People v. Foster

552 N.E.2d 1112, 195 Ill. App. 3d 926, 142 Ill. Dec. 371, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 330
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 14, 1990
Docket5-88-0465
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 552 N.E.2d 1112 (People v. Foster) 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. Foster, 552 N.E.2d 1112, 195 Ill. App. 3d 926, 142 Ill. Dec. 371, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 330 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE LEWIS

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Charles Foster, was convicted by a jury of one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault of A.B. and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of A.B., but was acquitted of one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of C.F. on May 3, 1988. The defendant filed a post-trial motion on May 26, 1988, which was subsequently denied by the circuit court. The court sentenced the defendant to concurrent sentences of 12 years’ incarceration for his conviction of aggravated criminal sexual assault and seven years’ incarceration for his conviction of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. In addition to his jail sentences, the court ordered the defendant to pay restitution in the amount of $2,500 to the victim for her resultant psychological harm. The defendant appeals his convictions and that portion of his sentencing order imposing restitution.

On appeal, the defendant raises the following issues: (1) that the circuit court erroneously denied his motion to suppress his statements of July 10, 1987; (2) that the court committed reversible error in not removing a prospective juror for cause, thereby forcing the defendant to use a peremptory challenge for removal of this juror; (3) that the court erred in allowing evidence of the defendant’s prior sexual activities with the victim as this prejudiced the defendant; (4) that the defendant was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (5) that the jury was not properly instructed on the elements of the charges against the defendant; and (6) that the court’s imposition of restitution as part of the defendant’s sentence was improper and an abuse of discretion. Because the defendant has raised the propriety of the court’s ruling on his motion to suppress his statements and has raised the issue that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, it is necessary to set forth a statement of facts of this case. However, our recitation of the facts will be confined to that evidence presented in regard to the defendant’s convictions for aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse of A.B., and will not include that evidence presented relating to the charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of C.F., since the defendant was acquitted by the jury of this charge.

At the hearing on the defendant’s motion to suppress, Stephen E. Reenan, an investigator for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (hereinafter DCFS), testified that on the morning of July 6, 1987, he received a report from Springfield, Illinois, that the defendant had allegedly sexually abused W.D., a minor. As a result of this report, Reenan contacted the defendant by telephone, and later that day, without disclosing to the defendant that he was coming to see him, Reenan went to the defendant’s home to interview him about the report.

Reenan testified that DCFS procedures required him to notify the State’s Attorney or an appropriate law enforcement agency when he was to interview a person such as the defendant. Therefore, on July 6, 1987, Reenan notified Gordon Hopp of the Anna police department of his impending visit to the defendant on that day, and Hopp accompanied Reenan to the defendant’s home.

At the defendant’s residence in Anna, Illinois, in Union County, Illinois, Reenan introduced himself and Officer Hopp to the defendant, and explained to the defendant that he was required to ask the defendant questions about the report of the defendant’s alleged sexual abuse of W.D., the defendant’s stepdaughter, which Reenan had received. Before interviewing the defendant, Reenan gave the defendant a form letter which gave the defendant’s name, the victim’s name and a brochure detailing the defendant’s rights and explaining the investigation. After these preliminaries, the defendant agreed to talk with Reenan.

During the interview, Reenan sat with the defendant and Officer Hopp at the defendant’s dining room table. Although Officer Hopp was present, it was Reenan who conducted the interview. The defendant was not given his Miranda warnings (Miranda v. Arizona (1966), 384 U.S. 436, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, 86 S. Ct. 1602) prior to this interview, and when questioned about the report Reenan received, the defendant made admissions regarding his sexual relationship with W.D. At the time of this interview, Reenan was unaware of any case against the defendant regarding his activities with A.B. and C.F., the victims of the case sub judice. Reenan’s interview with the defendant lasted approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, and at no time during the interview did the defendant ask to terminate the interview. Reenan stated that neither he nor Officer Hopp threatened or made promises to the defendant.

The next morning, on July 7, 1987, Reenan talked to the Union County State’s Attorney about the possibility of charges being filed against the defendant based upon the report of the defendant’s sexual abuse of W.D. Reenan’s report of this call, which was admitted into evidence, showed that Reenan was advised by the State’s Attorney that if the case against the defendant was a substantial one, he would file charges against the defendant. The State’s Attorney also told Reenan that the case might be dismissed because the defendant had not been given his Miranda warnings prior to the interview of July 6, 1987. In this same note, Reenan indicated that his goal for the defendant was to get him into a treatment program.

Also on July 7, 1987, Reenan received a telephone call from Kathy Evans, a DCFS investigator from the Marion, Illinois, office. Evans advised Reenan that another DCFS worker’s granddaughter might have been sexually abused by the defendant.

Later this same day, the defendant called Reenan at his DCFS office. Reenan stated that the defendant did not make any statement to him about A.B. or C.F. during this conversation. The defendant indicated to Reenan that he was willing to participate in any treatment program and that he needed help. Reenan did not tell the defendant that he was going to be prosecuted for his activities.

Reenan next talked to the defendant on July 9, 1987, when the defendant called him on the telephone. During this telephone conversation with the defendant, Reenan spoke with the defendant’s mother. The defendant’s mother asked Reenan if the defendant needed an attorney, and Reenan told her that the defendant did not need an attorney to talk to him as he was not a police officer. When Reenan resumed his telephone conversation with the defendant, the defendant disclosed his sexual involvement with A.B. to Reenan. At this time, Reenan scheduled a meeting between himself and the defendant for the following day. Reenan denied that he made the defendant any promises or threatened the defendant during this conversation.

On July 10, 1987, at 1 p.m., the defendant came to the DCFS offices in Anna, Illinois, for the interview with Reenan. Also present at this meeting was Officer Thrailkill, an Illinois State Police officer. Reenan explained that he had had nothing to do with having Officer Thrailkill present, and Reenan had been unaware that a police officer would be present at this interview. According to Reenan, at the beginning of the interview, Officer Thrailkill gave the defendant his Miranda warnings.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
552 N.E.2d 1112, 195 Ill. App. 3d 926, 142 Ill. Dec. 371, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 330, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-foster-illappct-1990.