People v. Smith
Annotate this Case
Smith was charged with residential burglary alleging he knowingly and without authority entered Whittington’s Carbondale apartment with the intent to commit theft, In a pretrial motion, Smith sought to bar admission of two short video clips recorded by the building’s landlord, who had pointed an iPhone’s video camera at a screen as the recording of surveillance footage played. Smith argued admitting the cell phone video clips would violate the best evidence rule (Ill. Rs. Evid. 1001-1004.
The Jackson County circuit court denied the motion. The appellate court and Illinois Supreme Court affirmed Smith's conviction. The cell phone video clips constitute duplicates under Rule 1001(4), as required for admissibility under Rule 1003. Interpreting Rule 1001(4) to require any duplicate to include the entirety of an original would not follow its plain language. While the entire original recording was not duplicated, there is no question as to the accuracy of the recording, which shows Smith approach and stand close outside Whittington’s doorway for a few moments before walking away and—after a gap of 20 minutes—Smith leave Whittington’s apartment through the door, carrying a plastic bag. The landlord, a neutral observer, testified the hallway was “just empty” on the original surveillance footage captured between the two cell phone video clips. Admitting the duplicates was fair because the jury heard both sides.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.