People v. Wells

── People v. Wells ── Court: Appellate Court of Illinois Date: May 26, 2026 Category: General 2026 IL App (2d) 250045-U No. 2-25-0045 Order filed May 26, 2026 NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23(b) and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). IN THE APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS SECOND DISTRICT THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ZAVIAN D. WELLS, Defendant-Appellant. Appeal from the Circuit Court of Lake County. Honorable Victoria A. Rossetti, Judge, Presiding. No. 18-CF-647 JUSTICE JORGENSEN delivered the judgment of the court. Justices Hutchinson and Schostok concurred in the judgment. ORDER ¶1 Held: (1) Trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to (a) request a Frye hearing on the admission of firearms identification and comparison testimony, where the general acceptance of such testimony is not unsettled; (b) object to the firearms expert’s opinion for lack of foundation, where he testified about his background and his assessment of the evidence; and (c) meaningfully cross-examine the expert, where the issue of the reliability of firearms identification testimony is settled and counsel’s questioning was not deficient. (2) Even if the admission of testimony relating to a license plate was erroneous, any error was harmless. (3) The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress a witness’s identification of defendant, where the pretrial identification was not impermissibly suggestive and the evidence showed that the identification was based on the witness’s independent recollection. Affirmed. ¶2 Following a jury trial, defendant, Zavian D. Wells, was convicted of first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2) (West 2022)) and two counts of attempt first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9- 1(a)(1) (West 2022)). He was sentenced to consecutive prison terms of 50 years for murder and 20 years for one of the attempt murder convictions, and he was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for the second attempt murder conviction, to be served concurrently. Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) trial counsel was ineffective for failing to (a) request a Frye hearing (Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923)) on the admission of firearms identification and comparison testimony, (b) object, for lack of foundation, to the admission of the firearms analyst’s opinion, and (c) subject the analyst to meaningful cross-examination; and (2) he is entitled to a new trial, where the court’s rulings, taken either individually or cumulatively, allowed (a) testimonial hearsay evidence generated by a forensics lab concerning a license plate number, and (b) an identification of defendant by a witness who did not have an adequate and ample opportunity to view the offense. We affirm. ¶3 I. BACKGROUND ¶4 The State’s theory of the case was that defendant and another man entered a Zion apartment on February 16, 2018, at around 1:30 p.m., looking for money. The apartment belonged to Tasha Davis and Kaleah Beville, who were home at that time. Darius Glover (Tasha’s son) sometimes stayed at the apartment and was there that day, as was his girlfriend, Marquitta Kidd. Defendant and the other man, who was never identified, found Glover’s gold watch and took it. As defendant was leaving the apartment, he stood in the doorway and shot Tasha, Glover, and Beville. Beville was shot five times and died from the gunshot wounds. ¶5 Glover had received an insuranc