People v. Casner

312 N.E.2d 709, 20 Ill. App. 3d 107, 1974 Ill. App. LEXIS 2402
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 14, 1974
Docket72-349
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 312 N.E.2d 709 (People v. Casner) 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. Casner, 312 N.E.2d 709, 20 Ill. App. 3d 107, 1974 Ill. App. LEXIS 2402 (Ill. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE SEIDENFELD

delivered the opinion of the court:

William Casner, the defendant, was convicted of rape, conspiracy, and battery after a jury trial. He was sentenced to a term of 5-15 years in the penitentiary for the offense of rape, 1-5 years for the offense of conspiracy, and to the time served awaiting trial for the battery offense.

Defendant appeals from the rape and conspiracy convictions contending that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; that the exposure of the jury to an Allen-type charge during the voir dire, closing argument and in the instructions requires a new trial; and that he may not be convicted for both the offenses of rape and conspiracy to commit rape.

From the entire record we have concluded that the evidence is sufficient to prove defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. It would serve no useful purpose to go into the evidence in great detail. The complaining witness testified that she had agreed to work as a cocktail waitress on December 31, 1971, New Years Eve. This was the first and only time she had worked as a cocktail waitress. The defendant Casner and one Burch (who was indicted with Casner but whose case was severed for trial) were bouncers at the cocktail lounge. The prosecutrix drank several drinks during the course of the evening, more after closing, and became sick. She asked another waitress who had secured the employment for her to take her home but was told that she should find another ride as the other girl was going to a party. The witness testified that the lounge owners wife offered to take her home and that she assumed that she was going with her when the owners wife and another girl helped her out to the car. She testified that Casner and Burch also got into tire car; that she then passed out and that the next thing she remembered was being helped out of the car into the back seat of another car, with defendant driving and Burch also in front.

She said that from that point on she was sober and recalled everything although she was terribly ill. She may have dozed off from time to time but she assumed that she was being taken home. She then related the attacks by both the defendant and Burch, during the course of which she protested and was beaten by each of them.

A witness who had been employed as a babysitter testified that when the prosecutrix arrived home she was bruised about the face, under the left eye and showed blood under her left ear; her clothes were wrinkled and halfway off; her hair was terribly messed up; and she was hysterical and repeated that she had been beaten and raped. The babysitter called the police and the prosecutrix was taken to a hospital. The examining doctor testified that force had been used in the act of intercourse and that when he examined her the victim was in a highly emotional state requiring sedation. After the defendant knew that the police were looking for him he left the state and went to California, Nevada and Texas.

The defense essentially was that the complaining witness voluntarily engaged in the sexual acts. From the record we would conclude, as the jury apparently did below, that defendant’s testimony was improbable in its details, largely uncorroborated and generally incredible under all the circumstances. The verdict was based upon an abundance of supporting evidence and the record does not disclose a reasonable doubt of defendant’s guilt.

Defendant contends the jury’s exposure to an Allen-type charge during voir dire, during closing argument and in the written instructions, interfered with and prejudiced its deliberations.

The court in examining one of the prospective jurors stated that the verdict must be unanimous. The juror was asked whether he would listen to the arguments of other jurors if he found himself in the minority, and was reminded that if tire jury did not agree it would be necessary to have a trial before another jury, probably no better than this and chosen in the same way. Defense counsel did not object, but in examining the same juror inquired whether in view of the unanimous verdict requirement as stated by the court, the individual would still require that he be personally convinced of guilt and not sign a guilty verdict merely because he happened to be in the minority. In closing argument, defense counsel again admonished the jury in similar language. In the State’s closing argument, the prosecutor stated to the jurors that they were no longer individuals but parts of a unit and that the court would instruct them that it would take a unanimous verdict for conviction.

Over defendant’s objection tire court gave the following written instruction to the jury before it retired to deliberate:

“In a large proportion of cases absolute certainty cannot be expected. Although the verdict must be the verdict of each individual juror and not a mere acquiescence in the conclusions of others, yet you should examine the questions submitted with proper regard and deference for the opinions of each other, and you should listen to each other’s opinions with a disposition to be convinced. It is your duty to decide the case if you can conscientiously do so. If a much larger number of jurors favor conviction, a dissenting juror should consider the reasonableness of his doubt when it makes no impression upon the minds of other jurors, equally intelligent and impartial, and who have heard the same evidence. If upon the other hand, the majority favors acquittal, the minority should ask themselves whether they might not reasonably doubt the correctness of their judgment.
If you should fail to agree on a verdict the case must be retired. Any future jury must be selected in the same manner and from the same source as you have been chosen, and there is no reason to believe that the case would ever be submitted to twelve men and women more competent to decide it, or that the case can be tried any better or more exhaustively then [sic] it has been here, or that more or clearer evidence could be produced on behalf of either side.”

The defendant tendered and the court also gave the following instruction:

“Any verdict you reach must be unanimous. And in your deliberations you should examine the questions submitted with a proper regard and consideration for the opinions of each other. You should listen to each other’s arguments with an open mind, and you should make every reasonable effort to reach a verdict.”

As to the statement made in the State’s final argument, it should first be noted that no objection was made to the argument. In addition, it was not addressed to the “heed the majority” theme criticized in People v. Prim (1972), 53 Ill.2d 62, 73, 76, but rather was a response to a closing statement by defense counsel to the effect that a juror should not sign a guilty verdict if he might go home and a year later wonder if the defendant really were guilty. In the sense that the defense comments seem to border on an improper reference to a definition of reasonable doubt, it would appear that the commentary deserved some response by the State, which it received.

Part of the statement by the court in the voir dire examination referred to was similar to the admonishment found in the instruction tendered by the defendant.

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817 N.E.2d 341 (New York Court of Appeals, 2004)
People v. Turner
539 N.E.2d 1196 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1989)
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361 N.E.2d 768 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1977)
People v. Brown
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People v. Burch
317 N.E.2d 136 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
312 N.E.2d 709, 20 Ill. App. 3d 107, 1974 Ill. App. LEXIS 2402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-casner-illappct-1974.