People v. Dylan E. A.

2023 IL App (4th) 220503-U
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided June 6, 2023·No. 4-22-0503·Unpublished·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

NOTICE FILED This Order was filed under 2023 IL App (4th) 220503-U June 6, 2023 Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the Carla Bender NO. 4-22-0503 4th District Appellate limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1). Court, IL IN THE APPELLATE COURT

OF ILLINOIS

FOURTH DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, ) Appeal from the Plaintiff-Appellee, ) Circuit Court of v. ) Fulton County DYLAN E. A. ) No. 20CF132 Defendant-Appellant. )

) Honorable

) Thomas B. Ewing,

) Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE TURNER delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Lannerd and Knecht concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: The appellate court remanded for a hearing to determine the accuracy of the report of proceedings and to make any necessary corrections concerning the wording of a jury instruction.

¶2 In June 2020, the State charged defendant, Dylan E. A., with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child (720 ILCS 5/11-1.40(a)(1) (West 2018)) and criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20(a)(3)) in connection with the sexual abuse of his son, J.A. According to the report of proceedings, the trial court mistakenly instructed the jury it should find defendant guilty if any of the elements of the crime were proved beyond a reasonable doubt instead of instructing all the elements must be proved. However, the record also indicates the report of proceedings may have been erroneously transcribed and the correct instruction was given.

¶3 On appeal, defendant contends the trial court plainly erred by giving the incorrect instruction. In the alternative, he contends his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance by

failing to object to the instruction. He also argues the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because of inconsistencies in J.A.’s testimony. We remand for a hearing to determine the accuracy of the report of proceedings regarding the jury instruction and retain jurisdiction over this appeal to consider the merits of defendant’s claims based on an accurate record.

¶4 I. BACKGROUND

¶5 On June 19, 2020, the State charged defendant with predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, alleging defendant, who was age 17 or older, committed an act of sexual contact with J.A., who was under 13 years of age at the time of the act, in that defendant made contact with the anus of J.A. with defendant’s penis for the purpose of sexual gratification or arousal. The State also charged defendant with criminal sexual assault, alleging defendant committed an act of sexual penetration with J.A., who was under 18 years of age at the time of the act. In August 2021, a jury trial was held.

¶6 Evidence at trial showed that, on June 14, 2020, the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) received an anonymous report alleging defendant had sexually abused J.A., who was six at the time. At the time of the call, J.A. lived with defendant, who had an order of protection against J.A.’s mother, Lynzie A. Lynzie no longer lived at the family home. Sergeant Matthew Watters of the Fulton County Sherriff’s Office testified that, on June 16, 2020, he received a call from Lynzie stating she had returned to the family home and found used condoms, which were collected and submitted to the crime lab. Watters did not obtain a search warrant to look for further evidence at the home.

¶7 On June 18, 2020, Phyllis Todd, a forensic interviewer with the Child Advocacy Center (CAC), interviewed J.A. During the interview, J.A. told Todd defendant touched him

inappropriately and anally penetrated him. A DCFS investigator had a discussion with Lynzie about taking J.A. for a physical examination at the Pediatric Resource Center (PRC). According to the investigator, Lynzie initially declined, stating “she didn’t have time and there was a family member issue.” Another witness stated Lynzie was reluctant because she thought the examination would be traumatic. However, after a delay, Lynzie agreed to take J.A. for the examination.

¶8 Dr. Channing Petrak, medical director of the PRC, testified she examined J.A. on June 24, 2020. There were no abnormal findings from J.A.’s physical examination, which Petrak testified would be expected unless a child was examined within a day or so after the incident occurred. Petrak stated normal findings do not exclude or establish abuse. Petrak did not feel it was necessary to search for biological trace evidence such as skin cells or semen because the best chance for that kind of evidence collection was in the first 24 hours after an incident of sexual contact. Since Petrak did not see J.A. for almost two weeks after the reported contact, it would not have been useful.

¶9 J.A. testified he was seven years old and currently lived with his foster parents. He testified he knew the difference between the truth and a lie and said he would tell only the truth in court. J.A. said “[b]efore DCFS,” he lived with his father. J.A. testified about the abuse as follows:

“Q. Did you ever do things with your dad when you lived with him?

A. No, not really.

Q. When you lived with your mom and your dad, did your house have—

what kind of house did you live in?

A. Yellow.

Q. Did it have rooms in it?

A. Yes.

Q. Did it have a basement in it?

A. Yes.

Q. Did you ever do anything with your dad in the basement?

A. Yes.

Q. What kind of things did you do with your dad in the basement?

A. Sex abuse.

Q. Okay. Well, when you say abuse, what do you mean by that?

A. My dad and me had been having sex.

Q. Okay. Has anyone ever talked to you about good touching and bad touching?

A. No.

Q. Do you know what good touching and bad touching is?

A. No.

Q. Do, are there private parts on your body that you know of?

A. Yes.

Q. And can you tell me what you believe the private parts are?

A. The penis and the butt.”

At the State’s request, J.A. stood up and demonstrated the location of his “butt” by pointing to the “the rear area of his bottom.” The colloquy then continued as follows:

“Q. And you said in the basement, you and your dad would have sex. Did that ever involve your penis or your butt?

A. Yes.

Q. Could you tell me about that, how that worked?

A. I don’t really remember.

Q. Okay. Do you remember if you touched your dad’s penis or your dad’s butt?

A. No.

Q. You don’t remember?

A. No.

Q. Well, you said your dad and you would have sex. What did you mean by that? Could you tell me what you mean by that or how that worked?

A. I don’t really know.

Q. Okay. Did you ever tell anyone about your dad and you having sex in the basement?

A. No.

Q. Do you remember how you and your dad started having sex?

A. No.

Q. Do you remember what would happen after you and your dad had sex?

A. No.

Q. Now, when you and your dad had sex, what did it feel like?

A. It hurted.

Q. And when you say what, what part—It hurt you?

A. Yeah.

Q. And what part of you hurt?

A. The back hind, the back hind.

Q. The back kind or the bad kind?

A. The bad kind.

Q. What do you mean by bad kind?

A. My butt.

Q. Do you remember what made your butt hurt?

A. No.

Q. Do you remember if it hurt a little or a lot or somewhere in between?

A. A lot.

Q. What did your dad do to you that made it hurt a lot?

A. Puts his penis in my butt.

Q. And do you remember after he put his penis in your butt, what would you guys do next?

A. We put our clothes back on.

Q. Now, you said you didn’t tell anybody about this?

A. No.

Q. Is there a reason why you didn’t tell anybody about this?

A. My father, my father told me don’t.”

¶ 10 J.A. initially testified he did not remember Todd, but then said she was the first person he told about the abuse. He said he did not tell his mother about the abuse. No one told him what to say in court. He also testified he previously watched “Jeffy videos” on YouTube that his parents did not want him to watch. He said they were “kind of funny.” In one of those videos “the daddy spanked Jeffy,” and Jeffy called 911 and reported his father for sexual assault.

In the video Jeffy said, “[m]y dad put his hand in my butt.” J.A. did not watch any other Jeffy videos that talked about sex.

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People v. Dylan E. A., 2023 IL App (4th) 220503-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2023).

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