People v. Gonzalez

              Sixth Division
February 22, 2008
No. 1-06-0271
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from
the Circuit Court
of Cook County
02 CR 14656
Honorable
John J. Scotillo,
Judge Presiding.
PRESIDING JUSTICE McBRIDE delivered the opinion of the court:
Following a jury trial, defendant, Jose Luis Gonzalez, was found guilty of first degree
murder and sentenced to a term of natural life in prison. On appeal, defendant contends that the
trial court erred by admitting other crimes evidence and by admitting hearsay testimony. For the
reasons that follow, we affirm.
In May 2002, defendant was arrested in Texas and subsequently charged with, among
other things, the 1991 murder of his 18-year-old maternal half sister, Angelita Molina. Prior to
trial, the State filed a motion to admit other crimes evidence regarding the 1996 murder of
defendant’s mother, Blanca Molina. The trial court ruled that evidence pertaining to Blanca’s
murder could not be admitted as other crimes evidence, but that the State could question its
police witnesses about the course of their investigation.
The following evidence was presented at defendant’s trial.
Tina Marie Shealy testified that she last spoke with Angelita over the telephone on January
19, 2001. She discovered that Angelita was missing the following day and reported her missing
to the Elgin police on January 22, 1991. Approximately one week later, defendant called Shealy