People v. Howell

              Filed 2/18/09 NO. 4-08-0243
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
RHONDA L. HOWELL,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from
Circuit Court of
Macon County
No. 07CF16
Honorable
Timothy J. Steadman,
Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE APPLETON delivered the opinion of the court:
After a bench trial, the trial court found defendant, Rhonda L. Howell,
guilty of escape and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and sentenced her to
four years in prison. In this direct appeal, defendant claims the State failed to prove her
guilty of escape beyond a reasonable doubt. She also claims the court erred in failing to
conduct a balancing test prior to admitting into evidence, for impeachment purposes,
her prior convictions. For the following reasons, we affirm.
I. BACKGROUND
On January 3, 2007, the State charged defendant with escape (720 ILCS
5/31-6(a) (West 2006)) (count I) and aggravated battery (720 ILCS 5/12-4(b)(6) (West
2006)) (count II) for striking and fleeing from the custody of Terry Park, a Macon
County court-security officer, on December 21, 2006. The State also charged defendant
with unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia (720 ILCS 600/3.5 (West 2006)) (count
III) for having in her possession a brass-colored pipe with a bowl.