People v. DePompeis

102 N.E.2d 813, 410 Ill. 587, 1951 Ill. LEXIS 469
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 27, 1951
Docket31995
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 102 N.E.2d 813 (People v. DePompeis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. DePompeis, 102 N.E.2d 813, 410 Ill. 587, 1951 Ill. LEXIS 469 (Ill. 1951).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Maxwell

delivered the opinion of the court:

Plaintiff in error, Charles Angelo DePompeis, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was convicted by a jury in the criminal court of Cook County of the crime of armed robbery and was sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than ten years and not more than twenty years. He comes to this court by writ of error to review that conviction.

The evidence disclosed that on Thursday afternoon) January 20, 1949, about 1:3o o’clock, a man entered the establishment of Peacock Cleaners at 3937 Lawrence Street, in the city of Chicago. The complaining witness was alone in the back part of the room when he entered. She testified that she started toward the front and saw the man coming toward her with a gun in hand; that he told her to get to the back of the room and when she asked what for he said, “I am going to rob you and I am going to rape you.” She then related how this man made her put her sweater over her head so she could not see him, forced her into a small closet, tore off her clothing, attempted to rape her, and being unable to accomplish this act in the small closet, he forced her, at gun point, to commit an unnatural sex act upon him. She further testified that he took thirteen dollars from her purse and eighteen dollars from the cash register. She stated that she was frightened and hysterical and as soon as he left she ran to the home of a lady next door who called the police. When the police arrived she described the man as being about 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighing 120 to 140 pounds, with dark, wavy hair and dark eyes, dressed in a tan jacket and blue trousers, and was bareheaded. Between January 20, and the following Wednesday, January 26, the witness was taken by the police to various “show ups” to view police suspects and photographs, and on that Wednesday she identified the defendant among four suspects at the police station. At that time he was dressed in a tan jacket and brown trousers and was bareheaded. Adolph Wolf, a Chicago police officer, testified that on the afternoon of January 25 he was in the Wilson Avenue “L” station when he saw the defendant, who answered a description he had heard at roll call; that he stopped the defendant, advised him he was a police officer, and defendant dashed through a door dropping a loaded automatic pistol out of a newspaper he had been carrying; that he scuffled with defendant, subdued him and sent him to the police station; that in the scuffle the defendant tore part of the skin off one of his legs and he went to the hospital for treatment. The automatic pistol and the torn skirt of the complaining witness were introduced in evidence.

Janet DePompeis, wife of defendant, testified that her husband was at home with her all day on January 20, 1949, and they went to work together at 4:30 in the afternoon; that she remembered the day because it was the day before her husband’s birthday. She further testified that she saw defendant at the police station on January 27 and that his eyes were black, his face bruised and his ribs were taped. The defendant testified in his own behalf and denied being in the Peacock Cleaners on the day of the offense, stated that he was at home all that day until he left his home about 3 :oo or 3 :3o in the afternoon to go to work. Pie stated that when he was viewed by the complaining witness at the police station he was not in a group but was alone; that the witness then said, “It looks like him but I am not sure.”

Dr. Bernard Skorodin, a psychiatrist, testified that defendant was suffering from schizophrenia and was adjudged mentally ill on September. 22, 1947, and committed to Elgin State Hospital. He further testified as an expert witness that if defendant was still suffering from this illness on January 20, 1949, he may have known the difference between right and wrong, but might not always have the power to choose between the two. Dr. William H. Haines, a physician, head of the Behavior Clinic of the criminal court of Cook County, testified in rebuttal that he examined defendant on March 1, 1949, and gave his opinion, over defendant’s objection, that the defendant knows the nature of the charge against him and is able to co-operate with counsel; that he knows the difference between right and wrong, can choose between them, and that he is sane. He further testified that, based on his examination of March 1, 1949, the defendant is not committable to any institution for the feeble-minded or insane.

The defendant contends that when he raised the issue of insanity the burden was on the State to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he was sane at the time of the commission of the offense, and this they failed to do. We agree with defendant’s interpretation of the law (People v. Skeoch, 408 Ill. 276,) but we cannot agree that the State has failed to sustain its burden. The adjudication of mental illness of defendant on September 22, 1947, did not place him in the status of a legally insane person on January 20, 1949, as defendant contends. Every man is presumed sane until this presumption is overcome by evidence sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt of sanity at the time of the commission of the crime. Then the burden is upon the State to prove sanity beyond a reasonable doubt. This issue can be proved as any other issue in the case. An adjudication of insanity prior to the offense presents the issue but raises no presumption that the insanity has continued unless it has been proved that the insanity was of a permanent and continuing nature. There was no such proof here. This defendant was adjudged “mentally ill,” a term which embraces all sorts of mental disorders, permanent, temporary or spasmodic. So far as the proof of that adjudication is concerned here, its only effect was to raise the issue and to present another evidentiary fact for consideration of the jury in conjunction with all the other evidence to determine if, at the time of the commission of the offense, the defendant was mentally able to distinguish right from wrong and had the ability to choose between the two. (Langdon v. People, 133 Ill. 382; People ex rel. Wiseman v. Nierstheimer, 401 Ill. 260.) The evidence here shows that defendant, after his commitment, ran away from the hospital after a few days, had been at large since, and there was no evidence of any abnormal conduct between the time of the adjudication and January 20, 1949. The testimony of the defendant’s medical expert was that his mental disorder was not necessarily permanent or continuing and that on January 20, 1949, he might have known the difference between right and wrong but might not have been able to choose between the two. This testimony was based on his examination made on September 22, 1947. The medical expert testifying in rebuttal, basing his testimony on an examination made March 1, 1949, testified that defendant, on the date of the offense, was able to distinguish between right and wrong, was able to choose between them and was sane. The jury was properly instructed on the issue of insanity, it heard the testimony and observed the witnesses and we believe it was justified in finding from this evidence that defendant was sane at the time of the commission of the offense and at the time, of the trial, and in returning its verdict finding defendant guilty as charged in the indictment.

The defendant next contends that the verdict was contrary to the evidence, in that the identification was unsatisfactory.

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Bluebook (online)
102 N.E.2d 813, 410 Ill. 587, 1951 Ill. LEXIS 469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-depompeis-ill-1951.