People v. Cox

389 N.E.2d 1238, 71 Ill. App. 3d 850, 27 Ill. Dec. 830, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2555
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 16, 1979
DocketNo. 77-1704
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 389 N.E.2d 1238 (People v. Cox) 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. Cox, 389 N.E.2d 1238, 71 Ill. App. 3d 850, 27 Ill. Dec. 830, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2555 (Ill. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE O’CONNOR

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Albert Cox, was indicted for the offenses of burglary and possession of burglary tools. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, pars. 19-1,19-2.) Following a jury trial, defendant was found guilty of each charge. The trial court subsequently imposed concurrent sentences of 4 to 12 years for burglary and 1 to 3 years for possession of burglary tools. Defendant appeals from the judgments of conviction.

On appeal, defendant contends that (1) he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the State’s closing argument was prejudicial where defendant was characterized as a professional criminal without supporting evidence; (3) the State improperly referred to defendant’s failure to testify; (4) the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the use of circumstantial evidence; and (5) the trial court erred in imposing convictions and sentences for both burglary and possession of burglary tools.

Officer James Cochran testified that on September 16,1975, at about 12:30 a.m., he was on squad car patrol in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue and Madison Street in Maywood, Illinois. He was driving south on Fifth Avenue and testified that he noticed no people on the street. While stopped at the traffic light at the comer of Fifth Avenue and Madison Street, Cochran heard the outside burglar alarm go off at Tykes Drugstore, located at the northwest comer of the intersection. Cochran made a right turn onto Madison, parked in front of the drugstore, got out of the squad car and checked the front and side windows and the front door of the drugstore. Cochran found that the glass was intact and the door was secure. He then walked north on Fifth Avenue and entered an alley behind the drugstore. The alley he entered continues for about one half block and connects with a north-south alley between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. There were no street lights on Fifth Avenue at the point Cochran entered the alley, but there was one mercury vapor light in the north-south alley.

When Cochran arrived at the rear of Tykes Drugstore, he observed two men jump off the roof. Cochran testified that one man was dressed in dark clothing and the other man. wore dark pants and a tan leather jacket which was slightly longer than waist length. Each man carried a paper bag.

The suspects ran to an abandoned car in the alley and ducked behind it. When Cochran announced that he was a police officer, both men jumped up and ran north down the north-south alley. Cochran ran after them, ordered the men to stop and then fired two shots that hit neither suspect. The suspects ran westbound behind a garage in the middle of the block toward Sixth Avenue, at which time Cochran lost sight of them for about five seconds. Cochran continued to chase both men through a vacant lot between houses, across Sixth Avenue and into the back yard of a residence at the comer of Sixth Avenue and School Street.

At this point the suspects split up. The man wearing dark clothes continued to run south through the yard, climbed over a fence and eluded Cochran. The suspect with the tan leather jacket ran into the yard toward the garage and climbed up on the flat roof of an addition to the garage. Thinking the suspect might be using the garage to clear the fence, Cochran ran to the back alley and approached the garage. He then shined his flashlight up on the garage addition and discovered the suspect in the tan jacket was still on the roof, lying in a prone position. Cochran ordered him down from the roof, placed him under arrest and returned to the squad car. Officer Cochran testified that the man he found lying on the roof and whom he arrested was the defendant.

After placing defendant in custody, Cochran returned to the rear of the drugstore and found a tom paper bag containing several watches and an assortment of change. At the site of the abandoned car, Cochran discovered a brown paper bag containing a pry bar, hammer, drills and some more watches. Cochran subsequently inspected the roof of the drugstore and discovered a two-foot hole had been knocked in the roof. In addition, a chisel, a screwdriver and drill bit had been left on the roof.

Cochran further testified that another individual, Loren Blackwell, was later taken into custody concerning the burglary investigation. Blackwell had been released pending results from the crime laboratory. Laboratory tests later indicated that Blackwell had been involved in the burglary. However, at the time of trial Blackwell had left the jurisdiction.

Later that same morning Cochran returned to Tykes Pharmacy and met one of the co-owners, Mr. Dozinski. Inside the drugstore, Cochran noticed two cash registers had been emptied of their change and that a section of the metal roof had been pried down. Cochran also found that the watch display case had been pried open, some watches had been taken and others were lying on the floor. Cochran also noted that the drugstore had an alarm system that ran along the floor behind the counter. When a light beam emitted from the system is broken, the alarm is triggered. Finally, Cochran testified that Dozinski identified the recovered watches as property missing from his store.

On cross-examination, Cochran testified that there was a vapor light on Fifth Avenue, as well as a lamp in the north-south alley. Nonetheless, he did not see defendant’s face until he was arrested. Cochran further testified concerning his pursuit of the suspects. Initially, he was 30 to 40 feet away from the men. At the time the suspects reached the abandoned car, they were 50 to 60 feet distant. At this point, Cochran announced his office, the suspects fled and Cochran began chasing them into the north-south alley. While the officer and both suspects were in this alley, Cochran fired two shots which missed. Both suspects disappeared behind a garage for no more than four to five seconds and emerged with Cochran still in pursuit.

Further evidence was adduced via stipulation. Three sets of police reports, together with the stipulated testimony of the individuals who prepared them were admitted into evidence.

One exhibit was a report compiled by two evidence technicians assigned to the Cook County Sheriff s Department. The parties stipulated that the two technicians would have testified that on September 16,1975, they investigated an alleged burglary at Tykes Drugstore and discovered that suspects had drilled a hole through the roof of the drugstore and entered the establishment. Wood and tar samples were collected from the entry point. Directly below the entry point a knit cap and insulation material from the roof were found. The evidence technicians next proceeded to the Maywood Police Department and collected a nail puller, an adjustable wood drill bit and both suspects’ clothing. Included in the items of clothing received was a pair of black cloth gloves taken from defendant. These items were inventoried and submitted to the laboratory for comparative study.

The second exhibit was a report dated December 29,1975, submitted by Robert Gonsowski, a criminalist with the Bureau of Identification, Illinois Department of Law Enforcement.

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Bluebook (online)
389 N.E.2d 1238, 71 Ill. App. 3d 850, 27 Ill. Dec. 830, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 2555, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cox-illappct-1979.