People v. Beaman

858 N.E.2d 78, 306 Ill. Dec. 633, 368 Ill. App. 3d 759, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 1009
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 3, 2006
Docket4-05-0610
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 858 N.E.2d 78 (People v. Beaman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Beaman, 858 N.E.2d 78, 306 Ill. Dec. 633, 368 Ill. App. 3d 759, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 1009 (Ill. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinions

JUSTICE McCULLOUGH

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury trial, defendant, Alan Beaman, was convicted of the first-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lockmiller. Defendant was sentenced to 50 years’ imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections. On appeal, this court affirmed defendant’s conviction. People v. Beaman, No. 4—95—0396 (May 23, 1996) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). On April 2, 1997, defendant filed a petition for postconviction relief. In its final form, defendant’s second verified amended petition for postconviction relief and supplement to the second amended petition were presented before the trial court through an evidentiary hearing. On June 14, 2005, the trial court issued a 31-page order denying defendant’s request for postconviction relief. Defendant appeals the third-stage dismissal of his petition. We affirm.

It is undisputed by the parties, the trial court, and this court that the case against defendant was entirely circumstantial, and as such, depended upon a large body of facts. These facts are well known by all parties and have been extensively recounted by this court in its Rule 23 order affirming defendant’s conviction. Therefore, only those facts necessary for a complete understanding of the issues before this court appear below.

After his conviction was affirmed by this court, defendant filed for postconviction relief, arguing (1) new evidence demonstrates that defendant could not have been in Bloomington/Normal on the day of the murder; (2) postconviction evidence establishes there was a viable murder suspect other than defendant of whom the jury was unaware, and the State committed a Brady violation (see Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215, 83 S. Ct. 1194 (1963)) when it failed to disclose evidence supporting John Doe’s viability as a suspect; (3) the State exploited Detective Freesmeyer’s false and misleading testimony that 31 minutes were required to drive from the bank to the Beaman residence; (4) the State failed to disclose the fact that Freesmeyer drove from the bank to the Beaman home in 25 minutes; (5) defendant’s attorney was ineffective for failing to independently investigate the drive time from the bank to the Beaman home, for failing to elicit evidence regarding Freesmeyer’s 25-minute time trial, and for failing to discover and present the information regarding John Doe; and (6) he is actually innocent of Lockmiller’s murder.

On August 28, 1993, Lockmiller’s body was discovered in her apartment near Illinois State University. Based on autopsy results and Lockmiller’s last known whereabouts, the State theorized she was murdered on Wednesday, August 25, 1993, at or shortly after noon. The police investigation quickly centered around defendant, and the State built its case against him relying upon his motive and opportunity to murder his ex-girlfriend.

According to the State’s motive theory, defendant was obsessed with Lockmiller. Lockmiller pursued a relationship with defendant’s roommate, and then she and defendant had a bitter breakup. However, a phone call from Lockmiller to defendant rekindled his hopes the two would reconcile. Defendant drove to Normal, Illinois, to surprise Lock-miller. However, upon entering her apartment, defendant saw his roommate’s belongings, and he snapped, killing Lockmiller on the spot.

The State’s opportunity theory is defendant left work on Wednesday morning, drove to his Rockford home to take a shower, and then went to the bank to make a deposit. A security videotape shows defendant leaving the bank at 10:11 a.m. Defendant then drove 124 miles to Normal, averaging 75 miles per hour, to surprise Lockmiller when she returned home from class to watch her favorite noon-hour soap opera. He had not yet formed his intent to kill his ex-girlfriend. Once he and Lockmiller entered her apartment, something went wrong, and defendant snapped. He strangled Lockmiller with the cord from a clock radio and then stabbed her multiple times with a pair of scissors. Defendant then arranged Lockmiller’s clothes in such a way as to suggest she had been raped. After no more than 15 minutes, by 12:15 p.m., defendant left Lockmiller’s apartment and drove back to his home in Rockford, averaging 75 miles per hour, to ensure he was home in bed by 2:10 p.m., five minutes before his mother got home.

Evidence was presented at trial that two phone calls were made from the Beaman residence on the morning of Wednesday, August 25, 1993; one at 10:37 a.m. and one at 10:39 a.m. The first call was made to the Beamans’ church and was two minutes in duration. The second call was made to defendant’s youth pastor’s home and lasted one minute.

Evidence was presented at trial and the postconviction evidentiary hearing that defendant’s mother, Carol Beaman, picked up her elderly mother from Independence Village, an assisted-living facility, early on August 25, 1993, for a doctor’s appointment. After the appointment, the two stopped for breakfast before returning to Independence Village. Check-in records show Carol checked her mother back into the facility at 10 a.m. At trial, Carol testified she would have remained with her mother no more than 15 to 20 minutes after her check-in time. Sometime after trial, Carol realized her mother’s appointment fell on a Wednesday, and it was Carol’s routine to prepare her mother’s medication for the upcoming week on Wednesdays. As such, at the postconviction evidentiary hearing, Carol testified she spent 20 to 30 minutes with her mother that morning after checking her in, possibly longer if her mother’s roommate had been present.

At trial, evidence was presented that Carol paid for a purchase at a Wal-Mart store located across the street from Independence Village at 11:10 a.m. The receipt indicated she had purchased copy paper, poster frames, magazine holders, and blue jeans. She testified she went to Wal-Mart immediately after leaving her mother and did not go home to make two telephone calls. After leaving Wal-Mart, Carol testified she then may have gone to K mart before proceeding to Union Hall, where she made a purchase and received a receipt time-stamped at 12:39 p.m. Carol then proceeded to Gray’s IGA store, where she purchased perishable food items and received a receipt time-stamped at 2:03 p.m. She then testified she went straight home and arrived around 2:15 p.m. She testified when she arrived home, defendant’s car was on the paved apron next to the driveway. When she entered the home, she noticed the piece of Plexiglas the family used to keep their dogs confined to the kitchen had been moved, and defendant’s dog was asleep by his bedroom door, as was the dog’s custom when defendant was in his bedroom. Carol saw her son that evening when he awoke for dinner.

The State’s theory is Carol dropped her mother off at Independence Village and then drove home to either use the restroom or let the dogs out before returning to complete her shopping trip at Wal-Mart. At the postconviction evidentiary hearing, Detective Timothy Freesmeyer testified this drive would have taken Carol approximately 15 minutes. While at home, she returned a phone call made from the church to her home at 10:22 a.m. She first tried the church office and then attempted to call the youth pastor at his home. Carol then left her home and traveled back to the Wal-Mart located across the street from Independence Village.

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Related

Beaman v. Freesmeyer
2019 IL App (4th) 160527 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2019)
Beaman v. Freesmeyer
2019 IL 122654 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2019)
People v. Beaman
890 N.E.2d 500 (Illinois Supreme Court, 2008)
People v. Beaman
858 N.E.2d 78 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
858 N.E.2d 78, 306 Ill. Dec. 633, 368 Ill. App. 3d 759, 2006 Ill. App. LEXIS 1009, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-beaman-illappct-2006.