People v. Doss

324 N.E.2d 210, 26 Ill. App. 3d 1, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3675
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 3, 1975
Docket73-130
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 324 N.E.2d 210 (People v. Doss) 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. Doss, 324 N.E.2d 210, 26 Ill. App. 3d 1, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3675 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE DIXON

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant Ronald Doss was convicted of murder in 1967 and was sentenced to death. An appeal from that conviction to the Illinois Supreme Court resulted in an affirmance of the conviction with orders to remand the cause for resentencing. (People v. Doss, 44 Ill.2d 541.) On remand, the defendant was resentenced to a period of 75 to 100 years.

Defendant subsequently sought a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court. The petition was dismissed and defendant appealed to the United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit. That court reversed defendant’s conviction, ordering the district court to issue the writ. United States ex rel. Doss v. Bensinger (7th cir. 1972), 463 F.2d 576.

Defendant was subsequently retried in Winnebago- County. After a jury finding of guilty, defendant was again sentenced to 75 to 100 years’ imprisonment.

He appeals, contending:

1. That the trial court committed reversible error, in allowing the prosecution to confront defendant with physical evidence which had been previously ordered suppressed.

2. That the trial court committed reversible error in failing to instruct the jury on its own motion as to the limited purpose for which the above evidence offered for impeachment could be considered.

3. That he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

4. That his sentence is excessive.

An extensive Statement of facts appears to be required:

Two unmasked black males entered Marshall’s Superette Grocery Store in South Beloit, Illinois, on April 3, 1967, at about 11:45 P.M. They remained in the store about 10 minutes. The men were identified by the owner’s wife, Jean Marshall, and a store clerk, Gloria Donath, as Ophem Falconer and Ronald Doss. While in the store, Falconer and Doss robbed the establishment of approximately $700, and during the course of the robbery Falconer shot and killed the owner, Linford Marshall.

For the People

Jean Marshall, the widow of the decedent, Linford Marshall, testified that she and her husband owned a grocery store in South Beloit, Illinois. On April 3, 1967, the store was open until 12 midnight. Mr. Marshall, Mrs. Marshall and Miss Gloria Donath were working that night. As they were preparing to close the store at about 11:45 P.M., two men entered. Mr. and Mrs. Marshall were behind the counter. Miss Donath was in the basement. Mrs. Marshall identified Ronald Doss as one of the two men. She identified the defendant four times previous to her testimony. She testified that she was positive that the defendant was one of the perpetrators of the crime. Mrs. Marshall identified the other man as Ophem Falconer.

When the men first entered, they went to the rear of the store. Mrs. Marshall was looking at them at that time, and they were no more than 30 feet away from her. The lighting in the store was very good and she was able to see the faces of both men.

Falconer came up and. put some fruit on the counter. He then walked back and spoke to the other man. When Falconer returned to the counter Mrs. Marshall heard her husband say “Just a minute.” When she looked over, Falconer had a pistol pointed at Mr. Marshall’s chest. Mrs. Marshall then heard a shot and Mr. Marshall fell to the floor. As Falconer prepared to fire again Mrs. Marshall grabbed his arm and began to struggle with him. Doss came behind the counter. Mrs. Marshall then heard another shot, and the next thing that she could recall was waking up at the bottom of the basement stairs. Mrs. Marshall had a head wound that required eight stitches.

Approximately $500 was taken from the cash register; $200 was taken from Mr. Marshall’s wallet. People’s Exhibit 5 was identified by Mrs. Marshall as the pistol that her husband owned and had had in his pocket on April 3, 1967.

On cross-examination, Mrs. Marshall maintained (1) that she could not recaU if defendant was wearing a hat the night of April 3, 1967, (2) that she got a good look at Doss when she was struggling with Falconer, (3) that she did not recall telling an officer that Doss weighed about 130-140 pounds, (4) that on April 4, 1967, she identified both Falconer and Doss in a lineup. Mrs. MarshaU did recaU telling the officer that the man who did not do the shooting was between 6' and 6'2" tall.

Gloria Donath testified that she had been employed by the Marshalls as a clerk, for about 2 years. On April 3,1967, just before closing, she was in the basement straightening up the office. At approximately 11:30 P.M., Mr. Marshall came down to the basement to check out some receipts. She testified that when Mr. MarshaU went back upstairs, he took his pistol with him.

Upon hearing some scuffling upstairs, she ascended the stairs. When she got to the top of the stairs, Miss Donath observed Mr. MarshaU falling. She saw two men. One of the men pointed a gun at her and told her to come out. Miss Donath shut the door. Realizing there was no place to go she opened the door. Mrs. MarshaU walked by her and feU down the basement stairs. The man with the pistol then grabbed her, and at his request she opened the cash register. She identified one of the two men as the defendant, Doss. Miss Donath stated that she got a good look at the faces of both men. She said she was as close as 6 feet to Doss. She testified that she identified Doss the next day in a lineup, that she recognized him in another proceeding in this case 5 years previous. “I remember him because he was standing there and when you look at a person and its something like that, it just sticks in your mind.”

On cross-examination Miss Donath testified that she observed Doss behind the counter at one point in time and then he moved to the door. She stated that she did not recall receiving a sedative at the hospital and did not recaU telling a police officer that Doss was about 6 feet tall and weighed about 130-140 pounds.

John Patton was an acquaintance of both Doss and Falconer. He first saw them on April 3, 1967, around 3:30 P.M., at his home. Besides Doss and Falconer, Speedy Cartwright, Bob Mayfield and Mary Moore were also there.

That afternoon they aU went to a gun store in South. Beloit. Mayfield purchased shotgun shells. Patton believed that Doss purchased .32-caliber shells. They all went out to a dump in South Beloit and did some target shooting. They were using two guns, a shotgun and either a .32 or .22-caliber pistol. Subsequently they returned to the Patton residence. At approximately 5:30 P.M. Patton heard Doss and Falconer talking about holding up MarshaU’s Grocery Store. Falconer asked Patton to drive the getaway car, which he refused to do because Mr. Marshall had given him credit. Doss and Falconer said they would forget it. Patton then drove both of them to the home of Alton Ray.

Patton next saw Falconer and Doss at approximately 12:30 A.M., on April 4, 1967. They knocked on the door, seemed out of breath and asked to be driven to Chicago.

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Bluebook (online)
324 N.E.2d 210, 26 Ill. App. 3d 1, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-doss-illappct-1975.