IL: Burden on defendant to show his warrantless arrest was unjustified

Illinois once again holds, contrary to the law in the rest of the country, that the defendant has the burden of showing that his arrest was unjustified. Apparently Illinois believes that all arrests are presumptively valid. People v. Liekis, 2012 IL App (2d) 100774, 362 Ill. Dec. 669, 973 N.E.2d 1065 (2012)*:

[P20] On appeal from a trial court’s ruling on a motion to quash and suppress, the reviewing court “will accord great deference to the trial court’s factual findings and will reverse those findings only if they are against the manifest weight of the evidence.” People v. Close, 238 Ill. 2d 497, 504 (2010). However, the trial court’s ultimate decision to grant or deny the motion is subject to de novo review. Id. A defendant moving to quash and suppress bears the burden of establishing a prima facie case that she was doing nothing unusual to justify the intrusion of a warrantless search or seizure. People v. Linley, 388 Ill. App. 3d 747, 749 (2009). “If the defendant makes the required showing, the burden shifts to the State to present evidence to justify the search or seizure.” Id.

[P21] In this case, defendant failed to establish a prima facie case that would have shifted the burden to the State. At the hearing on defendant’s motion to quash and suppress, defense counsel called defendant to testify. Defendant testified only that she recalled being pulled over by the Antioch police on December 20, 2009, at about 9:30 p.m., “by the Advertiser in Antioch”; that there was no warrant for her arrest; and that she was arrested after she took field sobriety tests. After defendant provided this testimony, defense counsel asked the trial court to shift the burden to the State and, after argument, the trial court stated that the burden had shifted.

[P22] Ordinarily, a trial court should find that a defendant has made a prima facie case after the defendant has established that he or she was doing nothing unusual to justify the seizure. See People v. Matous, 381 Ill. App. 3d 918, 923 (2008). Because defendant failed to establish that she was doing nothing unusual to justify the stop, she failed to establish a prima facie case. Thus, the trial court’s determination that the burden shifted to the State was erroneous.

This holding violates the Fourth Amendment. Warrantless arrests presumptively valid with the burden on the defendant to show it was unreasonable? Impossible. Sounds like a third world country. Or the KGB.