People v. Daniels

473 N.E.2d 517, 129 Ill. App. 3d 894, 85 Ill. Dec. 149, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2641
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 28, 1984
Docket83-0919
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 473 N.E.2d 517 (People v. Daniels) 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. Daniels, 473 N.E.2d 517, 129 Ill. App. 3d 894, 85 Ill. Dec. 149, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2641 (Ill. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinions

PRESIDING JUSTICE MEJDA

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a bench trial, defendant, Elijah Daniels, was found guilty of attempted rape (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 8 — 4) and unlawful restraint (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 10 — 3). The trial court held that the charges merged and defendant was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for attempted rape. Defendant raises a single issue for review: whether he was proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. We affirm.

The following facts were adduced at trial. The complaining witness, a 16-year-old girl, testified that around 10 p.m. on October 18, 1982, she was at Pete’s Store (Pete’s), a video game room located at 3836 West Chicago Avenue. After leaving Pete’s, she walked across the street to a store to buy some popcorn. Defendant, who was with a man known to the witness only as Anthony, spoke to her as she crossed the street. Defendant again spoke to her after she left the store but she did not know what he had said. As she crossed the street, defendant approached her. He was alone. He asked her to go with him, saying he would give her some money if she did so. Complainant replied that she would not go with him. Defendant again asked her to go with him and complainant again refused. At this point, defendant grabbed her right arm tightly, told her to walk with him and not to run, or he would kill her. He then forcibly walked the complainant to a nearby apartment building near the intersection of Chicago and Avers avenues. When defendant opened the door of the building, a woman later identified as defendant’s mother, Willie Mae Daniels, was standing inside. Complainant started to tell defendant’s mother that defendant had forced her there, but defendant pulled her down the stairs into the basement before she could finish.

Once they were in the basement, defendant took her into a small room which looked like a bedroom. He threw two $5 bills in her face. She let them fall to the floor. Defendant told her he would “get his money back and some pussy too.” He then ordered her to take her clothes off. When she refused, defendant again threatened to kill her. Defendant removed his belt, holding the buckle in his hands as if preparing to strike complainant with it. Once more he told her to take her clothes off and once more she refused. Defendant choked her, telling her, “Get in bed. You are going to give me some.” He then told her she could not leave until she gave him what he wanted. He choked her a second time and threw her on the bed. After throwing her on the bed, defendant touched her thighs and ripped her sweat shirt while trying to pull it up. Complainant screamed. A man later stipulated to be defendant’s brother, David Daniels, came downstairs and told the defendant to stop what he was doing, to which defendant replied that it was none of his business. The two men argued, and Daniels allowed complainant to leave. On her way out, she threatened to call the police. Defendant’s mother then attempted to pull her back into the apartment, but Daniels told her to let go of complainant and that defendant deserved it if the police were called. Complainant then ran to Pete’s and told the owner, Pete Nichols, that defendant had tried to rape her. She telephoned the police, who arrived a short time later.

Complainant further testified that one evening a few days later, defendant’s mother and an older man approached her two or three times offering her $15 or $20 to drop the charges against the defendant. Initially she refused. Defendant’s mother then asked her to write a note stating that she would not press charges. Because the two had been following her that evening frightening her, complainant agreed to write the note but did not accept the money that was offered.

During cross-examination, complainant testified that she did not know the defendant but had seen him in the area. In contrast to an earlier statement that defendant spoke to her before she entered the store to buy popcorn, complainant stated that defendant spoke with her after she left the store. She did not want to go with the defendant but did not scream or tell anyone that she was being forced off of the street. After defendant had taken her to the basement, she screamed when he choked her. She did not scream again after he stopped choking her because she was afraid he would hit her with the belt buckle he was holding. Defendant, however, did not strike her with the belt buckle. Later, she noticed that her neck was swollen.

Complainant further testified on cross-examination that defendant never tried to remove her pants or any undergarments. When questioned regarding an earlier statement given at a preliminary hearing that she was in the building from 10 p.m. until shortly after 11 p.m., complainant stated that she was unable to recall how long she had been in the apartment. The witness denied agreeing to have sex with the defendant for $10 and that defendant could not complete the act and wanted his money back. Complainant denied that she gave defendant $5 back, that he took the other $5, and that she became angry over this. She further denied that she told defendant’s mother that nothing had happened. Although she was not threatened into signing the note, complainant signed it because she was scared. Complainant had never had sexual relations with the defendant, and had never taken any money from him.

On redirect examination, complainant testified that she left Pete’s at 10 p.m. and that when the police arrived it was around 11:30 p.m. Defendant’s age was stipulated to be 27 years.

Pete Nichols, the owner of Pete’s Store, testified that at 11:30 p.m. on October 18, 1982, the complainant entered his store looking hysterical and as though she was about to cry. She asked him if she could use the phone. When he asked what had happened, she told him that defendant had tried to rape her. Nichols stated he had known complainant for three or four years and that her reputation in the community was good. His nephew is complainant’s boyfriend. On cross-examination, the witness stated that complainant frequents his game room at least four times a week. She stays until 10 p.m., when he requests that his younger patrons leave.

Ronald Smith, testifying on defendant’s behalf, stated that he owns Ron’s Liquors at 3846 West Chicago Avenue. He observed the complainant, defendant’s mother and brother, Roy Stevenson, together in his bar in October of 1982. Defendant’s mother asked him to change a $20 bill. After receiving her change, she gave complainant some money. Smith did not hear any conversation. The three then left the bar. Smith is not related to any of the three but has seen all of them in the area. Complainant often stops in to buy potato chips and pop.

On cross-examination, Smith testified that he has known defendant’s mother for 10 years and likes and respects her. Stevenson frequents his tavern almost daily. Last year, he barred the defendant from his tavern.

Anthony French, a good friend of the defendant, stated that he was with the defendant all day on October 18, 1982. He and the defendant saw the complainant before she went into the store to buy popcorn. She asked them to wait for her. Ten minutes later she came out of the store, and they all walked back to the apartment building where both defendant and French reside. French opened his apartment door on the second floor so that complainant could use the washroom. They then went to defendant’s apartment on the first floor.

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People v. Daniels
473 N.E.2d 517 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
473 N.E.2d 517, 129 Ill. App. 3d 894, 85 Ill. Dec. 149, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-daniels-illappct-1984.