People v. Cannes

378 N.E.2d 552, 61 Ill. App. 3d 865, 19 Ill. Dec. 51, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 3106
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 29, 1978
Docket77-178
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 378 N.E.2d 552 (People v. Cannes) 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. Cannes, 378 N.E.2d 552, 61 Ill. App. 3d 865, 19 Ill. Dec. 51, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 3106 (Ill. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE BOYLE

delivered the opinion of the court:

As a result of a shooting incident on August 25, 1974, the defendants-appellants, Arthur D. Cannes and John Powell, hereafter collectively referred to as the defendants, were each charged by way of an indictment with two counts of attempt murder, two counts of armed violence, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of unlawful use of weapons. The defendants were tried before a jury in McHenry County circuit court, and each was found guilty on both counts of armed violence, both counts of aggravated assault, and of unlawful use of weapons. The defendants were found not guilty on the attempt murder charges. The trial judge, Charles S. Parker, vacated the unlawful use of weapons conviction and sentenced each defendant to two terms of one to three years on the armed violence convictions, the sentences to be served concurrently. The defendants have appealed, raising a total of nine issues as possible grounds for reversing their convictions. Those issues are: (1) That they were denied their constitutional right to a speedy trial; (2) That certain incriminating statements were obtained from them in violation of their Miranda rights; (3) That the State’s Attorney improperly indicted the defendants for both armed violence and aggravated assault; (4) That the counts in the indictment charging the defendants with aggravated assault were defective; (5) That the trial court should have granted the defendants’ motion for a directed verdict on the armed violence and aggravated assault charges; (6) That the jury was improperly instructed on the charges of armed violence and aggravated assault; (7) That the defendants were improperly convicted of both armed violence and aggravated assault; (8) That the defendants were not proved guilty of any offense beyond a reasonable doubt; and (9) That they were improperly sentenced.

After reviewing the evidence and considering the arguments presented, we are of the opinion that with the exception of allowing the convictions for aggravated assault to stand, the judgment of the circuit court of McHenry County must be affirmed.

The incident which is the basis for all the charges in this case occurred in Huntley, Illinois, during the early morning hours of August 25, 1974. The defendants had spent part of the previous day target shooting with the defendant Cannes’ .357 magnum. After the target shooting session, the defendants went to a bar in Belvidere where they were eventually joined by Mrs. Powell and Alice Payton. The two couples stayed at the Belvidere bar until shortly before its 1 a.m. closing time and then journeyed to a bar in Marengo which stayed open until 2 a.m. When the Marengo bar was preparing to close, the couples drove on to Huntley to patronize Coleman’s Tap, which had a 4 a.m. closing time.

From the testimony, it appears that upon entering Coleman’s Tap the two women went to the ladies’ room, Powell went to the men’s room, and Cannes went to the bar to procure liquid refreshments for the party. Mrs. Powell exited the ladies’ room first and proceeded to join Cannes, who had secured a table as well as the drinks. Thereupon Mrs. Powell was approached by one Bennie Smith, who slapped her on her posterior and expressed a desire to have carnal knowledge of her, although paraphrasing in heavy vernacular. A scuffle between Cannes and the 6'6", 270-pound Mr. Smith ensued. Powell exited the men’s room just as the scuffle was ending. After the incident, the defendants and their female companions left the tavern and went to one of the two cars in which they had driven to Huntley. There they discussed the events that had just occurred in the tavern. When Powell learned what had happened, he became quite upset and was determined to have Mr. Smith apologize for his insulting behavior towards Mrs. Powell. Cannes attempted to calm the irate Powell as the two waited outside the tavern. The two women had been sent home in one of the cars.

Near closing time Powell entered the bar while Cannes remained behind at the car. At trial, Cannes testified that he became concerned with the length of time Powell was in the bar, so he got out and loaded the .357 magnum which was in the back of the car. As Powell left the bar he was followed almost immediately by Mr. Smith and his party, who had the general appearance of being a motorcycle gang. Cannes claims he became fearful for his and Powell’s safety, so he fired four shots into the air. After firing the shots, the defendants attempted to leave the scene but were apprehended about a block away by the Huntley police.

After being arrested, the defendants were taken to Huntley’s one-room police station. The defendants were given their Miranda warnings, after which they made some incriminating statements which were testified to at trial by Officer Donald McKeating. According to Officer McKeating, the defendants stated that they had flipped a coin to decide who would do the shooting and that Cannes won. Powell is reported to have claimed that if he had won there would have been four dead people. Officer McKeating’s testimony was largely corroborated by that of Officer Donald Thomas. While the defendants were being questioned, several patrons of Coleman’s Tap were milling in and about the police station, including Mr. Smith, who got into some sort of argument with the defendants.

On September 3, 1974, a McHenry County grand jury handed down a seven-count indictment against the defendants. Count I of the indictment charged each defendant with the attempt murder of Bennie Smith. Count II charged the defendants with the attempt murder of Silas Christian, a companion of Mr. Smith. Counts III and IV charged the defendants with armed violence toward the same men. Counts V and VI charged the defendants with the aggravated assault of Messrs. Smith and Christian. Count VII was the unlawful use of weapons charge.

The defendants were brought to trial on April 8,1976, some 19 months after the indictment was handed down. However, at no time had the defendants made a demand for a speedy trial pursuant to section 103 — 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 38, par. 103 — 5). In its case, the State presented the testimony of two members of Mr. Smith’s party, who testified that they were in fear of their safety upon hearing the shots, and the testimony of two Huntley police officers who witnessed the shootings. Both officers testified that from the flashes of the discharging gun, they could tell the shots were fired in the general direction of the tavern from which Mr. Smith and his party were exiting. The State also presented photographic evidence of fresh damage to the building which it alleged was caused by the bullets from the .357 magnum.

The first of the defendants’ nine contentions is that the delay of 19 months between the date they were indicted and the date they were brought to trial violated their constitutional right to a speedy trial. Inasmuch as the defendants failed to demonstrate that they were prejudiced by the delay, we hold that the defendants were not denied their constitutional right to a speedy trial.

We begin our discussion of this issue by noting that the defendants did not make a demand for a speedy trial pursuant to section 103 — 5 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 38, par. 103 — 5). Therefore, that statutorial right does not come into play here. People v. Wyatt (1977), 47 Ill.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Makes
431 N.E.2d 20 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1981)
People v. Jackson
422 N.E.2d 195 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
378 N.E.2d 552, 61 Ill. App. 3d 865, 19 Ill. Dec. 51, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 3106, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cannes-illappct-1978.