People v. Mayhew

309 N.E.2d 672, 18 Ill. App. 3d 483, 1974 Ill. App. LEXIS 2837
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 4, 1974
Docket11994
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 309 N.E.2d 672 (People v. Mayhew) 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. Mayhew, 309 N.E.2d 672, 18 Ill. App. 3d 483, 1974 Ill. App. LEXIS 2837 (Ill. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE TRAPP

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant appeals his convictions at a bench trial upon charges of robbery, battery and tampering with a motor vehicle (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 38, pars. 18—1 and 12—3, and ch. 95½, par. 4—102(b) respectively). A sentence of 3 to 9 years was imposed for robbery, but no sentence was imposed on the other offenses for the reason that the trial court construed these charges to arise “out of the same offense”.

In a criminal proceeding a judgment consists of an adjudication of guilt together with the sentence imposed. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1971, ch. 38, par. 102—14; now Ill. Rev. Stat., 1972 Supp., ch. 38, par. 1005—1—12.) As to those offenses upon which no sentence was imposed, there is no final judgment for purposes of appeal and the issues argued as to such offenses are not properly subject to review.

Upon appeal it is contended that defendant was denied due process because the identification at trial followed an unnecessarily suggestive pre-trial photograph identification; that the evidence was insufficient to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; that the court erred in permitting defendant to withdraw his motion for a competency hearing without an evidentiary hearing, and that defendant should not be adjudged guilty of three offenses founded on the same conduct.

The robbery victim, McNamara, parked his Volkswagen bus in a parking lot adjacent to a principal street. It does not appear to be contested that the parking lot and street were well-lighted. As he left a telephone booth on the parking lot at about 11:30 P.M. he observed two men approaching from the side of the bus, and as he returned to it the men came from the rear of the bus and one seized him from behind with a neck lock. The victim was forced toward the front of the bus to the ground and was struck in the eye and kicked in the forehead. He then noticed a third man with the first two. His coat was pulled over his head and his car keys taken, together with $14. He was picked up and shoved into the bus and made to slide across the front bench seat during which time he pulled the coat down and observed the man behind the steering wheel. The latter could not fit the key into the switch. While the coat was pulled back from his head, the man directed McNamara to put the key into the switch and he again pulled the coat down and observed the man’s front and profile. In an effort to escape, the victim pulled the coat down and when the man grabbed him by the neck from behind he sprayed a can of mace over his shoulder, pulled free and ran into the street. A motorist took him to the police station where McNamara gave a description of the appearance of the head and shoulders of the man. He examined some 60 police photographs of individuals but made no identification. Two officers drove McNamara back to his vehicle where various articles, including a draft card, a Social Security card and other personal documents were found on the front seat. McNamara did not examine the documents which were taken by the police. He returned with the officers to police headquarters where he was shown a photograph and immediately identified defendant. Although the documents carried defendant’s name, McNamara was not specifically advised of that fact. Following such identification, defendant was taken in charge on an interstate highway at about 2:30 A.M.

Defendant’s motion to suppress the identification was heard and denied. He argues that the single-photo identification was so suggestive and prejudicial as to bring about a substantial likelihood of misidentification, and that there was a denial of due process as the identification was made from a suggestive source.

Defendant would have tins court adopt an exclusionary rule founded upon a balancing of the suggestiveness of the identification procedure against the degree of necessity in following a particular procedure in evidence. He cites United States v. Washington, 292 F.Supp. 284.

In Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 34 L.Ed.2d 401, 93 S.Ct. 375, the Supreme Court determined that “unnecessary suggestiveness alone” does not require the exclusion of identification testimony. At issue there was a “show-up” some 7 months after the offense with which defendant was charged.

We note that the United States Supreme Court has refused to adopt a rule of per se exclusion in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 18 L.E.2d 1149, 87 S.Ct. 1926, and Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178, 87 S.Ct. 1951. In each case defendant was in custody and had counsel, but was placed in a lineup without counsel or a waiver of counsel’s presence in violation of the defendant’s sixth amendment rights. In each case, there was a remandment to afford the prosecution an opportunity to establish that the identification at trial had a source independent of the line-up identification. Wade reversed the judgment of the court of appeals, which had remanded for a new trial with exclusion of the courtroom identification.

The denial of due process arises where there is a very substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. (Simmons v. United States, 390 U.S. 377, 19 L.Ed.2d 1247, 88 S.Ct. 967.) The test of due process is whether under the “totality of circumstances” the identification made in court was reliable even if the confrontation or pre-trial procedure was suggestive in a greater or lesser degree. Neil v. Biggers, 409 U.S. 188, 199, 34 L.E.2d 401, 411, 93 S.Ct. 375.

Here the record on the motion to suppress permits an evaluation of the factors pertinent to ascertaining the independent original of the identification at trial. McNamara had an opportunity to view the defendant face to face during the episode with the key and during the struggle to escape. His description of facial pock marks and hair was particularly consistent with the face to face encounter. The evidence raises no doubt of ample lighting from the lights of the street and the parking lot. In Coleman v. Alabama, 399 U.S. 1, 26 L.Ed.2d 387, 90 S.Ct. 1999, the identification originated in the victim’s view of defendant in the lights of an approaching automobile. In Neil v. Biggers, the identification originated in the victim’s view of defendant in light from an adjacent hall and from moonlight. The witness’s identification of defendant from the photograph was made within an hour of the robbery, and he had refused to make an identification from a substantial number of photographs initially shown to him.

Defendant would have us conclude that the use of the photograph to identify defendant prior to the time of his arrest was so suggestive as to deny due process under the holding of Foster v. California, 394 U.S. 440, 22 L.Ed.2d 402, 89 S.Ct. 1127. The facts vary substantially. In Foster, the victim could not identify defendant either in a line up or a subsequent show-up confrontation.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Mallek
Appellate Court of Illinois, 2004
People v. Kalwa
714 N.E.2d 1023 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1999)
People v. Robinson
354 N.E.2d 117 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. Cook
354 N.E.2d 122 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. Thompson
347 N.E.2d 481 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)
People v. Funches
341 N.E.2d 195 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1976)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
309 N.E.2d 672, 18 Ill. App. 3d 483, 1974 Ill. App. LEXIS 2837, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mayhew-illappct-1974.