People v. McCorry

282 N.E.2d 425, 51 Ill. 2d 343, 1972 Ill. LEXIS 436
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 30, 1972
Docket42250
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 282 N.E.2d 425 (People v. McCorry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. McCorry, 282 N.E.2d 425, 51 Ill. 2d 343, 1972 Ill. LEXIS 436 (Ill. 1972).

Opinion

MR. JUSTICE KLUCZYNSKI

delivered the opinion of the court:

Steve McCorry and Thomas Holiday were convicted of murder in a Cook County circuit court jury trial. Each received a sentence of 75 to 100 years in the penitentiary. Defendant McCorry brings this separate appeal alleging that: (1) the pretrial identification procedure devised by police was grossly suggestive and conducive to misidentification, thereby depriving him of due process of law; (2) numerous prejudicial trial errors were committed; and (3) he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

A substantial portion of the facts are recited in the Hobday appeal (People v. Holiday (1970), 47 Ill.2d 300) and need not be repeated here, but we find additional facts and circumstances are necessary for consideration of this appeal.

While at Provident Hospital at approximately 2:15 A.M., Sharon Lee described the youth who left the scene and returned with the gunman, as being 5 feet 10 inches tall with light brown skin and a “natural” hairstyle, and wearing a purple long-sleeved sweater, purple pants and dark shoes.

Shortly after the shooting, Officer David Jackson arrived at the scene and was informed of the prior events by a motorist, later identified as Ernest Robinson. On cross-examination, Officer Jackson testified that this motorist described one of the assailants as being light skinned with bushy hair and wearing a purple shirt and light blue-purple iridescent pants. The officer then resumed his patrol and approximately two blocks from the scene saw the defendant whose clothing matched the description given by the witness, Ernest Robinson. Jackson turned his patrol car around to follow the defendant who hurried across the street and entered a restaurant. He followed the defendant into the restaurant and observed him going to the kitchen door and unsuccessfully attempting to open it. The defendant then turned and sat on a stool. He was placed in the patrol car by the officer and taken to the waiting room of Provident Hospital where he was told to sit on one of the several benches. The officer then stationed himself about five feet away and informed other officers that he had a suspect in custody. It is uncertain as to the number of people in the room at this time, but testimony reveals that at least five and possibly fifteen or more persons were present. Defendant claimed that all these people were elderly, although Officer Jackson stated four other persons were seated on the bench with defendant, and two of them were young with “natural” hairstyles. After being informed by police that she was to view someone, Sharon Lee entered the room, looked about and then identified defendant as the one who returned with the gunman. A motion to suppress this identification testimony was denied at a pretrial hearing.

Sharon Lee stated at trial that she was only a few feet away from the fight, thus enabling her to see the faces of her husband’s attackers. She claimed that defendant was present for several minutes before he left to get his “heat.” Moreover, because of the street lights at the murder scene, she asserted that “you could see anything you wanted to see.”

Defendant, citing Stovall v. Denno (1967), 388 U.S. 293, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199, 87 S.Ct. 1967, and People v. Blumenshine (1969), 42 Ill.2d 508, now argues that the pretrial identification procedure which occurred in the hospital waiting room was unnecessarily suggestive and may have tainted Sharon Lee’s in-court identification. He requests that his conviction be vacated and remanded for a hearing to determine the origin of the witness’s in-court identification. He bases this contention on the fact that Officer Jackson was standing near him at the time of the confrontation, he was the only youth in the room wearing loud, purple clothing and Sharon Lee was informed she was to view someone in the room. He claims that under these circumstances a fair identification was impossible.

A conviction resting upon an in-court identification which may be the product of an unnecessarily suggestive pretrial identification procedure is impermissible (People v. Lee (1969), 44 Ill.2d 161). As we have stated, “the question to be determined is whether under all the facts and circumstances the pretrial identification was accomplished through procedures so fundamentally unfair as to deprive defendant of his constitutional right's and, in this regard, it must be shown by the defendant that the identification procedure employed was so conducive to misidentification as to deprive an accused of due process of law.” (People v. Catlett (1971), 48 Ill.2d 56, 62.) However, not every “show up” will be considered a denial of due process because of saving circumstances such as the witness’s excellent opportunity to view the defendant during the commission of the crime. People v. Catlett, 48 Ill.2d 56; People v. Martin (1970), 47 Ill.2d 331; People v. Speck (1968), 41 Ill.2d 177.

Here, Officer Jackson, based upon information he received from other officers and from Ernest Robinson, knew that shots had been fired and that a victim had been beaten and apparently taken to the hospital. After receiving the descriptions of several of the assailants, Jackson resumed his patrol and apprehended defendant who was taken to the hospital where the alleged suggestive identification took place.

In the present case Sharon Lee had an opportunity to view defendant McCorry for several minutes under adequate lighting at a distance of several feet, and there apparently was no substantial physical variance between her description of defendant and his actual appearance. Moreover, her hospital identification occurred shortly after the shooting. (See People v. Hudson (1970), 46 Ill.2d 177,189.) In view of the totality of the circumstances, we do not believe that the hospital confrontation led to any misidentification of defendant in the present case.

Defendant further contends that numerous prejudicial errors were committed in the admission of certain witnesses’ testimony and remarks by the prosecutor in closing argument. The first objection is to the prosecutor’s opening statement to the jury that intimated that Sharon Lee was pregnant at the time of her husband’s death. The trial court sustained a defense objection to this statement and instructed the jury to disregard it. The identical issue was raised in Thomas Holiday’s appeal briefs and summarily dismissed as without merit. (People v. Holiday, 47 Ill.2d 300, 311; People v. Wilson, 51 Ill.2d 302.) We find that defendant’s'contention here is equally without merit.

It is further argued that testimony, indicating that the State’s witnesses feared for their personal safety because they testified against him, deprived defendant of a fair trial. The first instance cited by defendant concerns the testimony of deceased’s mother-in-law who, in response to a general question as to what she told the police, stated: “I asked the police not to give my address because I didn’t want any members of the gang — ”. Defense counsel’s objection was sustained at this point. The witness’s statement was abbreviated by the objection and we may only speculate as to what the remainder would have been had she been allowed to continue. We believe that the substance of the statement itself was not of such a prejudicial nature as to require reversal.

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Bluebook (online)
282 N.E.2d 425, 51 Ill. 2d 343, 1972 Ill. LEXIS 436, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mccorry-ill-1972.