People v. Clark

356 N.E.2d 1144, 43 Ill. App. 3d 117, 1 Ill. Dec. 862, 1976 Ill. App. LEXIS 3271
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided November 1, 1976·No. 74-310·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE GUILD

delivered the opinion of the court:

Six members of the De Mau Mau gang were indicted for the murder and armed robbery of William Richter and the attempt murder of James Davis. All were incarcerated in the Lake County jail and while there two of the members of the gang, Edward Moran and Nathaniel Burse, were murdered. The other four members of the De Mau Maus were tried separately on the above indictment. We have previously considered the appeals of two of the four and reference is made to People v. Peatry (1976), 38 Ill. App. 3d 332, 347 N.E.2d 169; and People v. Wilson (1976), 37 Ill. App. 3d 560, 346 N.E.2d 161. Wüson was sentenced to three concurrent terms of 20-60 years; Peatry was sentenced to three concurrent terms of 40-120 years and the defendant herein, after his jury trial, was sentenced to 40-120 years for the murder and armed robbery of William Richter and the attempt murder of James Davis.

As set forth in Peatry, William “Butch” Jackson also testified herein that Clark suggested to the members of the De Mau Mau gang that they “make some money” as Clark knew where trucks would be parked along a highway from which they could get money. He further testified that he drove Robert Wilson, Edward Moran and Clark to the scene of the murder and armed robbery of Richter and the attempt murder of Davis. Three other men followed in Don Taylor’s wife’s car. Jackson further testified that Clark had the .38 caliber which was used to murder Richter and related the details of the offense. Defendant did not testify.

In this appeal defendant Clark has raised four issues. Three of the four issues have been specifically decided in People v. Peatry or People v. Wilson. The first of these contentions is that the trial court erroneously instructed the jury that it could find the defendant guilty of attempt murder without the necessary element of a specific intent to kill. This contention involved the giving of certain instructions, all of which are set forth in People v. Wilson and are the same instructions as given in this case. Here, as in Wilson, the murder instruction, which included the felony murder language, was given in regard to the murder of Richter and mentioned the victim’s name four times. In both the definitional Instruction No. 9 and the issue Instruction No. 10 on attempt murder, “intent to commit murder” was explicitly stated to be an element of the offense. Here, as in Wilson, under these circumstances we do not believe the jury was misled. Cf. People v. Gersbacher (1970), 44 Ill. 2d 321, 255 N.E.2d 429.

The second contention of the defendant is that the defendant was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offense of armed robbery from the decedent where there was no evidence adduced of taking of anything of value. This issue was raised in People v. Wilson. We there held that circumstantial evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict. The same situation prevails herein and we specifically find that the circumstantial evidence in this case, as in Wilson, was sufficient to support the jury’s verdict of armed robbery, and we therefore affirm that conviction.

The next issue raised is that the trial court erred in imposing additional concurrent sentences on the defendant after the notice of appeal was filed. This issue and similar facts concerning this contention were likewise raised in People v. Wilson and People v. Peatry. In the case before us the judgment and sentence order was entered by the court on February 7, 1974, finding that the defendant had been convicted of murder, attempt murder and armed robbery and a sentence was imposed of 40-120 years. On February 25, 1974, an amended mittimus was filed, setting forth concurrent sentences of 40-120 years for the three offenses for which the defendant had been convicted. Here, as in Wilson, we find no merit in this contention of the defendant and find this to be a correction of the record, jurisdiction of which is retained by the trial court after notice of appeal is filed. The notice of appeal herein having been filed on February 7, 1974, the amended mittimus filed on February 25, 1974, was a clarification of the court’s pronouncement on February 7, 1974, imposing three concurrent 40-120 year sentences which had been mistakenly entered as one 40-120 year sentence.

We turn now to the one remaining contention of the defendant not disposed of in either the Wilson or Peatry opinions. Defendant contends that he was unlawfully arrested on the night of October 12, 1972; that subsequent to his arrest his finger and palm prints were taken and that these prints were improperly admitted into evidence at the trial. A fingerprint expert, Officer Granaban, testified that Clark’s fingerprints and palm print matched those recovered from the “grab bar” of the Davis truck. Prior to trial motions to suppress on behalf of the various defendants were made and, as defendant points out, the question at the suppression hearing on behalf of the defendant Clark was whether probable cause existed for his arrest.

A brief resume of the various murders and the events leading to the arrest of the defendant follows.

On August 4, 1972, four members of a family were murdered in Barrington Hills, Illinois, and .25- and .30-caliber pellets and .30-caliber casings were found. Lt. Jerome Harmon of the Barrington Hills police became the supervisor in charge of the investigation of these killings and on August 6, 1972, he discovered that the .25-caliber pellets recovered from the murder on June 20, 1972, of a Miss Fiene at 5710 S. Paulina in Chicago, were fired from the same weapon as used in the Barrington Hills murders. On August 8, 1972, Lt. Harmon determined that the .30-caliber pellets recovered in the Barrington Hills murders were fired from the same weapons used to kill Michael Gerschenson on May 3, 1972, in Franklin County, Illinois. Both .30- and .38-caliber pellets were recovered at the scene and from the body of Gerschenson. Gerschenson’s car was missing and on August 29,1972, the Gerschenson car was burned at 4525 S. Federal Street in Chicago. A laundry ticket found in the car belonged to a member of the De Mau Mau gang. On september 4, 1972, three members of another family, in Monee, Illinois, were found murdered in their home and .32- and .38-caliber pellets were recovered. Subsequently, Lt. Harmon was advised that the pellets recovered from the murders in Monee matched the .38-caliber pellets from the murder involved in the case before us, having been fired from the same weapon. On the date of the arrest of the defendant, Michael Clark, therefore, Lt. Harmon had determined that one or more of the same weapons had been used or were related to the ten murders in various parts of Illinois.

Informant No. 72-51 had infiltrated the De Mau Mau gang on October 5.1972, and related to Lt. Harmon that members of the De Mau Mau gang drove a 1972 bronze Javelin automobile. The informant further advised Lt. Harmon that a meeting of some members of the gang would take place on October 12 to “plan a rip-off for the 13th,” “a bad day for whites.” The informant warned Lt. Harmon that the gang members would be armed and have narcotics. Lt. Harmon was further advised that the Javelin would be parked at 3651 S.

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People v. Clark, 356 N.E.2d 1144, 43 Ill. App. 3d 117, 1 Ill. Dec. 862, 1976 Ill. App. LEXIS 3271 (Ill. Ct. App. 1976).

356 N.E.2d 1144 (People v. Clark) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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