People v. Bracy

The defendants, Tremaine Bracy and Khalifa Hicks, were charged by indictment with the offenses of murder, armed robbery, home invasion, and residential burglary. A motion for severance was granted, and the defendants were tried separately. Defendant Bracy waived his right to a trial by jury, and, after a bench trial, was found guilty of the offenses charged and sentenced to serve concurrent terms of 40 years for murder, 30 years for armed robbery, 30 years for home invasion, and 15 years for residential burglary. Defendant Hicks was tried simultaneously by a jury and was also found guilty of the offenses charged. He was sentenced to serve concurrent terms of 40 years for murder, 15 years for home invasion, 10 years for armed robbery, and 10 years for residential burglary. Both defendants appealed their convictions. Their cases have been consolidated in this court for purposes of review. The issues presented for review in this appeal are: (1) whether defendant Bracy's inculpatory statement should have been suppressed as the fruit of an illegal arrest; (2) whether the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce into evidence the summarized notes of defendant Bracy's confession given to an assistant State's Attorney where the summary was prepared and questions were asked of the defendant after defendant had allegedly invoked his right to counsel; and (3) whether the State's improper comments during the closing rebuttal argument in the Hicks case prejudiced defendant Hicks' right to a fair trial. For the reasons stated below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court in both the Bracy case and in the Hicks case.