Bank of Homewood v. Chapman

628 N.E.2d 974, 257 Ill. App. 3d 337, 195 Ill. Dec. 510
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 29, 1993·No. 1-92-2026·Published·Cited by 12 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE RIZZI

delivered the opinion of the court:

This appeal arises from several actions filed by plaintiff, the Bank of Homewood, in an attempt to recover funds from defendants, Lamar C. Chapman III and Bert Chapman, for overdrafts made on their accounts with plaintiff. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

The issues before this court for review are (1) whether the trial court had jurisdiction over defendants Lamar, Bobby, Vanessa and Helen Chapman after said defendants submitted to a citation to discover assets, and whether Lamar and Bobby Chapman were properly named as defendants in said action; (2) whether the trial court had jurisdiction to enter orders of attachment against defendant Vanessa Chapman on April 8, 1991, and defendant Helen Chapman on April 10, 1991, and whether the arrest of said defendants in May of 1991 was contrary to Illinois Supreme Court Rule 369 (134 Ill. 2d R. 369); (3) whether the trial court’s order of January 16, 1992, was contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence; (4) whether the trial court’s order for sanctions entered on January 31, 1992, against defendants Bobby and Lamar Chapman was contrary to the manifest weight of the. evidence; (5) whether the trial judge erred in denying defendants Lamar and Bobby Chapman’s motion for a change of venue and their motion for judicial disqualification; (6) whether the trial court erred when it denied defendants Lamar and Bobby Chapman’s verified petition for perjury against defendant Bryan; (7) whether the trial court’s turnover order in the amount of $3,550.51, entered against defendants Bobby and Helen Chapman, was proper; (8) whether an appearance for plaintiff, defendant Addy and defendant Bryan was properly served and filed and whether the trial court should have entered a default judgment against said individuals for their failure to appear; and (9) whether the trial court erred when it entered an order on April 15, 1993, vacating a prior order entered on May 15, 1991, permitting defendant Bobby Chapman to proceed in forma pauperis.

In the original action, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendants Lamar and Bert Chapman in January of 1989, in an effort to obtain $3,841.85 after defendant Lamar Chapman deposited certain drafts for which there were nonsufficient funds. Defendant Lamar Chapman then wrote overdrafts on his account with plaintiff. Defendant Lamar Chapman filed a counterclaim alleging breach of contract, fraud in the inducement and violations of the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 1211/2, par. 261 et seq.). On December 28, 1989, the trial court dismissed defendant Lamar Chapman’s counterclaim, found in favor of plaintiif and entered a judgment against defendant Lamar Chapman for $1,297.22 plus interest, fees and costs and a default judgment of $4,341.85 plus costs against defendant Bert Chapman. On May 3, 1990, the trial court also imposed sanctions upon defendant Lamar Chapman in the amount of $2,925.00 "for reasonable additional expenses incurred due to defendant’s frivolous pleadings,” in violation of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 137. 134 Ill. 2d R. 137.

Thereafter, defendant Lamar Chapman filed two Federal cases. On September 7, 1990, he sought protection under chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Bankruptcy Code) (11 U.S.C. § 109 et seq. (1988)), with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Plaintiif, in compliance with section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. § 362 (1988)), took no further collection actions against defendants at this time. On April 17, 1992, the bankruptcy court issued a final order dismissing the petition as a result of defendant Lamar Chapman’s failure to file and comply with a chapter 13 plan and to post a supersedeas bond pursuant to the bankruptcy court’s order. Chapman v. Citicorp Mortgage, Inc. & Bank of Homewood (N.D. Ill. June 24, 1992), No. 92—C—2862; Chapman v. Citicorp Mortgage, Inc. & Bank of Homewood (Bankr. N.D. Ill. March 20, 1992), No. 91—C—7990; see also In re Chapman (N.D. Ill. 1991), 132 Bankr. 153; In the Matter of Chapman (N.D. Ill. 1991), 132 Bankr. 132.

On May 15, 1991, defendants Lamar, Bobby, Vanessa and Helen Chapman filed an action in the circuit court of Cook County against plaintiif, its counsel William Bryan and its president William Addy, seeking injunctive relief and damages and a motion to proceed in forma pauperis, which was granted. On that same date, defendants Lamar and Bobby Chapman served notice of their motion for injunctive relief upon Bryan at his home. Upon noticing the Chap-mans’ car outside of his home, Bryan called the police and reported that there was a suspicious vehicle in front of his home. On May 17, 1991, Bryan told the court that defendants Lamar and Bobby Chapman came to his home "strictly for purposes of harassment.” The trial court entered an order naming defendants Lamar and Bobby Chapman as defendants in the action Bank of Homewood v. Bert Chapman, 89 — M6—410. The order restrained them, their mutual agents, servants and employees from visiting Bryan’s property or visiting or entering his residence.

On May 17, 1991, Assistant State’s Attorney John Coyne filed a petition for a rule to show cause as to why defendant Lamar Chapman should not be held in contempt of court for making untrue statements during court proceedings in the action known as Bank of Homewood v. Bert Chapman, 89—M6—410. The record indicates that defendant Lamar Chapman caused a subpoena duces tecum to be served on plaintiff Bank of Homewood in an effort to obtain Judge and Mrs. Robert Krop’s bank records. Judge Krop had previously entered the $4,341.85 judgment against defendant Bert Chapman. Plaintiff refused to surrender the records. A hearing was held on the motion on July 21, 1991. During the hearing on the motion, defendant Lamar Chapman argued that the subpoenaed material would show that Judge Krop and Bryan were guilty of misconduct. The trial court found that the subpoenaed material was not relevant. Citing People v. Robinson (1981), 100 Ill. App. 3d 660, 427 N.E.2d 288, the trial court held defendant Lamar Chapman in direct criminal contempt of court for filing a document with the court which attacks a judge for a malicious purpose. The trial judge made the following statement upon making the ruling:

"[F]iling the subpoena for Robert and Joan Krop’s *** banking accounts is direct contempt of court, in my opinion, and *** serving the subpoena on the Bank of Homewood for a sitting judge’s records, based on what he did in a courtroom, is basically trying to hold the judge up to ridicule and to impede the administration of justice.”

Defendant was sentenced to seven days in Cook County jail and fined $500.

On July 10, 1991, defendant Lamar Chapman made a motion for a change of venue to a misdemeanor court for the hearing on the rule to show cause as to why he should not be held in contempt of court for making certain allegedly false statements. At that time, the matter had been assigned to a trial judge who presided over a felony trial courtroom. Defendant argued that the motion should be decided in a misdemeanor courtroom because it was made in a misdemeanor courtroom.

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Bank of Homewood v. Chapman, 628 N.E.2d 974, 257 Ill. App. 3d 337, 195 Ill. Dec. 510 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

628 N.E.2d 974 (Bank of Homewood v. Chapman) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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