People v. Horne

473 N.E.2d 465, 129 Ill. App. 3d 1066, 85 Ill. Dec. 97, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2657
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 28, 1984
Docket83-1182
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 473 N.E.2d 465 (People v. Horne) 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. Horne, 473 N.E.2d 465, 129 Ill. App. 3d 1066, 85 Ill. Dec. 97, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2657 (Ill. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE HARTMAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

After a jury found defendant guilty of two counts each of rape, attempted murder, aggravated battery, armed violence, and home invasion, and one count of armed robbery, the circuit court sentenced him to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 120 years. On appeal, defendant raises as issues whether: (1) he was denied a fair trial by certain alleged instances of prosecutorial misconduct; (2) his extended term sentence for attempted murder was improper; (3) he was erroneously sentenced for both armed violence and attempted murder; and (4) his sentences were improperly augmented by application of both extended term and consecutive sentencing provisions.

At trial, J.T. testified that after she left work at 8 p.m. on May 10, 1982, she went to the home of her friend, M.S., who was babysitting J.T.’s five-year-old daughter. While she was there, defendant stopped by and conversed with M.S. in the kitchen while J.T. watched television in the living room. M.S. and defendant came into the living room, where they all watched television; defendant then left. J.T. lay down on the living room floor, fully dressed, and fell asleep. The next thing she recalled was waking up in the burn unit of Cook County Hospital, where she remained for two months, after which she spent five months at Oak Forest Hospital. She suffered a head injury, her legs were burned, and all her toes were burned off. She did not see who had hit her on the head.

M.S. testified that on May 10, 1982, she lived in an apartment with her two-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter. Sometime after 8 p.m. on that date, her friend J.T. arrived. J.T. said she was tired and asked to spend the night there. The children were put to bed in the rear bedroom. There was a knock at the kitchen door and defendant, known to M.S. as “Squirrel,” asked to come in for a glass of water. She opened the door and the burglar gates and admitted him. They conversed briefly and then entered the living room and watched television for a “pretty good little while.” She asked him to leave, escorted him to the door, and locked it behind him. After accidentally dropping her cigarettes into the toilet, she went across the street to a 24-hour store. Returning home, she took out her keys to unlock her front door. She heard a “commotion,” turned around, and was struck under her right eye. She struggled with her assailant. They fell against her door and into her apartment. In the kitchen, she recognized her attacker to be defendant. He picked up a hammer, chased her into the living room, and hit her on top of the head, causing her to fall. He dazed her with a blow behind her right ear. Defendant went to J.T., who was still asleep on the floor, grabbed her by her hair, and “he hit her and he hit her and he hit her” with the hammer. He released her head, which dropped to the floor. Every time she moved or moaned, he hit her again. He finally stopped. He vomited beside J.T. He went into the kitchen, where drawers were heard opening and closing. Defendant returned to the living room, and went through J.T.’s pockets, removing her money, bracelet, and earrings. He found two children’s coin banks and shook the money from them. He ransacked the hall closet.

Defendant returned and pulled off J.T.’s pants. He removed his own shorts and inserted his penis inside her, saying, “[a]ct like you like it, bitch, act like you like it.” Defendant then took off M.S.’s pants and cut the bottom of her leotard with a knife. Removing a sanitary napkin, he inserted his penis into her vagina. M.S. “just laid there because I was scared.” She blinked her eyes, unable to keep them closed. He told her: “Bitch, I will spare your life if you open your eyes.” She opened her eyes and asked him why he was doing this. Defendant got up, picked up a cement bank and hit her head twice with it, then broke the bank over J.T.’s head. He had intercourse with J.T. again. He went to the washroom and returned, wiping himself with a towel. He put his shorts back on. He then ransacked the apartment.

From the closet, defendant took a maroon bag containing a zoom lens, tape recorder, CB radio, and TV equalizer. He looked through J.T.’s purse and said, “I’m gone fix it so won’t nobody look at y’all again.” He wrapped J.T. in a comforter and threw a blanket over M.S. She smelled lighter fluid and could hear matches being struck. She smelled something burning. Defendant left the room, returned, and hit the front of her neck with a pop bottle. He then wiped off door knobs and the “places that he had touched” with a towel. He covered her up again. She could hear the striking of matches, and felt the cover begin to burn. She felt the heat on her feet and legs. After she heard the kitchen door close, she pulled off the cover, crawled to J.T. and pulled the comforter from her. The room was filled with smoke. She put out the flames with water, then called the police and fire departments. She told the arriving police what happened and identified and described her attacker. She described the items that might have been taken from her apartment by defendant. She was taken to Loretto Hospital, remaining there three to four weeks. Her hands were burned, her thumb was “separated from” her hand, and her arms, legs and face were bruised.

The Chicago police officer who arrived at M.S.’s apartment at about 3 a.m. on May 11, 1982, testified that M.S., who was covered with blood, said she had been raped. The apartment “looked like a cyclone” had hit it and was covered with a layer of smoke. J.T. was lying on the floor. M.S. said that “Squirrel” had attacked them, describing his clothing to the officer. Defendant was arrested at his home shortly thereafter. Another police officer testified that he found a maroon bag containing a cassette player and a CB radio in the garbage dumpster behind defendant’s apartment building.

A Chicago police microanalyst tested blood samples, vaginal smears, and various items recovered by evidence technicians. Blood from the carpet was found to be type AMN, the same as J.T.’s. The broken cement bank was found to have blood of type A, as well as human hair similar to J.T.’s. Defendant’s fingernail clippings contained blood, but in an insufficient amount to be typed. Defendant’s socks were negative for blood, but human blood, not typed, was discovered on his shoes and shirt. Vaginal smears from both victims tested negative for the presence of spermatozoa.

A physician examined M.S. in the hospital on the morning of May 11, 1982. He observed a hematoma under her right eye, multiple cuts on her head that had been sutured, and an open laceration on her right thumb. The injuries to her head and neck were consistent with hammer blows. A specialist in burn surgery examined J.T. on May 11, 1982, and found 20% of her body, mainly from her knees down, covered with second and third degree burns. She was unconscious and on a respirator. X rays revealed skull fractures on either side of her head, requiring immediate surgery. A microsurgeon performed a bilateral craniotomy later that day. The burn surgeon subsequently operated on J.T. five times and amputated all her toes because they had become gangrenous.

Defendant testified on his own behalf. A month before the subject incident, he went to M.S.’s apartment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
473 N.E.2d 465, 129 Ill. App. 3d 1066, 85 Ill. Dec. 97, 1984 Ill. App. LEXIS 2657, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-horne-illappct-1984.