People v. Decaluwe

938 N.E.2d 181, 405 Ill. App. 3d 256, 344 Ill. Dec. 912, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1109
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided October 19, 2010·No. 1-08-1126·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE CUNNINGHAM

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, James Decaluwe, was indicted for the offenses of armed violence, attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. At his jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, the defendant raised an insanity defense. The jury was provided with the following verdict forms as to each of the offenses: not guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity, guilty, and guilty but mentally ill. On December 14, 2007, the jury found the defendant guilty of armed violence, attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping. The defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied. The defendant was sentenced to consecutive terms of imprisonment of 15 years for armed violence, 6 years for attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault and 6 years for aggravated kidnapping. The trial court denied the defendant’s motion to reconsider the sentences. A notice of appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 606(b) was timely filed by the defendant. 210 Ill. 2d R. 606(b).

On appeal, the defendant raises the following issues: (1) whether his conviction for attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault must be reversed because the “substantial step” element of aggravated criminal sexual assault was not satisfied, and (2) whether the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce into evidence marginally relevant and highly prejudicial photographs. For the reasons stated below, we reverse the defendant’s conviction and sentence for attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault; further, we reverse and remand for a new trial the defendant’s convictions and sentences for armed violence and aggravated kidnapping.

BACKGROUND

The record reveals that on November 17, 2004, at approximately 6 p.m., the defendant James Decaluwe drove his Cadillac automobile to a basketball court at a school in Lincolnwood, Illinois, where several male youths were playing basketball. The defendant asked if any of the youths wanted to help him move boxes for $100, and they all responded affirmatively. The defendant chose the 14-year-old victim (U.A.) from the group of boys.

At trial, U.A. gave the following testimony. He entered the backseat of the defendant’s car but moved to the front seat when the defendant ask him to do so. The defendant introduced himself as “Jack,” and during the ride, the defendant touched U.A. on his shoulder and near his thighs and said that they were “going to have a fun time.” The defendant parked one block from his house, and he and U.A. walked through an alley to the defendant’s backyard. U.A. unlocked the gate at the defendant’s request and they walked through the backyard and entered the basement of the house through the back door. U.A. testified that the defendant said no one else was at home. The defendant asked U.A. to sit on the sofa. The defendant handed U.A. a camera, telling U.A. that U.A. was going to take a picture of the defendant. The defendant then told U.A. that he was going upstairs to change and warned U.A. that if the defendant’s wife came down to the basement, U.A. should hide behind the sofa. The defendant then left for about 30 seconds and returned wearing the same clothing. His jacket was open and a gun was tucked in his waistband.

U.A. further testified that when the defendant allowed him to leave the basement to get water, he opened the door and ran outside. The defendant ran after him. The defendant caught U.A. and held his sweater, brandishing a gun. The defendant pointed the gun at U.A.’s head and said, “You better come back in before I kill you.” U.A. persuaded the defendant to release his grip momentarily. However, when the defendant released his hold on U.A.’s sweater, U.A. ran away from the defendant and escaped. U.A.’s family contacted the police. In the two days that followed, U.A. led police officers to the defendant’s home, described the contents of the defendant’s backyard and gave a description of the camera and gun that he saw in the defendant’s home. He also identified the defendant in a photo lineup and in an in-person lineup.

A day after the event, the Lincolnwood police obtained a warrant to arrest the defendant and a search warrant allowing a search of the defendant’s home and car. The physical search started shortly before midnight on November 18, 2004, and uncovered a green Polaroid camera that U.A. identified in court as the one which the defendant handed him in the basement. The search also turned up shredded photographs in a wastebasket in the defendant’s home. In addition, three photographs along with a Polaroid camera were discovered among the belongings of the defendant’s girlfriend, who also lived in the house. One photograph depicted a dog, one was of the defendant wearing only shorts, and a third photograph was the torso of a nude adult male.

The defendant’s girlfriend, Margaret Cronin, whom he later married, was present at the home at the time of the police search. When asked about the whereabouts of a gun, Cronin at first said that during the prior week the defendant had asked her to take the gun out of the house and she gave it to her boss, William Meskin. Cronin later changed her story and said the defendant and she had driven to Mes-kin’s house just that day, November 18, at approximately 9:30 p.m. and gave Meskin the gun. A police officer drove Cronin to Meskin’s house and they retrieved the gun.

Cronin gave the following testimony during the trial. Starting on approximately November 15, 2004, the defendant had been acting “very psychotic, being very threatening; Q]ust acting very abnormal.” She did not feel safe, so she moved out of the bedroom they shared. Cronin testified that the defendant became very paranoid, that he stated that he heard voices and thought someone was watching him. The defendant spoke of delusional stories about being contacted by a congressman regarding Russian helicopters. Cronin identified the subjects in the photographs that had been retrieved from the home during the police search. They were photographs of the dog that she and the defendant jointly owned, the defendant in his shorts and the defendant’s naked torso. Cronin stated that she had taken the photographs in 1999 “for fun.”

Cronin also stated that neither she nor the defendant had been sleeping for several days leading up to November 18, 2004. When Cronin arrived home from work on November 18, the defendant told her that he had hired a young boy the day before to help pack stereo equipment in the basement because Cronin had told the defendant that he had to move out of the house. The defendant told Cronin that when he left the basement, the boy ran out of the door. The defendant, fearing that the boy had stolen something, yelled at the boy, threatening to kill him. The defendant told Cronin that he feared the police might come and take his gun away since he had threatened to kill the boy.

Cronin agreed that the gun that the prosecutor showed her during trial might have been the gun that belonged to the defendant. She also stated, “a gun is a gun to me. They all look the same, menacing.” Cronin testified that on Monday night, November 15, 2004, the defendant threatened her with a gun because she refused to have sex. She was able to get the defendant to calm down. She also believed that defendant owned a rifle that he kept in the basement.

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People v. Decaluwe, 938 N.E.2d 181, 405 Ill. App. 3d 256, 344 Ill. Dec. 912, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1109 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

938 N.E.2d 181 (People v. Decaluwe) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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