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People v. McMillin9/1/2004
This case was prosecuted by a seasoned attorney who knew full well what the law permits a prosecutor to do and what the law prohibits a prosecutor from doing. It was defended by a lawyer who apparently lacked that knowledge. In the face of an opponent unable to hold him in check, the prosecutor seemingly took advantage, unwilling to voluntarily adhere to the rules of evidence or the limitations upon his own conduct. As a result, we are presented a case where the State exploited trial counsel's weaknesses in a way that vanquished the promise of a fair trial designed to produce a just result.
Norman Ray McMillin (the defendant) stood trial on charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving on a revoked license. A Fayette County jury found him guilty as charged. He currently serves two 30-month prison terms.
The failure to file a posttrial motion is among the numerous mistakes made in the defense of this case. A number of legitimate issues lay forfeit because of it. However, only one issue is important to the result that we must reach. Because a review of these proceedings demonstrates professional errors that likely affected the trial's outcome, we reverse and remand for a new trial.
Here are the salient facts necessary to an understanding of our decision.
On March 2, 2002, the defendant and his partner, Tim Wehrle (Tim Wehrle or Wehrle), operated a logging business. A mutual friend, Allan Dothager, worked for them. March arrived like a lion that year. *338 On the evening of March 2, 2002, the temperature dropped, the wind blustered, and Fayette County, Illinois, experienced the worst winter storm of the year.
A Fayette County sheriff's deputy found the defendant standing in the snowstorm that night. The deputy had tracked footprints in the snow from Tim Wehrle's disabled truck to where the defendant stood. The defendant was having a cell phone conversation when the deputy approached him. Wehrle's truck had been driven off the road, down an embankment, and onto a snowy plowed field. The truck was stuck in the mud and the snow.
The defendant spent the rest of that evening in jail, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and driving on a revoked license.
The defendant testified at his trial and gave his version of the evening's events. His testimony included the following claims.
When he, Tim Wehrle, and Allan Dothager finished work on the afternoon of March 2, 2002, Wehrle drove the threesome to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hall. They entered the hall, bellied up to the bar, and began drinking alcoholic beverages. The defendant laid claim to having consumed "three or four" beers and "a couple of mixed drinks." After a couple of hours of drinking, the defendant departed the hall and returned to Wehrle's truck. He climbed in and passed out on the front seat.
**13 ***502 When the defendant awoke, he found himself in a snow-covered, plowed field. He was totally befuddled about how he had gotten there. The truck had been driven off the road and was stuck. The defendant exited the truck and walked up the hill as he reached for his cell phone to summon help. In the middle of a conversation with his brother, a Fayette County sheriff's deputy walked up to him. Deputy Larry Halleman wanted to discuss the disabled truck.
The defendant acknowledged that he first claimed that his brother had been the driver of the truck. He had meant to say that he assumed that the truck's owner, his business partner Tim Wehrle, had driven the truck to where it rested. He corrected his misstatement at the scene of Deputy Halleman's initial interrogation.
The defendant claimed that when Deputy Halleman pointed out that the defendant's footprints were the only prints leaving the truck, he started to doubt himse
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