People v. Howard

257 N.E.2d 278, 121 Ill. App. 2d 87, 1970 Ill. App. LEXIS 1290
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedFebruary 11, 1970
DocketGen. 53,720
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 257 N.E.2d 278 (People v. Howard) 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. Howard, 257 N.E.2d 278, 121 Ill. App. 2d 87, 1970 Ill. App. LEXIS 1290 (Ill. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE DRUCKER

delivered the opinion of the court.

The defendant was convicted, after a jury trial, of the crimes of deviate sexual assault and robbery. Judgment was entered and he was sentenced to a term of twelve to fourteen years for deviate sexual assault and fifteen to twenty years for robbery, the sentences to run concurrently. On appeal defendant contends that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because his alibi was corroborated by work records and his identification was vague and uncertain.

Testimony of Jacqueline Flynn, the complaining witness:

On January 26, 1967, she lived at 719 West 17th Place. She left her home at approximately 7:55 a. m. to go to work, and as she was walking east on 17th Place she noticed a man across the street walking west. No one else was on the street. She saw the man cross the street. As she kept walking she took a quick look behind her and suddenly there was a hand over her mouth. She screamed and he told her, “If you scream you MF, I’ll kill you.” She said, “Take my money,” or “Don’t hurt me!” She held out her purse and he took it. She had $5 in her wallet. He then took her by the shoulders and across a yard underneath a staircase. She had a good look at his face when she held out her purse. She was only three or four feet from him. She wears glasses and she had them on when the crime occurred. It was bright outside when she left for work. The man was a foot and a half from her while underneath the staircase. She then described the deviate sexual assault.

During the assault she noticed a brilliant gold ring on her assailant’s left little finger. During direct examination the defendant held up his left hand and she looked at the ring he was wearing. It was similar to the one he was wearing on January 27, 1967, in its outside shape, and it also had a rose in the center. It was worn on the same left hand little finger.

After the assault and robbery she ran to a convent across the street. She grabbed some children who were right outside the convent and asked them to help her. They took her to the door where she rang the bell and was let in by a sister. It was about fifteen minutes from the time she left home until she ran to the convent.

At 8:30 a. m. the police came to the convent. She described her assailant as a male Negro, about five-nine or five-ten in height, 165 to 170 pounds in weight, and twenty-three to twenty-five years old. He had on a three-quarter length dark gray coat, black wash pants which were turning gray, and the gold ring.

She was shown photos of suspects the Saturday after the day she was attacked. She did not see anyone that looked like the man who attacked her.

On February 21, 1967, she was brought to the police station where she viewed a lineup of five Negro men. They were all about the same height and build and all wore work clothes. She identified the defendant as her assailant. She did not see him wearing a gold ring as she was not looking for it.

Testimony of William Buegel, called by the State:

He did not know about the assault on the complaining witness but he had been given the defendant’s description by numerous persons. He saw the defendant at 8:05 a. m., on February 21, 1967, at the corner of 18th Street and Racine and went for the police.

Testimony of Frank Argentine, called by the State:

He is a police officer. On February 21, 1967, William Buegel and he had the occasion to see the defendant and placed him under arrest. On his police report he wrote that the defendant was five foot nine in height, weighed 185 pounds and was eighteen years old.

It was stipulated that the defendant is currently eighteen years old.

Testimony of Jack Howard, Jr., the defendant:

He lives at 1427 South Trumbull. He is eighteen years old and at the time of his arrest he was seventeen years old. On January 26, 1967, he was employed by Polo Food Company at 117 South Water Street. He worked from 8:00 a. m. to 4:30 p. m., Monday through Friday.

On January 26, 1967, he got to work about 7:55 a. m. and punched in for work at two or three minutes after eight. He always takes the bus from his home to 18th and Racine and walks north on Racine to 14th Place and then turns right (east) and walks two blocks to the food company.

When he enters the front door of the company he has to show his identification card to a security guard. He then goes to the locker room, changes clothes and goes upstairs to punch the time clock. It takes about five or six minutes from entering the building, getting a fresh coat and hat, changing clothes and punching the clock.

He denied that he committed either the deviate sexual assault or the robbery. He never saw the complaining witness on January 26, 1967. The first time he ever saw her was on February 21, 1967, at the Maxwell Police Station when he participated in a lineup.

He is five feet eleven and weighs about 190 pounds. He got to work about 7:55 a. m. on January 26, 1967. He was arrested on February 21, 1967. He was about five blocks from work at the time of his arrest. It would take him about ten minutes to walk the five blocks to work. He did not work on January 27, 1967. He left work on January 26,1967, at 1:00 or 1:30 p. m.

Testimony of William J. Robinson, called by the defense: He is the personnel director for the South Water Market Polo Food Company. In response to a subpoena he brought the personnel records of the defendant. On January 26, 1967, the defendant punched in at approximately 8:06 a. m. “I say approximately because of the way our time clock works.” The clock punches every six-tenths of an hour. If the time card says 8.1 it would be any time for the period of six minutes after eight to eleven minutes and fifty-nine seconds after eight.

An employee receives a fresh hat and coat for work only once a week, and on Thursday, January 26, 1967, they would already have their coat and hat. An employee would keep the same hat and coat unless it was so torn that a foreman would have to get him a new one.

If a man were in a hurry the whole procedure of changing clothes and punching in would not take very long. A man in a hurry could punch his time card first, before putting on his hat and coat. It is possible for some other employee to have punched the defendant’s time card. The defendant did not work on January 27, 1967, but his time card was punched for that date and then crossed out and initialled by the superintendent. The defendant’s time card for January 26, 1967, showed that someone punched it out at approximately 10:15 a. m.

In his opinion it would be “rather difficult” for a person who left the 700 block of 17th Place at four or five minutes after eight to get to the plant and punch his time card at 8.1 (8:06 to 8:12 a. m.).

He had no personal knowledge when the defendant punched in on January 26, 1967, since he was not employed at Polo Foods on that date. To the best of his knowledge the time clocks are accurate but he did not know the condition of the time clocks on January 26, 1967.

Opinion

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Related

People v. Carter
270 N.E.2d 603 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1971)
People v. Keller
263 N.E.2d 127 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1970)
People v. Nelson
262 N.E.2d 225 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
257 N.E.2d 278, 121 Ill. App. 2d 87, 1970 Ill. App. LEXIS 1290, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-howard-illappct-1970.