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People v. Gordon

Case Date: 01/28/2000
Court: 2nd District Appellate
Docket No: 2-98-0093

People v. Gordon, No. 2-98-0093

2nd District, 28 January 2000

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.

STEVE L. GORDON, a/k/a Derrick Williams,

Defendant-Appellant.

 Appeal from the Circuit Court of Lake County.

No. 97--CF--2057

Honorable Henry C. Tonigan, Judge, Presiding.

JUSTICE INGLIS delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant, Steve L. Gordon a/k/a Derrick Williams, was found guilty of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (720 ILCS 570/402(c) (West 1998)). Defendant timely appeals and asserts that the circuit court erred when it denied his motion to quash his arrest and suppress evidence. Defendant contends that the trial court erred (1) by ruling that his arrest was valid if the police acted in good faith when they relied on an arrest warrant for someone else but mistakenly arrested defendant; and (2) by determining that the police acted in good faith. We affirm.

On August 6, 1997, defendant was arrested and charged with several offenses including unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (720 ILCS 570/401(c)(2) (West 1998)). Prior to trial, defendant filed a motion to quash his arrest and suppress evidence. Following a hearing on the matter, the trial court denied the motion

The case went to trial on the charges of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The trial court found defendant guilty of unlawful possession of a controlled substance but not guilty of unlawful possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The court initially imposed a 5-year sentence on defendant but reduced the sentence to 4