People v. Black

566 N.E.2d 4, 207 Ill. App. 3d 304, 152 Ill. Dec. 476, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 29
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 7, 1991
DocketNos. 3-89-0416, 3-90-0286 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 566 N.E.2d 4 (People v. Black) 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. Black, 566 N.E.2d 4, 207 Ill. App. 3d 304, 152 Ill. Dec. 476, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 29 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE STOUDER

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, the defendant, James Black, was convicted of the charge of criminal sexual assault (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 12 — 13(1)) and sentenced to a term of seven years’ imprisonment. He appealed. While his appeal was pending, he filed a post-conviction petition. A hearing was held on the petition. We delayed determination of the direct appeal until the conclusion of the post-conviction proceeding. Subsequently, the trial court denied his prayer for relief. He also appeals that order. We have consolidated these appeals for disposition. We affirm.

On April 7, 1989, the defendant appeared in court with his attorney, Deborah Dunn, and waived his right to a jury trial. At that time, the defendant’s trial was reconsolidated with that of a codefendant, Jeffrey Parcher, despite a prior severance order. Parcher was found guilty of criminal sexual assault in a bench trial. He also appealed his conviction, and we affirmed the trial court in People v. Parcher (3d Dist. 1990), No. 3 — 89—0432 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).

At trial, the victim testified she was at home on the evening of August 18, 1988, when she received a phone call from Parcher asking if she would like to go riding around in his truck. She agreed to go and, shortly thereafter, joined Parcher, the defendant, and a third male subject in Parcher’s track. The victim indicated she had known Parcher for about a month prior to the phone call but that she had never been out alone with him or ever on a date with him. At the time, she considered Parcher a friend, but not a boyfriend. She further testified she knew the defendant for approximately three or four years; she used to baby-sit the defendant’s children. The four proceeded to drive around for awhile and eventually dropped off the third male.

The defendant, the victim, and Parcher then drove to the Streator Country Club. There, the defendant and Parcher wanted to go swimming. The defendant climbed a fence and sneaked into the pool area. Parcher and the victim followed suit. The defendant and Parcher then proceeded to jump into the pool and take their clothes off. The nude men then swam to where the victim was standing outside the pool. Parcher grabbed her ankles and she fell into the pool.

After falling into the pool, Parcher held the victim as the defendant tried to unzip her pants. After straggling with the victim, the defendant pulled her pants down, pulled her tampon out and threw it to the side of the pool, pried her legs apart, and placed his penis into her vagina. The defendant then stated it was Parcher’s turn whereby Parcher proceeded to place his penis into her vagina. The victim immediately left the pool area and went to her sister’s house.

Tara Dimming, the victim’s sister, testified the victim came to her home on August 19, crying, upset, and wet. She stated the victim told her that she was raped.

After reporting the alleged rape, the victim was taken to the hospital where a rape kit was prepared. The Joliet lab concluded seminal material taken from the victim could have come from Parcher and the defendant or just the defendant. Also included in the rape kit was a brief medical history of the victim which included statements she made about the assault to the examining physician. The State did not use these statements at trial. The defendant, meanwhile, failed to request this information from the State and failed to subpoena the hospital for the records.

The report showed the victim stated that one of the guys involved in the assault she has “gone with a couple of times.” She also stated both men were drunk. At trial, the victim stated she did not date Parcher. She also did not testify to both men being drunk.

Parcher testified he met the victim at a party in May of 1988. On that occasion, they went for a ride in his truck and engaged in sexual intercourse. They subsequently saw each other about every other week and continued to engage in sexual intercourse.

Regarding the incident at the pool, Parcher stated that he, the victim, and the defendant stopped at the pool to go swimming. He and the defendant proceeded to get undressed. Laughingly, they pulled the victim into the pool, whereupon she and Parcher began kissing. The defendant then approached the two and joked about removing the victim’s clothes. She permitted the defendant to do so but became angry when he removed her tampon. Parcher then swam off but could see the defendant feeling the victim’s breasts and hear him calling her names. The defendant then gave up and sent the victim over to Parcher. The victim was crying, so he started kissing her but stopped when she asked him to. She then left but came back to get her purse and a ride to her sister’s house.

In addition, a defense witness, Brian Crouch, testified he previously dated the victim and that she admitted sleeping with Parcher. This charge was vehemently denied by the victim in rebuttal.

The defendant first argues he is entitled to a new trial due to a discovery violation committed by the State. He specifically contends the State’s failure to produce a medical report containing statements made by the victim violated his right to due process. He alleges the statements could have been used to impeach the victim and as such were necessary to him in his defense. He therefore concludes the State’s failure to produce the document resulted in his being prejudiced.

The trial court, after the defendant presented these arguments at his post-conviction petition hearing, denied his prayer for relief. The trial court found no constitutional violation and found the evidence would not have changed the outcome of the trial.

A prosecutor’s failure to disclose evidence which the defense might have used to impeach a witness is error. (People v. King (1985), 140 Ill. App. 3d 937, 486 N.E.2d 978.) However, such suppression of evidence amounts to a constitutional violation only if it deprives the defendant of a fair trial. (United States v. Agurs (1976), 427 U.S. 97, 49 L. Ed. 2d 342, 96 S. Ct. 2392.) Evidence is material only if there is a reasonable probability that had the evidence been disclosed, the result of the proceeding would have been different. (People v. Olinger (1986), 112 Ill. 2d 324, 493 N.E.2d 579, citing United States v. Bagley (1985), 473 U.S. 667, 87 L. Ed. 2d 481, 105 S. Ct. 3375.) The undisclosed evidence must be evaluated in the context of the entire record to determine if it creates a reasonable doubt that did not otherwise exist. People v. King (1985), 140 Ill. App. 3d 937, 486 N.E.2d 978.

The defendant suggests the trier of fact, in this case the trial court, was deprived of the opportunity to assess the degree of the impeachment of the victim’s credibility. We disagree. The defendant, by coupling the testimony of Brian Crouch with Parcher’s testimony, sufficiently presented this boyfriend/girlfriend impeachment angle to the trial court without success.

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Bluebook (online)
566 N.E.2d 4, 207 Ill. App. 3d 304, 152 Ill. Dec. 476, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 29, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-black-illappct-1991.