People v. Crowe

598 N.E.2d 293, 232 Ill. App. 3d 955, 174 Ill. Dec. 96, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1232
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 3, 1992
Docket4-91-0730
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 598 N.E.2d 293 (People v. Crowe) 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. Crowe, 598 N.E.2d 293, 232 Ill. App. 3d 955, 174 Ill. Dec. 96, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1232 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE GREEN

delivered the opinion of the court:

On September 12, 1988, a two-count information was filed in the circuit court of Douglas County charging defendant Donald J. Crowe with the offense of reckless homicide (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 9 — 3(a)). Count II was dismissed for lack of probable cause after a preliminary hearing. On April 19, 1989, the court allowed a defense motion to dismiss count I on double jeopardy grounds. Upon appeal to this court, we reversed and remanded for further proceedings. (People v. Crowe (1990), 195 Ill. App. 3d 212, 552 N.E.2d 5.) On remand, defendant renewed his motion for dismissal on double jeopardy grounds. That motion was denied. After a trial by jury on September 30, 1991, the court entered judgment on a verdict finding defendant guilty and sentenced defendant to probation for 30 months conditioned upon spending four months in imprisonment and certain other requirements.

Defendant has appealed, asserting two grounds for reversal without remandment and two for merely granting a new trial. He contends that (1) failure of the evidence to show that he caused the death of the victim named in the charge, and (2) constitutional double jeopardy principles entitle him to reversal without remandment. In the alternative, he requests a new trial because the court gave an erroneous instruction and because of rulings in regard to evidence concerning blood tests given to him and the victim. We hold defendant is entitled to a new trial because the court gave a faulty instruction which deprived him of due process. We find no other basis for reversal.

The evidence at trial showed that on August 26, 1988, at approximately 2 a.m. defendant was the driver of one of two vehicles which collided on Illinois Route 45 near Areola. The driver of the other vehicle was killed. Count I of the information charged that defendant had (1) operated his vehicle at a speed unreasonable and improper under the traffic conditions, (2) crossed over the highway centerline when it was not safe to do so, and (3) caused the death of Kelly J. Keigley, all while under the influence of alcohol. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 9 — 3(a).

At trial, the treating physician at the hospital where defendant was taken following the accident testified that defendant’s blood-alcohol concentration was “0.12 percent.” Debra Wilkes, a medical technician at the same hospital, testified that she had drawn the blood sample to measure the alcohol concentration in defendant’s blood and had run the test. The coroner and a deputy sheriff each identified the victim at the scene as Kelly J. Keigley on the basis of her driver’s license. The deputy sheriff testified that when he talked to the defendant both at the hospital and at the scene of the accident, he smelled the distinct odor of an alcoholic beverage on defendant’s breath and observed defendant’s eyes to be bloodshot and his speech slurred. The deputy testified to an opinion that at that time, defendant was under the influence of alcohol.

The defense called several witnesses who testified that they had seen defendant drinking and playing pool in the Knight’s Lounge in Mattoon from about 9:10 p.m. on August 25, 1988, until 1 a.m. on August 26, 1988. All those witnesses testified that they believed the defendant was sober when he left the bar. Defendant testified in his own behalf. He stated that after he left the bar he stopped at a friend’s house for approximately 30 minutes before picking up a sandwich and milk. He then drove north on Route 45 out of Mattoon heading toward his home in Arthur. Defendant testified that the last thing he remembered seeing was the city lights of Areola. He had no recollection of anything from that point until he felt the impact of the collision and pulled himself out of the window of his car.

We summarily reject defendant’s assertions in regard to the existence of a variance between the name of the person alleged to be the victim and the person who was killed in the collision. A death certificate lists the name of the victim as Kelly J. Wilson. However, a driver’s license found on the victim was issued to Kelly J. Keigley and listed the same date of birth and social security number as that stated on the death certificate in regard to Kelly J. Wilson. Most importantly, the coroner testified that the person killed in the collision had the same face and physical characteristics as shown in the photograph on the driver’s license issued to “Kelly Keigley.” The proof was fully sufficient to justify a determination by the jury that the person killed in the collision was the Kelly Keigley listed as the victim in the charge.

Defendant’s double jeopardy claim arises from three traffic charges which were filed against him in the circuit court of Douglas County on August 26, 1988. One of these charges was for the offense of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 95V2, par. 11 — 501). On defendant’s motion, on March 29, 1989, that charge was dismissed for a violation of defendant’s right to a speedy trial. Defendant then moved to have all pending charges against him dismissed, relying on section 3 — 3 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Code) which stated, in relevant part:

“(a) When the same conduct of a defendant may establish the commission of more than one offense, the defendant may be prosecuted for each such offense.
(b) If the several offenses are known to the proper prosecuting officer at the time of commencing the prosecution and are within the jurisdiction of a single court, they must be prosecuted in a single prosecution, except as provided in Subsection
(c), if they are based on the same act.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, pars. 3 — 3(a), (b).

The circuit court allowed defendant’s motion to dismiss, noting that the victim had died at the scene and the prosecution would have known of the existence of a reckless homicide offense at the time the traffic charges were filed. The circuit court also relied upon People v. Rodgers (1982), 106 Ill. App. 3d 741, 435 N.E.2d 963, and People v. Williams (1981), 94 Ill. App. 3d 241, 418 N.E.2d 840, where charges filed after earlier charges arising from the same alleged conduct were held to be barred based on the statutory compulsory-joinder principle when the earlier charge had been dismissed for denial of a speedy trial.

On appeal to this court in Crowe, we recognized the apparent analogy to Rodgers and Williams but also explained that here, unlike in those cases, the original charges had been initiated by the relatively informal procedure of the use of uniform citation and complaint forms. In People v. Jackson (1987), 118 Ill. 2d 179, 514 N.E.2d 983, the supreme court held that the compulsory-joinder provision of section 3 — 3 of the Code is not applicable to prior charges brought on a uniform citation and complaint form (see 107 Ill. 2d R. 552).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
598 N.E.2d 293, 232 Ill. App. 3d 955, 174 Ill. Dec. 96, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 1232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-crowe-illappct-1992.