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People v. Martinez9/7/1999
erformance of Wolff's duties. As we previously stated, defendant actually stood in between Wolff and Harris and Moore while Wolff was trying to question them. 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 and the people he was speaking with. Defendant finally left. When defendant returned, Wolff observed defendant talking to Officer Hanna. Defendant told the others that they did not have to tell these "these mother f " anything." Wolff then got out of his vehicle and told defendant to leave. Defendant continued to "go on with the mouth work," and at that point, defendant was placed under arrest for interfering and placed into custody. Hence, it is clear that Wolff had probable cause to believe that defendant had committed the offense of obstructing a peace officer and to arrest him for that offense. We note that probable cause for reasonable grounds to arrest does not require evidence sufficient for a conviction. See People v. Lippert, 89 Ill. 2d 171, 178, 432 N.E.2d 605, 608 (1982).
One of the most disturbing aspects of the trial court's statements is that the court found it to be "significant" that there was a delay between defendant's act of standing between Wolff and Moore and Harris and his eventual arrest. It appears that the court implicitly found that probable cause to arrest is perishable and must be acted upon immediately. We disagree.
In Shepherd, 242 Ill. App. 3d at 28-29, 610 N.E.2d at 166, the arresting officer originally saw the defendant at a truck stop and was told by a waitress that his behavior was unruly and rude. Defendant left the truck stop without having talked to the police officer. The police officer also left and saw the defendant commit a traffic violation. Shortly thereafter, the defendant committed another traffic violation. The police officer then pulled the defendant over and charged him with driving under the influence . The trial court determined that the police officer's failure to arrest the defendant immediately after the first infraction required that the defendant's motion to suppress be granted. This court reversed, however, and stated that pursuant to section 107-2 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, par. 107-2 (now 725 ILCS 5/107-2 (West 1996))), an officer having reasonable grounds to arrest has discretion to perform that arrest immediately, later, or never.
Since there was probable cause to arrest defendant, we reverse the circuit court's suppression order and remand this case for trial.
We also note that defendant raises a new issue in his brief. Defendant claims that since the investigative stop was based upon a nonexistent warrant of arrest, the fruits of that stop, defendant's arrest, and the evidence secured by that arrest were properly quashed. We disagree.
Defendant cannot complain about the violation of another's constitutional rights. Fourth amendment rights are personal rights that may not be asserted vicariously. See Alderman v. United States, 394 U.S. 165, 174, 22 L. Ed. 2d 176, 89 S. Ct. 961, 966-67 (1969). Hence, since defendant has no standing to contest Wolff's stop of Moore and Harris after they got out of the vehicle, we
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