{
  "id": 5431549,
  "name": "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. FRANKLIN D. BRIGGS, Defendant-Appellant",
  "name_abbreviation": "People v. Briggs",
  "decision_date": "1983-03-04",
  "docket_number": "No. 82-510",
  "first_page": "979",
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T18:23:40.944956+00:00",
  "provenance": {
    "date_added": "2019-08-29",
    "source": "Harvard",
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  "casebody": {
    "judges": [],
    "parties": [
      "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. FRANKLIN D. BRIGGS, Defendant-Appellant."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "PRESIDING JUSTICE STOUDER\ndelivered the opinion of. the court:\nThe defendant, Franklin Briggs, was convicted following a jury-trial of possession of less than 30 grams of a substance containing cocaine. He appeals from his conviction, alleging that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and that the court erroneously refused a jury instruction tendered by the defendant. A brief statement of facts is given to facilitate discussion of the issues.\nOn February 2, 1982, Rock Island police officers Louis Fetes and Sergeant Neal Ford entered the Big Dipper Tavern. Fetes proceeded immediately to the tavern\u2019s restroom. As he entered the restroom, Fetes observed the defendant, who was bent over the left portion of the sink, and another man standing in the corner of the room facing .the door. Fetes testified that he approached the defendant and heard a scratching, clicking noise. Officer Ford entered the restroom at this time. Fetes asked the defendant what he was doing. The defendant turned and said, \u201cNothing.\u201d As the defendant turned, Fetes observed a small plastic card slide into the sink. A white, powdery substance, later determined to contain cocaine, was in lines on the left portion of the sink.\nFetes retrieved a small plastic card from the sink. The only fingerprint found on the card was not the defendant\u2019s. Although the defendant denied that the powder was his, he was arrested and searched. The officers found no containers or packages on the defendant. The other individual in the room was questioned and then left the restroom. At the time of the arrest, the sink over which the defendant was leaning was completely dry.\nSergeant Ford entered the restroom shortly after Officer Fetes. He observed the defendant leaning over the sink and the other man in the corner. He heard the conversation between Fetes and the defendant but did not see the plastic card until it was retrieved from the sink.\nThe defendant testified that' there was another person in the restroom when he entered. He asked this person to excuse him while he patted down his hair. He first became aware of the powder on the sink and the plastic card when Officer Fetes confronted him. He stated that he planned to turn the water on after patting down his' hair.\nOfficer Fetes\u2019 testimony was impeached with his original report of the incident, which contained no references to the fact that the defendant was bent over the sink or to any clicking noises. The defendant\u2019s testimony was impeached by prior convictions for uttering and publishing and delivery of heroin.\nDuring the conference on jury instructions, the defendant asked that the jury be given the entire instruction on circumstantial evidence, Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction, Criminal, No. 3.02 (2d ed. 1981) (hereinafter IPI Criminal). The court refused the second paragraph of that instruction. The jury deliberated eight hours before finding the defendant guilty.\nThe defendant first asserts that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Specifically, he contends that the State failed to prove actual possession of the cocaine. We disagree. In order to sustain the conviction in the instant case, the State had to show that the defendant had knowledge of the presence of the drugs and that the drugs were in his control. (People v. Bell (1972), 53 Ill. 2d 122, 290 N.E.2d 214.) Possession of narcotics may be actual or constructive. Actual possession requires an act of physical dominion over the narcotics. People v. Calhoun (1977), 46 Ill. App. 3d 691, 361 N.E.2d 55.\nWe conclude that on the facts presented by the case at bar, the trier of fact could have found that the defendant exercised dominion over the cocaine. Whether there was possession is a question of fact to be determined by the jury, and its findings will not be disturbed on review unless the evidence is so palpably contrary to the verdict or so unreasonable, improbable or unsatisfactory as to create a reasonable doubt of guilt. People v. Calhoun (1977), 46 Ill. App. 3d 691, 361 N.E.2d 55.\nOfficer Fetes testified that he saw the defendant bent over just 10 inches from the sink. He heard scratching sounds and subsequently saw the plastic card slide into the sink. According to his testimony, Fetes was very close to the defendant at the time he heard the noises and saw the card. His testimony was confirmed by Sergeant Ford. Whether the testimony of the officers was sufficient to establish possession was a question of fact for the jury. The evidence is neither palpably contrary to the verdict or so unreasonable, improbable or unsatisfactory as to create a reasonable doubt of guilt. The defendant was proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.\nThe defendant also argues that it was error for the court to refuse the second paragraph of IPI Criminal No. 3.02 pertaining to circumstantial evidence. The paragraph in question reads:\n\u201cYou should not find the defendant guilty unless the facts or circumstances proved exclude every reasonable theory of innocence.\u201d\nBoth paragraphs of IPI Criminal No. 3.02 need be given only where all of the evidence against the defendant is circumstantial (People v. Marion (1980), 87 Ill. App. 3d 1038, 409 N.E.2d 533.) In the case at bar, the testimony of the police officers was direct evidence. The refusal by the court of the second paragraph of the instruction was therefore proper.\nFor the above stated reasons, the judgment of the circuit court of Rock Island County is affirmed.\nAffirmed.\nALLOY and BARRY, JJ., concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "PRESIDING JUSTICE STOUDER"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Robert Agostinelli, of State Appellate Defender\u2019s Office, of Ottawa, and Charles M. Schiedel, of State Appellate Defender\u2019s Office, of Springfield, for appellant.",
      "James T. Teros, State\u2019s Attorney, of Rock Island (John X. Breslin and Gary F. Gnidovec, both of State\u2019s Attorneys Appellate Service Commission, of counsel), for the People."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. FRANKLIN D. BRIGGS, Defendant-Appellant.\nThird District\nNo. 82\u2014510\nOpinion filed March 4, 1983.\nRobert Agostinelli, of State Appellate Defender\u2019s Office, of Ottawa, and Charles M. Schiedel, of State Appellate Defender\u2019s Office, of Springfield, for appellant.\nJames T. Teros, State\u2019s Attorney, of Rock Island (John X. Breslin and Gary F. Gnidovec, both of State\u2019s Attorneys Appellate Service Commission, of counsel), for the People."
  },
  "file_name": "0979-01",
  "first_page_order": 1001,
  "last_page_order": 1004
}