People v. Heidelberg

338 N.E.2d 56, 33 Ill. App. 3d 574, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3202
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 13, 1975
Docket71-197
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 338 N.E.2d 56 (People v. Heidelberg) 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. Heidelberg, 338 N.E.2d 56, 33 Ill. App. 3d 574, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3202 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE BARRY

delivered the opinion of the court:

On June 10, 1970, defendant was indicted for attempted armed robbery and for murder of Sergeant Raymond Espinoza of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department. The officer was shot in the head when he officially interrupted the progress of an attempted armed robbery at the Bellevue Drive-In Theatre westerly of Peoria on May 26, 1970; he died instantly of the wounds. Defendant indicated to the court that he was indigent and was thereafter at various times represented by several different court appointed counsel and also at times, pro se, as hereinafter detailed. A four-week trial commenced November 16, 1970, and on December 15 verdicts were returned finding defendant guilty of all charges. After post-trial motions were heard and denied on January 25, 1971, judgments were entered on the verdicts, and defendant was sentenced to the Illinois State Penitentiary for consecutive terms of not less than 10 years nor more than 14 years for the attempted armed robbery and of not less than 99 years nor more than 175 years for the murder. Tire court advised defendant of his right to appeal but neglected to advise him as to the time within which notice of appeal was required to be filed, in accordance with Supreme Court Rule 605 (Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 110A, § 605). No notice of appeal was filed within 30 days of January 25.

On February 23, 1971, defendant filed, pro se, a petition under section 72 of the Civil Practice Act (Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 110, §72) to vacate the conviction and sentence and for a new trial. On December 2, 1971, defendant filed in this court a pro se motion dated June 16, 1971, for leave to proceed with an appeal from the conviction order entered January 25, 1971, together with a proposed notice of appeal supported by affidavit tending to show excusable neglect. He also filed a motion for appointment of counsel to prosecute the appeal. Later the section 72 petition was dismissed by tire circuit court on April 25, 1973. On May 7, 1973, defendant filed, pro se, a notice of appeal from the said final order entered April 25 “in a proceeding under section 72 * * *” and asked appointment of counsel. The appellate defender was appointed counsel on this appeal also, and has filed a 56-page brief on defendant’s behalf. In addition, defendant has filed, pro se, another brief of 76 pages. The State has responded to both. It is apparent from the briefs of all parties, and the issues argued, that all parties consider the scope of this “consolidated appeal” to involve a direct review of the record of conviction as well as a review of the order dismissing the section 72 petition.

Iii the absence of any objection by the State to a consideration of the issues raised on direct review of the conviction and sentencing order entered on January 25, 1971; and considering that defendant was indigent and that the trial court did not advise him of tire time within which notice of appeal was required to be filed; 1 considering also that the case has been fully briefed and argued, and that a request for leave to file late notice was made, even though filed after the expiration of 60 days; we have elected without meaning to establish precedent (cf. People v. Sweeney, 114 Ill.App.2d 81 (2nd Dist. 1969)), that we will not dismiss sua sponte. (See People v. Williams, 59 Ill.2d 243, 320 N.E.2d 13 (1974); People v. Brown, 54 Ill.2d 25, 294 N.E.2d 267 (1973).) Accordingly, rather than to put defendant and the State to the expense and delay of exercising a different remedy (People v. Scott, 43 Ill.2d 135, 251 N.E.2d 190, 194 (1969)), we shall consider in this consolidated appeal the merits of all issues raised which the records of the separate causes preserve.

A discussion of the evidence given at the criminal trial is essential for an understanding of the section 72 petition and of how some of the other issues arise.

At 1 a.m. on May 26, 1970, a film showing was nearing completion at the Bellevue Drive-In Theatre. Twenty-year-old Mamice Creemans, a projectionist, was on duty in the projection booth with Mrs. Mayme Manuel, the theatre manager, who at the time of trial was 78 years of age. 2 The room was lighted by a 100-watt bulb, another 15-watt bulb, and by light shining from the lamphousing of the projector. A ticket booth or box office was located at the entrance drive.

Creemans and Mrs. Manuel both testified that about 1 a.m., a man came to the window of the booth and mumbled something neither could discern. Creemans directed him to go to the men’s restroom from which a door opened into the booth. When Creemans opened that door, the light from two 60-watt bulbs in the restroom added further illumination to the form of a Negro male, 6 feet tall, weighing about 175 lbs. and wearing a grey sports coat, dark pants and a fight blue shirt. The man asked that Sonya Jackson be paged. When no one answered the page, the man drew a silver-barreled gun, saying, “This is a stick up, I am not fooling, I’ll kill you.” The gunman continued to hold his weapon on both Creemans and Mrs. Manuel for 15 minutes until the show was completed at 1:17 a.m. He then tied Creemans with speaker wires and, leaving him tied on the floor, dragged or pulled Mrs. Manuel across the parking ramps to the box office where he demanded money. Thirty to sixty seconds after Creemans had been left tied, he freed himself, and after calling the sheriff, waited in the booth for police to arrive.

Jerry Lucas, an ex-convict who was employed as a paid informer for the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department testified that he was riding as a passenger in the squad car with Sergeant Espinoza when the latter received the call that an attempted robbery was in progress at the Bellevue. He testified that when they entered the theatre drive, he saw a woman with her hands in the air standing beside a parked blue car and a man nearby. As they approached closer, he saw the man run toward the sheriff’s car and fire from a distance of 10 feet. Sergeant Espinoza slumped in his seat; Lucas threw himself to the floor and the police car crashed into a wall. As he was running toward the sheriff’s car, said Lucas, the headlights shown on the gunman and he could clearly see the man’s face and recognized him as defendant whom Lucas said he had known for 10 years. After the squad car crashed, Lucas drew Espinoza’s gun to protect himself, according to his testimony, and radioed for help. He gave a description of his own clothing so he would not be mistaken for the assailant. He saw defendant drive off with the woman. There was evidence that Espinoza’s gun had not been fired, and that no other weapon was found on Lucas.

City and county lawmen dispatched to the area quickly picked up the trail of defendant’s automobile, and after a high-speed chase through the streets of Peoria it finally crashed into a parked automobile while negotiating a turn at an intersection. Mrs. Manuel was found in the automobile and was removed to the hospital; a lone gunman was seen fleeing the area on foot. With the help of a canine unit, defendant was apprehended a short time later standing in the dark on the rear porch of a house not far from his abandoned automobile. He was bleeding from an injury over the eye, was sweating and breathing heavily.

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Bluebook (online)
338 N.E.2d 56, 33 Ill. App. 3d 574, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3202, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-heidelberg-illappct-1975.