People v. Joyce

569 N.E.2d 1189, 210 Ill. App. 3d 1059, 155 Ill. Dec. 578, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 477
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 28, 1991
Docket2-89-0139
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 569 N.E.2d 1189 (People v. Joyce) 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. Joyce, 569 N.E.2d 1189, 210 Ill. App. 3d 1059, 155 Ill. Dec. 578, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 477 (Ill. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

JUSTICE GEIGER

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Michael Joyce, appeals from his child abduction conviction (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(b)(10)). He raises six issues which can be summarized as follows: (1) whether section 10— 5(b)(10) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (the Code) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(b)(10)) is unconstitutionally vague; (2) whether the indictment insufficiently set out the nature and elements of the offense; (3) whether the jury instructions conveyed an unconstitutional presumption; (4) whether the jury instructions were deficient since they did not define the statutory language of “other than a lawful purpose”; (5) whether the defendant was proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; and (6) whether the defendant was denied a fair trial by the introduction of evidence that he exercised his constitutional rights during interrogation. We reverse and remand.

On February 16, 1988, a Kane County grand jury indicted the defendant on one count of child abduction (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(b)(10)). A later amended indictment alleged that on January 14, 1988, the defendant intentionally attempted to lure M.W., a child under age 16, into a motor vehicle for other than a lawful purpose and without the consent of a parent.

The defendant sought a bill of particulars to specify both the manner of the alleged attempt to lure M.W. into a motor vehicle and the unlawful purpose that the defendant allegedly harbored at the time. The trial court ordered the State to amend its indictment to include the possible unlawful purposes harbored by the defendant. The State supplemented its indictment by adding a list of 29 possible “unlawful purposes” which included homicide, kidnapping, sexual assault, tattooing the body of a minor, and violation of bail bond.

The defendant then moved to dismiss the indictment, alleging, inter alia, that section 10 — 5(b)(10) of the Code is vague, overly broad, and unenforceable and that, by creating an improper presumption, section 10 — 5(b)(10) shifts the burden of proof to the defendant to prove a lawful intent or innocence. On June 9, 1988, the trial court denied the motion, finding that section 10 — 5(b)(10) was not unconstitutionally vague or overly broad and that it did not shift the burden of proof to the defendant.

The defendant again moved to dismiss the indictment. He sought reconsideration of the trial court’s denial of his June 9 motion. He additionally argued that section 10 — 5(b)(10) of the Code improperly combines choate and inchoate offenses since, in contradiction of the attempt statute (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 8 — 4), luring and attempting to lure a child are treated the same. The trial court denied both reconsideration of its June 9 order and the new motion to dismiss.

Before trial, the defendant moved in limine to prevent the State from introducing evidence that the defendant chose to exercise his constitutional rights after being given Miranda warnings at the time of his arrest. The trial court granted this motion.

On October 24, 1988, the cause proceeded to trial. The State called M.W., M.W.’s aunt D.K., M.W.’s mother D.W., and four Batavia police officers to testify. The defense did not present any evidence.

The following testimony was elicited during trial. M.W. was born on March 20, 1975. In January 1988, she was living with her aunt in Batavia. On January 14, neither her aunt nor her mother gave the defendant permission to ask M.W. into a car or to give her a ride home from school.

On January 14, M.W. left Batavia Junior High School at 2:50 p.m. and walked home alone. While she was walking, a light blue pickup truck passed her heading in the opposite direction. The driver honked his horn and waved. M.W. waved back, thinking he was someone she knew. She noticed the truck turn around to head in her direction.

As M.W. tried to cross a street, the truck turned to block her from crossing. The driver rolled down his window and asked M.W. if she wanted a ride home. M.W. told him, “[n]o,” and kept walking.

The driver asked her name, and she replied, “Sarah.” He then stated, “Sarah, get into the truck. I don’t bite, and I will give you a ride home.” M.W. again said, “No.” She then walked behind the truck to get the license number. Once M.W. walked behind the truck, the driver turned the corner and left. M.W. reported the incident to the police and gave them a description of the truck, its driver, and the license plate number.

On January 15, 1988, Batavia police sergeant Donald Hubbard was on patrol. He noticed a light blue pickup truck pass his squad car. The truck description and the license plate number matched the one in a police report that Sergeant Hubbard had read. He stopped the truck, which was driven by the defendant.

Sergeant Hubbard told the defendant that he had been stopped because he and his truck matched the descriptions from an “attempted child pick up.” Hubbard testified that the defendant then stated, “It doesn’t surprise me that I would be accused of this.” The defendant denied that he had been involved in the attempted “pickup” but that he may have stopped to ask someone for directions. Hubbard arrested the defendant for “attempted child abduction.”

At Hubbard’s request, the defendant followed him to the police station. The defendant received Miranda warnings and was questioned by investigators John Albertson and Fred Buss. Buss testified that he told the defendant that there was no doubt that he had done what the victim had claimed he had done. The defendant initially replied that he did not feel that he could talk about it since he had “a lot of problems” in his life. From the defendant’s statements, Buss opined that the defendant’s unlawful purpose in “luring” M.W. to his truck was for “[s]exual purposes.”

Later on January 15, M.W. came to the Batavia police station. Investigator Albertson showed her six photographs, one being the defendant’s photograph. M.W. selected the defendant’s photograph as that of the person who had told her to get in his truck on the previous day. She also identified the defendant at trial.

After the photographic identification, Albertson spoke with the defendant in the booking area. He informed the defendant of the charge against him. The defendant asked him if his court-appointed attorney would arrive soon. Albertson replied, “no,” but further told him, “[i]f you wish to make a call to a lawyer of your choice, I will provide you with a phone, but if you want a Court appointed lawyer, you will have to make that request to a Judge at bond call.”

The defendant told Albertson that he was not trying to be uncooperative, but that he felt that he should talk to an attorney. Albertson then advised the defendant that he would not be asking the defendant any further questions since he had requested an attorney. Approximately one minute later, the defendant said, “Well, this is what I was going to tell my lawyer anyway.” He then made the following statement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
569 N.E.2d 1189, 210 Ill. App. 3d 1059, 155 Ill. Dec. 578, 1991 Ill. App. LEXIS 477, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-joyce-illappct-1991.