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People v. Martinez9/7/1999
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
Defendant, Tommy M. Martinez, was charged by information on September 10, 1997, with unlawful possession of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 1996)) and obstructing a peace officer (720 ILCS 5/31-1 (West 1996)). On October 2, 1997, defendant filed a plea of not guilty and a motion to dismiss alleging that the arresting officer had no reasonable grounds to request that defendant stop his vehicle and no reasonable grounds to believe that defendant was committing or about to commit or had committed an offense. On that same date, defendant also filed a motion to suppress all physical evidence and statements, utterances, reports of gestures, and responses by defendant during the detention following the allegedly illegal arrest.
On November 14, 1997, a hearing on the aforementioned motions was held, and testimony was elicited from the Randolph County deputy sheriff, Shannon Wolff. Wolff testified that on September 9, 1997, at approximately 8:30 p.m., he requested a routine license plate check on a vehicle that he had observed. Wolff stated that the dispatcher informed him that there was a possible warrant for the arrest of the registered owner of the vehicle, Gary Moore. Wolff said that the vehicle pulled into the Poolside Motel and stopped. Wolff then pulled his vehicle into the same lot behind Moore's vehicle. When Wolff pulled into the lot, he turned his lights on and then turned them off. All four occupants of the vehicle exited, and Wolff began to speak to the driver of the vehicle, Shannon Harris. The passenger in the front seat was Moore, the owner of the vehicle, and the back-seat passengers were defendant and Willie Johnson. When Wolff started talking to Harris and Moore regarding the warrant, defendant told Wolff that he had no reason to stop them and that he could not ask them questions. Defendant told the others that they did not have to answer any questions that Wolff asked.
Defendant stood partially in front of Wolff and to the side at a "very close" distance. Defendant actually stood in between Wolff and Harris and Moore. Wolff stated that defendant's physical proximity caused him to be apprehensive about the security of his weapon. Wolff testified that defendant was interfering with his questioning of Moore and Harris so much that he could not concentrate on the questioning because he had to pay such close attention to defendant because he was making him nervous. Wolff stated that it was difficult to concentrate on his questioning because he was having to focus on defendant. Wolff told defendant on at least three separate occasions to get back, to stop interfering, and to stay away from him and the people he was speaking with. Defendant finally started walking toward the street. Defendant was not arrested at the time that he walked away. Daniel Hanna, another police officer on the scene, even asked Wolff if he wanted defendant to remain on the scene, and Wolff said "No." Wolff then placed Moore in his squad car because of the warrant and called the dispatcher. The dispatcher stated that there was an active warrant and that she was going to attempt to get confirmation from the issuing county. While Wolff was waiting for the information from the dispatcher, he was also waiting for Harris's driver's information, which kept coming back as if no record was on file in the computer. Harris claimed that he had a driver's license, so Wolff was attempting to obtain information from the dispatcher regarding Harris. While Wolff remained in the squad car talking to Moore, defendant returned. Wolff observed defendant talking to Officer Hanna. Defendant told the others that they did not have to tell these "these mother f
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