People v. Olesch

492 N.E.2d 1381, 143 Ill. App. 3d 577, 97 Ill. Dec. 508, 1986 Ill. App. LEXIS 2231
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedMay 8, 1986
Docket84-2263
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 492 N.E.2d 1381 (People v. Olesch) 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. Olesch, 492 N.E.2d 1381, 143 Ill. App. 3d 577, 97 Ill. Dec. 508, 1986 Ill. App. LEXIS 2231 (Ill. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE LINN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant, Albert Olesch, was convicted of rape (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 11 — 1), deviate sexual assault (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 11 — 3), aggravated kidnaping (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 10 — 2(a)(3)), and unlawful restraint (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 10 — 3(a)). Olesch was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections to serve concurrent terms of 50 years each for rape and deviate sexual assault under the extended term sentencing statute (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 8—2 ); 30 years for aggravated kidnaping; and 3 years for unlawful restraint.

On appeal, Olesch contends that the trial court committed reversible error in that: (1) the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes charged against him; (2) prosecutorial misconduct during cross-examination of defense witnesses and during closing argument prejudiced his case; (3) the aggravated kidnaping conviction and sentence cannot be sustained because they are inconsistent with the jury’s verdict; and (4) the trial judge improperly sentenced him to extended term sentences for rape and deviate sexual assault in violation of section 5 — 5—3.2(b) of the Unified Code of Corrections (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 1005 — 5—3.2(b)) where the offenses charged were not accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior.

We affirm defendant’s convictions and modify the sentences imposed by the trial court.

Background

At trial, the victim, a 16-year-old girl, testified that on January 8, 1983, shortly after 7 p.m., she left her home at 62nd Street and Troy Avenue in Chicago to meet her friends at the Twist Candy Counter, a game room located at 55th Street and Spaulding Avenue. At that time, she carried in her coat pocket two single dollar bills, a pencil, a blue barrette, a bus pass and some facial tissue.

After walking for about 10 minutes, the victim reached the area of 55th Street and Spaulding Avenue. At that time, a man, whom she later identified as defendant Olesch, approached her from behind, grabbed her around the neck and threatened to kill her if she screamed. When the victim struggled to escape, Olesch tightened his grip around the victim’s neck and told her that he had a knife. Olesch forced the victim to walk down a gangway, through a yard and down an alley, all the time ordering her not to scream and reminding her that he was carrying a knife. When they reached the back of the house later determined to be located at 5635 South Spaulding, Olesch ordered the victim to walk toward the rear of the house and down a back stairwell. The victim stated that she was crying throughout the incident.

Further testimony at trial disclosed that the alley behind 5635 South Spaulding was lighted by artificial city lights on the date and times in question. The light partially illuminated the backyard and stairwell where Olesch had led the victim. The lighting was sufficient for the victim to determine that the stairs in the stairwell were red.

Once Olesch and the victim reached the bottom of the stairwell, Olesch instructed the victim to get undressed. The victim removed her winter jacket and all of the other clothing she was wearing. Olesch put all of the victim’s clothing, except for her blouse, on the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Olesch then loosely tied the victim’s blouse around her head covering her eyes. Olesch next ordered the victim to lie down on the concrete floor at the bottom of the stairs. At that time, Olesch climbed on top of the victim and inserted his penis into her vagina. He engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim for a few minutes. During that time, the blouse which Olesch had tied over the victim’s eyes remained in place for only about a minute before it slipped off. The victim was then face to face with Olesch whose head was only about a foot away from the victim’s own.

When Olesch finally removed his penis from the victim’s vagina, he then instructed the victim to get onto her knees. After she did so, Olesch pushed the blouse back over the victim’s eyes and forced his penis into her mouth for two or three minutes. During this period, the victim could see Olesch’s brown boots as she looked down under the blouse.

When Olesch removed his penis from the victim’s mouth, he instructed the victim to lie down on the stairs of the stairwell. Olesch again inserted his penis into the victim’s vagina. During this second act of sexual intercourse, the blouse covering the victim’s eyes kept falling off of her face and Olesch would push it back up over her eyes. The victim testified that the lighting conditions on the stairs were better than on the concrete floor, and that while positioned on the stairs she saw Olesch’s face from the distance of about one foot for a minute or two.

The victim also testified that Olesch had sexual intercourse with her two more times: once as she sat on the ledge at the top of the stairwell; and once on the sidewalk at the top of the stairs. The victim stated that the lighting conditions dramatically improved as Olesch positioned her further and further out of the stairwell towards the sidewalk. Because the blouse covering the victim’s eyes continued to slip from her face, the victim had an unobstructed view of Olesch’s face from a distance of inches for about another minute and one-half altogether.

Olesch next told the victim to go over to the ledge and kneel down. He then placed his penis in the victim’s mouth for a second time, remaining in this position for a number of minutes. The victim testified that she could again see Olesch’s brown boots.

Finally, Olesch instructed the victim to get dressed and threatened to kill her if she turned around to look at him. At that time, the victim observed Olesch going through the pockets of her winter jacket and pants. After the victim was dressed, Olesch brought her back into the alley. Olesch took the victim to the next block and instructed her to run for the next two blocks and not to turn around. The victim testified that she ran for about one-half block and turned around. Olesch was gone. The victim then ran to the Twist Candy Counter where she met a friend who assisted her in calling the police.

Chicago police officer James Munizzi testified that at approximately 8 p.m. on the night in question he monitored a call on his police radio concerning a rape victim at 55th Street and Spaulding Avenue. He drove to 5500 South Spaulding and found the victim and her friend standing on the corner. Officer Munizzi observed that the victim was emotionally upset and crying. The officer interviewed the victim who described the rapist as having blond hair, long sideburns, a moustache, wearing blue jeans, a jean jacket, another blue jacket, and brown boots. Officer Munizzi broadcast the description over the police radio and proceeded to drive to the scene of the rape with the victim.

As Officer Munizzi drove, the victim directed him to 5635 South Spaulding Avenue. On the concrete floor of the stairwell behind the house, Officer Munizzi spotted the victim’s pencil and blue barrette which she carried from home in her jacket pocket.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
492 N.E.2d 1381, 143 Ill. App. 3d 577, 97 Ill. Dec. 508, 1986 Ill. App. LEXIS 2231, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-olesch-illappct-1986.