People v. Cross

704 N.E.2d 766, 301 Ill. App. 3d 901, 235 Ill. Dec. 193, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 816
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 2, 1998
Docket1-97-3389
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 704 N.E.2d 766 (People v. Cross) 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. Cross, 704 N.E.2d 766, 301 Ill. App. 3d 901, 235 Ill. Dec. 193, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 816 (Ill. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

JUSTICE BURKE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant John Cross appeals from an order of the circuit court denying him two of four supervised off-grounds passes from the Elgin Mental Health Center. 1 On appeal, defendant contends that the trial court’s judgment was against the manifest weight of the evidence and that it erred in placing the burden of proof upon him as to whether the passes should be granted. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

In 1981, defendant, believing he was acting on orders from God, murdered two women and attempted to murder another woman and her husband after invading their home in order to kill “witches and warlords [warlocks].” Defendant was'found unfit to stand trial in 1981. In 1982, defendant was found not guilty by reason of insanity, remanded to the custody of the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities (DMHDD), and subsequently resided at the Elgin Mental Health Center (Elgin). Over the course of 15 years, defendant received treatment for his illnesses, which included schizophrenia, paranoid type, alcohol abuse, and narcotics abuse. On October 26, 1995, Elgin’s director recommended defendant receive unsupervised on-grounds passes and supervised off-grounds passes. On January 25, 1996, the trial court held a hearing and, based on its determination that the State bore the burden of proof, granted the unsupervised on-grounds passes, but denied the supervised off-grounds passes. Defendant appealed the denial of the supervised off-grounds passes, and we remanded the cause, holding that the trial court erred in placing the burden of proof on the State. Cross I, 289 Ill. App. 3d 876, 684 N.E.2d 135. More specifically, we found that defendant, not the State, had the burden of proof in the hearing to modify his treatment plan pursuant to section 5 — 2—4(b) of the Unified Code of Corrections (730 ILCS 5/5 — 2—4(b) (West 1996)). Subsequently, the need for further hearings on the October 26, 1995, pass recommendation was rendered unnecessary by the filing of a new recommendation with the trial court by Elgin’s director on April 9, 1997, again requesting supervised off-grounds passes in behalf of defendant for the purpose of continuing his treatment. Specifically, the director, based on defendant’s treatment team’s recommendation, sought four passes for defendant to: (1) “attend outpatient group psychotherapy at the Isaac Ray Center”; (2) “attend an outpatient chemical dependency group in the community”; (3) “visit with his children” at his mother’s house; and (4) “attend other supervised off-ground activities which the Treatment Team deems beneficial,” including visits to half-way houses and a community reintegration program.

At a hearing on August 18, 1997, on the director’s recommendation, defendant presented two witnesses. Albert Stipes, M.D., a forensic psychiatrist employed by the Forensic Clinical Services of the Cook County Circuit Court, testified that he examined defendant on May 19, 1997, pursuant to court order. Stipes diagnosed defendant’s illness as ‘‘ [s] chizophrenia, paranoid type, in partial remission with medication and polysubstance abuse.” Stipes based his diagnosis on his personal examinations of defendant in 1997 and 1993, as well as records from Forensic Clinical Services and Elgin. Stipes stated that defendant was currently receiving medication for his illness through an injection every 28 days. It was Stipes’ opinion that defendant was not a risk to harm himself or others, able to “provide for his basic physical need as to guard himself from serious harm,” not subject to involuntary admission, and ready for the type of passes requested. Stipes further stated that the passes would not interfere with defendant’s medication or treatment, would enhance his treatment, would not lead to a resumption of drug use, would not lead to an escape, and would provide reasonable assurances of public safety. In Stipes’ opinion, the passes “[were] necessary to assure his [defendant’s] progress. It’s part of the treatment.” Stipes characterized defendant’s behavior as “cooperative with the staff and *** no incidents of violent behavior or any threat to others or harm to others or to himself during his stay.”

On cross-examination, Dr. Stipes stated that defendant’s treatment records began in 1993, but that defendant’s mental illness existed for a long period of time before that. Stipes limited his testimony on direct examination to incidents of violence during the period from 1993 onward only. However, Stipes stated he was aware that in November 1993 defendant became hostile to staff when they suggested that he increase group and socialization activity, and as a result, defendant was placed in another unit for observation after this incident. In addition, in April 1994, defendant became sexually involved with another patient which resulted in the birth of twin girls. This activity resulted in defendant’s privileges of living in the William White Unit (a less restrictive unit within Elgin) being revoked. Stipes further stated that defendant still resided in a more secure unit at Elgin and had not regained his privilege of living in the William White Unit. Stipes admitted that since defendant began receiving the injections of the medication Haldol, there was an incident, in February 1996, when he refused to take another medication, Cogentin, designed to counteract the adverse side effects of the Haldol. Stipes also testified that, in December 1994, defendant was provoked by another patient and responded by slapping the patient, but Stipes did not consider this an incident of violence since defendant was provoked; in February 1996, defendant asked the staff for a month off from any events or programs because he did not want to participate; defendant had always been considered a “loner” and the staff and doctors attempted to get defendant to integrate himself and become more social; in May 1997, defendant reiterated his desire not to integrate himself into the community; and defendant had indicated that he did not feel he needed anymore therapy, either psychiatric or polysubstance.

Raymond Sipowicz, a psychologist at Elgin, who had been defendant’s individual counselor for approximately two years at the time of the hearing, also testified in behalf of defendant. Dr. Sipowicz stated that he had had contact with defendant for approximately a total of 3V2 years. He met with defendant once a week for individual counseling, which increased to twice a week upon defendant’s request. Over the last few years, defendant had become “much more expressive,” and “much more concerned about what’s going on within himself and within his behavior.” Sipowicz concluded that defendant’s request for more counseling sessions was “a positive indication of some personal growth.” Sipowicz made his determination about recommending the supervised off-grounds passes after reviewing all of defendant’s records, as well as his own personal examinations of defendant. Sipowicz’s opinion was that defendant’s illness went into remission around 1990 based upon the behavioral changes he noticed in defendant. Defendant became less aggressive and irritable, stopped having hallucinations and became better at handling stress.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
704 N.E.2d 766, 301 Ill. App. 3d 901, 235 Ill. Dec. 193, 1998 Ill. App. LEXIS 816, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cross-illappct-1998.