People v. Bowen

609 N.E.2d 346, 241 Ill. App. 3d 608, 182 Ill. Dec. 43, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 185
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 18, 1993
Docket4-92-0206
StatusPublished
Cited by80 cases

This text of 609 N.E.2d 346 (People v. Bowen) 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. Bowen, 609 N.E.2d 346, 241 Ill. App. 3d 608, 182 Ill. Dec. 43, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 185 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

JUSTICE KNECHT

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant was convicted of two counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of unlawful restraint. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, pars. 12 — 13(a)(1), 10 — 3(a).) He was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for each count of criminal sexual assault, with the terms to run consecutively, and one year’s imprisonment on the unlawful restraint charge to run concurrently. Defendant appeals his conviction and sentence arguing (1) the statutory provisions defining “force” and “consent” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, pars. 12— 12(d), 12 — 17(a)) are unconstitutionally vague; (2) he was not proved guilty of criminal sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt; (3) he is entitled to a new trial based on improper prosecutorial comments; (4) the trial court failed to consider all the evidence in determining his guilt; (5) he was denied effective assistance of counsel; (6) his conviction for unlawful restraint should be reversed because it is an included offense of criminal sexual assault or, in the alternative, because the State failed to prove its elements beyond a reasonable doubt; and (7) the imposition of consecutive sentences was unconstitutional. We affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences for criminal sexual assault and vacate his conviction for unlawful restraint.

On September 19, 1991, defendant was indicted by a grand jury in Champaign County of two counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of unlawful restraint. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 38, pars. 12— 13(a)(1), 10 — 3(a).) Count I of the indictment alleged defendant committed sexual penetration by the use of force in that he placed his penis into the victim’s vagina. Count II alleged defendant committed sexual penetration by the use of force in that he placed his fingers in the victim’s vagina. Count III alleged defendant knowingly and without legal authority detained the victim by lying on top of her and refusing to allow her to rise. Defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges. He admitted having sexual intercourse with the victim but claimed it was consensual.

At the time of the alleged incident, the victim was a fourth-year student at the University of Illinois. She lived in an apartment in Champaign, Illinois, with Janice Hartmann, Becky Levi, Tracy Betts, and Nicci Hears. It was a two-floor apartment with two bedrooms on the bottom floor and two on the top floor. The victim and Becky occupied the upstairs bedrooms.

On the weekend of May 4 and 5, 1991, Janice’s brother, Ron, and two of his friends, defendant and John Bethard, played golf in Champaign and were going to spend the night at the victim’s apartment. Becky, Janice, the victim, and the three men went out that evening as a group to a couple of bars. Later that evening, the victim left the group and went home alone. After she arrived at her apartment, she watched television with her roommate, Tracy, for about 10 minutes and then went upstairs to bed. She wore a pair of khaki shorts and a white T-shirt to bed.

Becky, John, Janice, and the defendant returned to the apartment at approximately 2 or 2:30 a.m. The victim awoke when she heard them come home and went downstairs to see how they were. The victim testified she spoke briefly to Becky and Janice, and while she was downstairs, defendant put his arms around her and she pushed him away and returned upstairs to her bedroom. Janice did not see this happen because she was in her bedroom, and defendant denied doing it. After changing clothes, Becky, Janice, and John went upstairs to Becky’s room to go out on the roof.

The victim was awakened again when she heard someone at her door. It was defendant asking her if he could get to the roof from her bedroom. She responded he could, but she was sleeping and he should go through Becky’s room. She heard the door close and thought he had left. She testified defendant had not left but rather got onto her bed and straddled her. His legs were on either side of her body, and his arms were at her shoulders. He attempted to kiss her, and she tried to get away by moving her head. He pulled down the comforter and lifted up her shirt. He kissed one of her breasts and her stomach. She tried to push him away, but she could not move him. During this time, she repeatedly said to him “ ‘What are you doing,’ ” and “ ‘Please get out of my room. Stop.’ ” She did not recall how loud she was saying this. He then went under her shorts and underwear and inserted his fingers into her vagina. She told him to “ ‘Stop. Please stop,’ ” and repeatedly told him “no.” She continually tried to push his hand away and eventually did so.

He then pulled her shorts and underwear down and forced his penis inside her vagina. While doing this, he told her “[she] was so warm.” She again told him “no,” and “ ‘[she] [did not] want this to happen. This shouldn’t happen.’ ” She did not recall where his clothes were during this time or whether his clothes were on or just pulled away. She did state she did not assist him in taking his clothes off nor did she assist in taking her own shorts off. She also testified she did not scream because she could not believe what was happening, thought she could control the situation, and was scared.

She tried to push him away by the shoulder area, and when this was unsuccessful, she moved her hands down to his waist and tried to push. She was able to push his penis out of her. As she pushed him away, he told her to “jack him off.” He pushed her over on her side so they were facing each other and moved his arms around her body and rubbed his penis against her legs. He kept telling her to come closer and not go away. Eventually, she was able to push herself off the bed. When she got out of bed, her shorts and underwear were off, but her shirt was still on.

She went to her chest of drawers and put on some clean underwear. After she put her clothes on, she told defendant to put his clothes on and leave. His clothes were on the floor next to the bed. He asked her to take all her clothes off because he wanted to see what she looked like. She picked up his clothes and threw them at him and told him to put them on and leave. He put them on, and while she was walking toward the door, he tried to kiss her again. He was holding her and pushed her back on the bed. While he was attempting to kiss her, Janice opened the bedroom door for a split second and then closed it.

Janice testified she went to the victim’s bedroom to see if she wanted to come out. She stated when she opened the door she saw defendant “kind of standing kind of crouched” but could not see the victim clearly. WTien she saw defendant, she immediately closed the door. She testified neither person spoke to her. The victim stated she did not say anything to Janice because she did not have the opportunity and because they were already dressed. The door apparently startled defendant and she was able to get off the bed. The victim then opened the door and told defendant to leave.

Defendant left immediately and proceeded to go through Becky’s room to sit on the roof. After defendant was on the roof, the victim came into Becky’s room. She told Becky defendant had just attacked her. Becky testified the victim looked frightened, and her hands were shaking. The victim stated she was really nervous, and she did not believe Becky understood what she was saying. She returned to her room and called her boyfriend.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
609 N.E.2d 346, 241 Ill. App. 3d 608, 182 Ill. Dec. 43, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-bowen-illappct-1993.