People v. Levine

426 N.E.2d 215, 99 Ill. App. 3d 141, 55 Ill. Dec. 240, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3136
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 10, 1981
Docket80-100
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 426 N.E.2d 215 (People v. Levine) 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. Levine, 426 N.E.2d 215, 99 Ill. App. 3d 141, 55 Ill. Dec. 240, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3136 (Ill. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE WHITE delivered

the opinion of the court:

The defendant was arrested in Macoupin County, Illinois, on May 29, 1978, for an offense that occurred in Montgomery County, Illinois, on May 28, 1978.

On May 31, 1978, he was charged in an information with unlawful restraint (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 10 — 3(a)). Subsequently, on March 29, 1979, two additional counts were added to the information charging deviate sexual assault (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 11 — 3(a)) and indecent liberties with a child (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 11 — 4(a)(2)). The defendant pleaded not guilty, demanded a trial by jury, was tried by a jury, convicted on all three counts, and sentenced to the Department of Corrections, Adult Division, for a period of 15 years on the charge of deviate sexual assault, 8 years on the charge of indecent liberties with a child, and 2 years on the charge of unlawful restraint, all sentences to run concurrently. He was also fined $1,829.00

On appeal the defendant raises the following issues:

1. The trial court erred in denying defendant’s motion to suppress the in-court identification of defendant by the victim.

2. Defendant was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

3. The State’s Attorney’s closing argument was so prejudicial as to deny defendant a fair trial.

4. The conduct of the State’s Attorney was so prejudicial as to amount to a violation of defendant’s constitutional right of due process.

5. The trial court erred in failing to grant relief to defendant because of pretrial and trial publicity.

6. The trial court erred in denying the defendant’s motion to change place of trial.

7. Trial court erred in denying defendant prompt preliminary hearing on the charges of deviate sexual assault and indecent liberties with a minor.

8. No probable cause existed for the defendant’s arrest.

9. Defendant’s motor vehicle was illegally searched.

10. Trial court erred in denying defendant and his counsel a copy of an anonymous letter from the file of the State’s Attorney.

11. Trial court erred in conducting the voir dire examination of the jurors.

12. The sheriff of Montgomery County violated the defendant’s constitutional rights because of contact with the jury.

13. Trial court erred in communicating with the jury outside the presence of the defendant and his counsel.

14. Trial court erred in permitting testimony of witness Brad Ozee.

15. Trial court erred in admission of certain exhibits of the People.

16. Trial court erred in denying the defendant’s second motion for psychiatric examination of complaining witness.

17. Trial court erred in giving certain instructions of the People.

18. Trial court erred in entering a judgment of conviction on each count of the information.

The Facts

The victim in this case is a 15-year-old minor male residing in Litchfield, Illinois. Because of the nature of the case we have determined that no useful purpose will be served by publishing the name of the victim. Hereinafter, he will be referred to as “the minor.”

On May 28, 1978, at approximately 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the minor was walking from his home in Litchfield, Illinois, to a grocery store to redeem certain trading stamps. Enroute to the store a Chevrolet El Camino vehicle pulled up alongside him, and he was forced into the vehicle by the driver. The driver drove around the city of Litchfield and out into the rural area towards Mount Olive, Illinois, telling the minor that he was looking for a junk yard. During the ride the minor made an effort to jump out of the car, but the driver pulled him back and told him not to try that again, that he had a gun in the glove compartment and would kill him. Dtiring the ride the driver had the minor write his phone number on a grocery receipt and gave the minor a black Flair pen, that wrote with green ink. The pen was in the ash tray of the vehicle. After they returned to Litchfield, the driver let the minor out of the vehicle and drove away. The minor went to his home, called his sister who was working at the Dairy Queen, and told her what had occurred. His sister called the Litchfield city police, and Officer Brad Ozee went to the minor’s home where he • interviewed the minor. In the meantime, the minor had observed the El Camino driving past the house a couple of times.

At Officer Ozee’s initial interview the minor told the officer that the El Camino was silver and white or white with a white covering on it. Officer Ozee returned later that evening to interview the minor again in the presence of his parents, who were out of town at the time of the occurrence. Officer Ozee felt it was best to interview the minor in the presence of his parents. Because of the proximity of Litchfield to the interstate highway, the officer did not immediately put out an alert thinking the El Camino was probably far away.

The next day the minor’s sister observed an El Camino fitting the description given to her by her brother drive past the place of her employment. She notified her mother, who in turn notified the police. Later on the same date the minor’s step-father observed a silver or white El Camino in Litchfield driving towards Gillespie, Illinois. He followed the El Camino towards Gillespie, passed it, and went to the Gillespie Police Department where he informed the dispatcher that the El Camino was in Gillespie and that the driver was wanted for an abduction in Litchfield the previous day. After receiving verification by the Litchfield Police Department a radio dispatch was put out requesting the El Camino, and the driver be picked up and brought back to the Gillespie Police Department. As a result of this radio dispatch a Macoupin County deputy sheriff saw the El Camino, stopped it, and informed the driver he was wanted, requested him to drive to the Gillespie Police Department and followed him there. After the radio dispatcher notified the Litchfield Police Department that they had the defendant in custody, Officer Ozee picked up the minor and transported him to the Gillespie Police Department. At the Gillespie Police Department the minor was shown a photographic lineup consisting of five photographs, one of the defendant in color and four black and white photographs of other individuals. The minor identified the defendant. He was placed under arrest and transported to the Macoupin County jail. The El Camino was taken to a local garage in Gillespie where it was searched, and a black Flair pen that wrote with green ink was found in the ash tray.

Subsequently, charges of unlawful restraint were filed against the defendant.

Several months after the original occurrence, at the request of the State’s Attorney the minor was given a further examination, and as a result of this interrogation the additional charges were filed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
426 N.E.2d 215, 99 Ill. App. 3d 141, 55 Ill. Dec. 240, 1981 Ill. App. LEXIS 3136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-levine-illappct-1981.