearing a white tank top and jeans with a dreadlocks hairstyle. He also testified that he had seen Mr. Taylor previously and that Mr. Taylor came into the store approximately two to three times a day.

¶ 18 At approximately 1:25 p.m., Mr. Mohsen was getting ready for prayer when he heard three to four gunshots. He ran to the front of the store and saw Mr. Mills pulling himself to the edge of the parking lot. He then called 911. When police officers arrived at the store, Mr. Mohsen showed them the camera footage from the store, and they watched it together. He was shown a photo array and identified Mr. Taylor as the "killer."

¶ 19 Mr. Banks testified that he knew Mr. Mills from his neighborhood and had known him for two years. On the day of the shooting, Mr. Mills picked him up between 8 and 8:30 a.m. The two drove around and smoked cannabis. Mr. Mills drove them to the strip mall at South Keeler Avenue and West Roosevelt Road and went into the convenience store. While in the store, Mr. Banks saw someone he had seen before, but did not know his name. That person asked him where he got his weed, but Mr. Banks did not answer. He did not remember hearing that person ask Mr. Mills anything.

¶ 20 Mr. Banks and Mr. Mills then left the area and continued driving around, smoking cannabis, and, at some point, picked up...