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People v. Johnson12/15/2005
Docket No. 99815-Agenda 15-September 2005.
In December 2003, defendant James "Steven" Johnson was tried before a jury in the circuit court of Champaign County for the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2) (West 2002). During opening and closing argument, the prosecutor told the jury that defendant, by refusing to take a breath test, had failed to prove to the arresting officer that he was not guilty of the charged offense. The jury found defendant guilty and, in a divided opinion, the appellate court upheld the conviction. 353 Ill. App. 3d 954. We granted defendant's petition for leave to appeal and now affirm the judgment of the appellate court.
BACKGROUND
The facts of this case are undisputed. At about 4 p.m., on Wednesday, April 30, 2003, defendant met with a group of friends at the Lake of the Woods Golf Course in Mahomet, Illinois, for his weekly golf game. One of defendant's golfing friends lived in a home situated along the golf course, near the sixth hole. Around 5 p.m. defendant reached the sixth hole and, as was his habit, walked to this friend's home, where he made himself a mixed drink of rum and cola, which he then took with him on the course. The golf game finished sometime around 8 p.m. and defendant then drove to a restaurant and bar called Hide-Away in the Woods (the Hide-Away), where he and his golfing friends customarily met for postgame food and drinks and to "tally up." Defendant stayed at the Hide-Away until about 9:30 p.m. and consumed two more mixed drinks of rum and cola while he was there. Shortly thereafter, defendant was stopped by an officer of the Mahomet police department and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), in violation of section 11-501(a)(2) of the Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2) (West 2002)).
Defendant contested the charge and a jury trial was held. At trial, the prosecutor made an opening statement in which he outlined the evidence he planned to present. At the end of this statement, the prosecutor made the following remarks:
"Finally, I believe you're going to hear that Mr. Johnson was given the opportunity to prove to the officer that he was not overly impaired by being offered to take what is called a breath alcohol test to determine how much alcohol was on his breath at the time, yet the defendant failed to do so.
I believe at the end of this we'll have met our burden and proved to you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Johnson was under the influence of alcohol and was driving a motor vehicle in Champaign County at that time, and that influence of alcohol impaired his ability to do so."
Defense counsel made no objection to anything the prosecutor said. After defendant gave his own opening statement, the State presented its only witness, Mahomet Police Officer David Parsons. Officer Parsons testified that, on April 30, 2003, at approximately 9:45 p.m., he activated his lights and initiated a traffic stop after he witnessed the truck defendant was driving move past the center line into the oncoming lane on three occasions in a 10- to 15-second period. Defendant responded immediately, appropriately pulling to the side of the road. Officer Parsons then approached the driver's side of defendant's vehicle and asked defendant for his license and insurance card. Officer Parsons testified that he immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol, noticed that defendant's eyes were bloodshot, and detected a slight slurring of speech. In addition, Officer Parsons noted that defendant gave him a registration card instead of an insurance card, as requested, although defendant quickly complied once the error was point
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