People v. Logston

552 N.E.2d 1266, 196 Ill. App. 3d 30, 142 Ill. Dec. 525, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 401
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMarch 28, 1990
Docket4-89-0559
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 552 N.E.2d 1266 (People v. Logston) 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. Logston, 552 N.E.2d 1266, 196 Ill. App. 3d 30, 142 Ill. Dec. 525, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 401 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

JUSTICE STEIGMANN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Alan Logston, was tried by a jury in McLean County on two counts of home invasion (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 12—11). He was acquitted on one count, convicted on the other count, and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment. On appeal, defendant argues that after jury deliberations had begun, the trial court erred by (1) refusing to grant a mistrial when the jury indicated it was deadlocked, (2) inquiring into the numerical division of the jury, and (3) permitting the deliberating jurors to go home, with directions that they return the next day to the jury room to continue their deliberations. Defendant also argues that the trial court erred by refusing to tender a jury instruction on the offense of battery, by sentencing defendant to 20 years’ imprisonment, and by indicating in the sentencing order that defendant was convicted on both counts of home invasion.

Count I alleged in part that defendant committed home invasion on December 2, 1988, by unlawfully entering the dwelling place in question and intentionally causing injury to a person therein. Count II alleged in part that defendant on the same day committed home invasion when he entered the same dwelling place and, while armed with a tire jack, used force or threatened the imminent use of force upon persons therein. The jury found defendant not guilty on count I and guilty on count II.

Defendant was jointly tried with his codefendant, Tony Logston. The codefendant was acquitted on both counts of home invasion.

I. DEFENDANT’S ARGUMENTS THAT THE COURT INAPPROPRIATELY HANDLED THE DELIBERATING JURY

A. THE COURT’S REFUSAL TO GRANT A MISTRIAL

Defendant contends that the trial court erred by refusing to grant a mistrial when the jury had indicated it was deadlocked. Defendant’s trial lasted less than three days. After nine hours of deliberations, the jury indicated it was deadlocked. The court conferred with counsel and decided to give the Prim instruction (People v. Prim (1972), 53 Ill. 2d 62, 289 N.E.2d 601) (Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Criminal, No. 28.01 (2d ed. Supp. 1987)) to the jury over defendant’s objection. After an additional 21/2 hours of deliberation, the jury was still unable to reach a unanimous verdict and was excused for the night. The following morning, after another 3x/2 hours of deliberations, the jury found defendant guilty on count II and not guilty on count I.

The trial court has broad discretion in determining whether a mistrial should be granted. (People v. Hall (1986), 114 Ill. 2d 376, 405, 499 N.E.2d 1335, 1346, cert. denied (1987), 480 U.S. 951, 94 L. Ed. 2d 802, 107 S. Ct. 1618.) The court’s judgment will not be disturbed unless this discretion is shown to be clearly abused, even though the jury had earlier indicated it was hopelessly deadlocked. (People v. Daily (1968), 41 Ill. 2d 116, 121-22, 242 N.E.2d 170, 173; People v. Allen (1977), 47 Ill. App. 3d 900, 905-06, 365 N.E.2d 460, 464.) There is no requirement that a mistrial be declared because of the jurors’ inability to come to a unanimous verdict immediately. (People v. Jones (1987), 157 Ill. App. 3d 106, 114, 510 N.E.2d 116, 121.) Nor is a trial court required to accept a jury’s assessment of its own ability to reach a verdict.

In Allen, the jury indicated that it was hopelessly deadlocked after deliberating for over six hours. It was sequestered overnight. The next day, after deliberating for several hours, the jury again announced it was hopelessly deadlocked. The judge then gave the Prim instruction, and the jury reached its verdict 11/2k hours later. (Allen, 47 Ill. App. 3d at 903-04, 365 N.E.2d at 462-63.) No error was found.

A similar result was reached in People v. Bravos (1969), 114 Ill. App. 2d 298, 252 N.E.2d 776. In Bravos, the jury deliberated for eight hours before retiring for the night. The next morning, one hour after the deliberations began, the foreman announced that the jury was “completely deadlocked, eleven to one.” The judge ordered the jury to continue deliberating and denied a defense motion for a mistrial. Six hours later, a guilty verdict was returned. The appellate court found no error in the court’s refusal to discharge the jury and declare a mistrial. Bravos, 114 Ill. App. 2d at 311-15, 252 N.E.2d at 782-84.

The circumstances surrounding the jury deliberations in the present case are similar to those in Bravos and Allen. In accordance with those decisions, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for a mistrial.

B. THE COURT’S FAILURE TO KEEP THE DELIBERATING JURY SEQUESTERED

Defendant also claims that the trial court erred by sending the jurors home for the night instead of sequestering them. Section 115 — 4(7) of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 provides the following:

“(l) When the jury retires to consider its verdict an officer of the court shall be appointed to keep them together and to prevent conversation between the jurors and others ***.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 115-4(l).

At 11:30 p.m., 21/2 hours after the Prim instruction was given, the court conferred with counsel about the progress of the jury deliberations. The court noted that the jury had apparently been deliberating during those 2V2 hours. Counsel agreed with the court to ask the jury whether it would be useful to recess and to return the next morning for further deliberations. After receiving the jury’s response that a recess might be helpful, the court indicated it was prepared to let “the jury separate and come back tomorrow for further deliberations.” The court then asked counsel if they had anything to say about that plan, and in response, defense counsel merely adhered to his earlier position that the jury had deliberated long enough and a mistrial should be declared. No objection was stated to the court’s plan to let the jury separate overnight.

The trial court’s failure to keep this deliberating jury sequestered was error and in violation of section 115 — 4(Z) of the Code. However, this issue is waived when, as here, defendant fails to raise it at trial and to present evidence that the jurors were subjected to any improper influences during the period they were not sequestered. People v. Jackson (1982), 105 Ill. App. 3d 750, 758, 433 N.E.2d 1385, 1391.

C. THE COURT’S INQUIRY INTO THE JURY’S NUMERICAL DIVISION

Defendant’s next argument is that the trial court committed reversible error when it asked the jury how it was divided. To resolve this argument, the court’s inquiries must be put in the context of all the interactions between the court and jury once the jury deliberations began.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
552 N.E.2d 1266, 196 Ill. App. 3d 30, 142 Ill. Dec. 525, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 401, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-logston-illappct-1990.