People v. Jones

286 N.E.2d 87, 6 Ill. App. 3d 669, 1972 Ill. App. LEXIS 2563
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided July 19, 1972·No. 70-198·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE EBERSPACHER

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendants, Wilford Jones and Norbert Jones, were both charged with Rape and Aggravated Kidnapping. The jury entered a general verdict of guilty against both defendants and the court sentenced both defendants to a term of not less than fifty, nor more than one hundred years. Both defendants appeal, claiming numerous errors, each of which is considered.

Both defendants argue initially that the evidence does not establish their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. “Because of the nature of the crime, reviewing courts are charged with an extraordinarily high standard of care in examining the evidence in a rape case.” People v. Brown (1968), 99 Ill.App.2d 281, 241 N.E.2d 653. Therefore a review of the testimony is necessary.

Giselle Jines, a thirteen year old prosecutrix testified that at about five minutes after ten o’clock P.M. she was on her way home with her seven year old sister, when a gold Oldsmobile, with four colored men stopped near her. The man in the passenger side of the front seat got out and the man in the rear seat behind the front passenger seat got out and they asked her for money. There was a streetlight near the place where the car stopped and she saw the two men. She didn’t get a good look at the man in the front seat but it was “maybe” Wilford Jones. Norbert Jones was the man in the back seat who got out of the car. She later stated positively that Wilford Jones was in the front seat. Wilford Jones was wearing a green jersey, but she could not identify a jersey shown to her at trial. She identified a tan safari jacket as that worn by Norbert Jones. The men got back into the car and left. After she rounded the comer, the car pulled up again. She told her sister to run and two men grabbed her and put her in the back seat. She was screaming all the time. They took her to a house, where the four men and another man, who was in the house, had intercourse with her. She did not remember who had intercourse with her first or last, but she was sure that all five participated. After she had been released, a black woman picked her up and drove her home, but she didn’t say anything about the occurrence to her. After arriving home, the police arrived and she showed them the house were the offense had occurred. Then she was taken to the hospital. Subsequently, at a line up, she was not able to identify the defendants at first, but after sitting and looking at the five men in the line up she identified the defendants.

Officer Henderson testified that, while visiting a friend, he observed two white girls walking on the sidewalk. He heard a screech of brakes and saw three men get out of an Oldsmobile and walk up to the girls. Finding the situation suspicious, he went to his car and got a shotgun. As he started across the street, they ran back to the car and drove off. They passed within four feet of where Henderson was standing. He recognized the driver of the car as Wilford Jones. Subsequently he identified Wilford Jones at a fine up.

There was testimony by the examining physician at the hospital that the prosecutrix had been penetrated, and that his findings would not be consistent with a normal type of intercourse. Furthermore, a vaginal smear showed the presence of gonorrhea germs. There was also testimony that some of the prosecutrix’s clothing and the couch on which the acts had occurred revealed the presence of blood and/or seminal fluid.

Officer Russell testified that he received a call at 10:30 P.M. to go to the Jines residence. After talking to the prosecutrix, she agreed to try to locate the house where the offense had occurred prior to going to the hospital. She found the house, which was later identified as having belonged to Helen Moore, Wilford Jones’ mother. After taking the prosecutrix to the hospital, he returned to search the house. He found a wine bottle and coke bottle on the kitchen table. Later testimony showed the wine bottle to contain a finger print which matched the left hand index finger of Wilford Jones. He testified about a conversation he had had with Wilford Jones during which Wilford admitted that he had a sexual problem. Officer Russell stated that a Clarence Moore, who had been implicated in the offense, was living with Norbert Jones. The gold Oldsmobile belonged to Clarence Moore. He identified the safari jacket as the one which Norbert Jones was wearing at the time of his arrest. Also he identified the jersey as the one which Wilford Jones was wearing when he came to the police station.

Anthony Robinson testified that at about 9:00 to 9:30 P.M. on the evening of the alleged offense he received a ride in a gold Oldsmobile in which Clarence Moore and Norbert and Wilford Jones were riding. Wilford Jones was sitting in the passenger’s side of the front seat and Norbert was in the back seat. Moore was driving. He also identified the safari jacket as the one worn by Norbert Jones. After they dropped him off, he went to his sister’s house. At about 10:30 he saw the Oldsmobile in front of the house where the offense had taken place, and he saw some men come out of the house, but they didn’t look like Norbert and Wilford Jones. He was a friend of both defendants.

Lisa Jines, the prosecutrix’s seven year old sister, testified that a car stopped and asked Giselle if she had any money. The car left and then stopped and they took Giselle. She identified one of the defendants, but the record does not specify which defendant. She had overheard a conversation between Giselle and her mother and she knew that Giselle had identified two men. She also knew that the two men pointed out would be in the court room.

Both defendants testified. Norbert Jones testified that he had met Clarence Moore while he was in the armed forces. On the day of the alleged offense, he had gone to fill out a work application in the morning. After returning home, he left again with Moore at about 2:30 or 3:00 and went to a club for some drinks. They stayed there until five or six or seven, when they went to eat in a chop suey place. He then came home about 8:30 P.M. with Clarence and a girl named Cora whom he had met at the club. He identified the safari jacket as his and the jersey as Wilford’s. He met Wilford while near the chop suey place and they all drove to a washrack, where they picked up Robinson. Shortly thereafter, they dropped off both Wilford Jones and Robinson and drove to Norbert’s house. After getting into the house, Norbert sat on the sofa and fell asleep. He did not leave the house until the next day. With regard to the line up, he stated that he had not been advised that he had a right to have a lawyer there. Also, he was number 1 in the line up and Wilford was number 3. He heard a girl’s voice saying that she couldn’t identify who it was and also another voice saying look at number 1 and number 3. Both the prosecutrix and Officer Henderson had denied any such occurrence.

Wilford Jones testified that he had seen Norbert Jones and Clarence Moore at about 6:45 or 7:00 P.M. on the night of the alleged offense. No one else was in the car. They picked him up and drove to the wash-rack, where they picked up Robinson. They dropped off Robinson and one block later dropped off Wilford, who was going to his girl friend’s house. He stayed there until 8:00 P.M. and got a ride home from his brother-in-law.

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People v. Jones, 286 N.E.2d 87, 6 Ill. App. 3d 669, 1972 Ill. App. LEXIS 2563 (Ill. Ct. App. 1972).

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