People v. Parker

256 N.E.2d 67, 120 Ill. App. 2d 71, 1970 Ill. App. LEXIS 1234
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 29, 1970
DocketGen. 53,781
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 256 N.E.2d 67 (People v. Parker) 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. Parker, 256 N.E.2d 67, 120 Ill. App. 2d 71, 1970 Ill. App. LEXIS 1234 (Ill. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

MR, JUSTICE SCHWARTZ

delivered the opinion of the court.

Defendant was indicted for the murder of one Arthur Brown. The indictment consisted of two counts, the first of which charged that she intentionally and knowingly stabbed Brown and the second, that she stabbed him knowing there was a strong probability of death or great bodily harm. Defendant waived jury trial, was tried by the court and found guilty of manslaughter as a lesser included offense and was sentenced to serve a term of not less than two nor more than three years in the Illinois State Reformatory for Women. The defendant appeals, contending she was acting in self-defense and that the evidence is sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt of her guilt. The facts follow.

Paul Hutson, a security officer for the Illinois Bell Telephone Company, testified that on March 9, 1968 at 10:35 p. m. he was on duty at his employer’s facility at 3456 West Adams Street, Chicago. It was his duty to escort employees to their cars in the parking lot or to the bus stop. As he was escorting an employee through the parking lot on the east side of the building he observed two people standing in a driveway connecting the lot with Adams Street. They were not tussling but were speaking loudly. The lighting conditions were good and he passed within 25 feet of them. Defendant was identified as one of the pair and the deceased was named as the other. The deceased had his hands on the uppermost part of defendant’s arms near her shoulders, while defendant’s hands were on his chest. A moment later the deceased stepped backward a few paces, leaned against a cab which had pulled into the driveway and slipped to the pavement. He had nothing in his hands while he was holding the defendant’s arms nor when he staggered back. Immediately following this the defendant began to walk east on Adams Street while Hutson went to the aid of the deceased. Seeing that Brown was bleeding, Hutson called out to the defendant and asked her to return. She answered that Brown was only scratched and was asleep. She returned to where he was lying, picked up a knife that was nearby, closed it and put it in Brown’s front pocket. Hutson did not notice any cuts or bruises on the defendant at that time.

Daniel McGrory, a Chicago police officer, testified that on March 9,1968, at approximately 10:35 p. m. he was in the vicinity of the telephone company’s facility at 3456 West Adams Street. He saw a security guard (Hutson) motioning to him. He stopped his car, walked over to the guard and saw the deceased lying in the driveway and a woman, whom he identified as the defendant, standing next to the deceased. He removed a knife from the victim’s pocket.

Willie Brown, a cousin of the deceased, testified for the defense that at 4:00 p. m. on March 9, 1968, the deceased telephoned him from the apartment of Emma Wash and asked whether he would join them there. Brown went to the apartment, arriving at about 5:00 p. m. Shortly before 10:00 p. m. defendant and the deceased engaged in an argument during which the deceased brandished a knife and threatened to kill defendant if she picked up some money he had put on a table. Defendant got her coat and left without taking the money. The deceased followed some ten or fifteen minutes later. The witness further testified that he and the deceased shared a pint of whiskey in the apartment and he also testified that he had been present on an occasion prior to the night in question when the deceased cut defendant with a can opener.

On direct examination defendant testified that she was the “common-law wife” of the deceased and had been living with him for fourteen years. In the early evening of March 4, 1968, she and the deceased went to Emma Wash’s apartment. Later that evening the deceased started an argument with her during which he displayed an open pocketknife and said he was going to “cut her.” They had both been drinking. The defendant was afraid he would kill her but did not call the police because she did not want him arrested. She further testified that she left the apartment some five or ten minutes after the deceased had threatened her and that he followed her about five minutes later. There was another confrontation on the street in front of the building they had just left. The deceased attempted to slash defendant with his knife and threatened to kill her when they “got to the house.” She threw two pop bottles at him, but did not hit him.

Defendant further testified that she continued walking toward her apartment until she reached a telephone booth on the premises of the telephone company at 3456 West Adams Street. The deceased who had been following her asked her to dial a number for him and she did so. While he was talking on the telephone he told her he was going to kill her. By the time he finished his call they had both drawn their knives. The deceased cut her on the top of her head, but she was able to grab his right arm and temporarily thwart his attack. While he was trying to free the knife from his right hand she stabbed him because, as she stated, she was afraid of him.

During an extensive cross-examination defendant testified that she “once cut Mr. Brown,” (the deceased) during a knife fight in 1961 or 1962 and that on the night of the occurrence here she stabbed him with her knife. She testified that he did not stab himself with his own knife. She then admitted that on the night she was arrested she had told the police the deceased was stabbed by his own knife. When questioned as to how the stabbing occurred, she testified that while the deceased was talking on the telephone, she pushed open the door to the booth. She changed her mind and tried to close the door, but a struggle ensued when the deceased tried to hold it open. She later testified that he opened the door himself while she was standing in front of it with her back to him. They tussled toward the driveway, but at no time while in the driveway did the deceased lunge at her with his knife nor did he “make any motions as if to cut her.” She further testified that after they struggled a few minutes the deceased staggered backward, bumped into a cab which had just pulled into the driveway and dropped his knife as he slipped to the ground. She then put her knife in her brassiere but not until after Hutson had come to the deceased’s aid and had called her back to the driveway. She was able to keep the knife concealed under her brassiere when she was searched by the matron at police headquarters.

In rebuttal the State called detective Walter Siemieniak who had interviewed defendant at the local police station a short time after her arrest. He informed her of her constitutional rights and interrogated her about the events surrounding the homicide. She told him a different story. She said the deceased threatened her with a knife he held in his left hand and that she swung her arms to knock it out of his grip but instead it was thrust into his chest. Detective Siemieniak also testified that he visually examined defendant’s head at the time he interviewed her and did not find any blood nor did she complain of any injury.

Defendant’s sole contention is that under sections 7-14 and 3-2 of the Criminal Code (Ill Rev Stats, c 38 (1967)) the evidence was insufficient to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt since the State failed to prove the killing was not in self-defense. Section 7-14 of the Criminal Code provides that self-defense is an affirmative defense and section 3-2 provides:

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270 N.E.2d 431 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1971)
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
256 N.E.2d 67, 120 Ill. App. 2d 71, 1970 Ill. App. LEXIS 1234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-parker-illappct-1970.