People v. Parson

341 N.E.2d 744, 33 Ill. App. 3d 827, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3248
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedNovember 20, 1975
DocketNo. 74-263
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 341 N.E.2d 744 (People v. Parson) 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. Parson, 341 N.E.2d 744, 33 Ill. App. 3d 827, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3248 (Ill. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE JONES

delivered the opinion of the court:

Anthony Parson, James Bizzle, and Marcus Franklin were charged by a five-count indictment with the murders of Joseph Nodiff and Wilbur Greer, the attempt murder of Melvin Lewis, the armed robbery of $150 from Joseph Nodiff, and the armed robbery of a .38-caliber gun from Edward Houston. Parson and Bizzle were tried together before a jury in March 1973. After the State had presented its evidence, the attorney for Parson and the attorney for Bizzle moved for directed verdicts on .all five counts. The motions were .allowed with respect to the attempt murder but denied with respect to all other counts. The jury returned verdicts of not guilty with respect to both defendants on the count of armed robbery of Joseph Nodiff and guilty verdicts with respect to both defendants on the remaining three counts. However, a mistrial was declared when one of the jurors refused to affirm the verdicts upon the polling of the jury.

Parson, hereinafter referred to as defendant, was brought to trial individually in February 1974, again before a jury. He was tried for the murders of Nodiff and Greer and the armed robbery of the gun from Houston. Prior to this second trial it was determined that the jury in the original trial had affirmed the not guilty verdict as to the armed robbery of Nodiff.

The second trial resulted in jury verdicts of not guilty with respect to the murders of Nodiff and Greer and of guilty with respect to the armed robbery of Houston. Judgment was entered upon the verdict and the defendant was sentenced to 30 to 90 years. From the judgment on, the guilty verdict and the sentence defendant brings this appeal. Defendant raises four issues: (1) whether the State proved the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) whether reversible error occurred when the jury was allowed to view a photograph which the trial court later ruled inadmissible; (3) whether reversible error occurred in allowing the State to prove the date of a prior armed robbery of which the defendant had been convicted; and (4) whether the sentence was excessive.

This case arose out of the armed robbery of the Ohio Market in East St. Louis, Illinois,, by three men on May 29,1971. The Ohio Market is a neighborhood grocery store which at the time of the robbery was owned by Joseph Nodiff. During the course of the robbery $150 was taken from the person or presence of Nodiff and a pistol was taken from the person of Edward Houston, a store employee. Also during the course of the robbery Wilbur Greer, a customer, was shot one or more times in the chest and Nodiff was shot once through the head. Nodiff died immediately. Greer died eleven days later from pneumonia which had directly resulted from the wound in his chest.

Defendant’s first contention on this appeal is that the State failed to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the armed robbery of the .38-caliber pistol from Edward Houston. Defendant bases this contention on his assertions that the eyewitnesses viewed the robber only fleetingly and that the jury returned inconsistent verdicts in finding defendant not guilty of the murders but guilty of the armed robbery of .the pistol.

There were three eyewitnesses to the crimes committed at the Ohio Market on May 29, 1971, who testified at the second trial of the defendant. Melvin Lewis and Edward Houston, employees of the store, and Janie Pegues, a customer, each positively identified the defendant at the trial as a participant in the crimes. Lewis testified that he was a meat cutter and on the morning of May 29,1971, was working behind the meat counter in the rear of the store. He noticed two strangers come into the store and up one of the aisles to the meat counter. Both of the men had on matching denim pants and jackets. One of the two men, whom Lewis later identified as the defendant, ordered some baloney. As Lewis was slicing the meat, he kept looking back at the two men. One of the two men kept looking toward the rear entrance of the store. A third man dressed in a matching denim outfit then came in the rear door arid ordered Lewis to get down on the floor. Lewis noticed that this third man was armed. The other two men went away from the meat counter toward tire front of the store and Lewis was not able to see them again.

Houston testified that as he was working in an aisle of the store he heard the recoil of an automatic weapon behind him. He turned to the source of the sound and a man whom Houston identified as the defendant announced a holdup and told Houston to turn around. Before Houston complied with the command he was able to observe the weapon, the defendant’s clothing, and the defendant’s face, which was not concealed in any way.

Janie Pegues testified that as she entered the front of the store a man announced to her that a holdup was taking place. She asked the man what he had said, and he repeated that it was a holdup and told her to go to the rear of the store and lie on the floor. The man had on a blue jean outfit and black gloves and had a gun in his hand. Mrs. Pegues later identified this man as the defendant. Mrs. Pegues went to the rear of tire store; she did not lie down, however, but instead stood facing the front of the store and observed the man who had announced the holdup to her standing near the front doors.

The record clearly demonstrates that defendant was positively identified by three witnesses as a participant in the criminal activity which took place at the Ohio Market. The testimony of these three witnesses belies any assertion that they were able to view the defendant only fieetingly.

The thrust of the second part of the reasonable doubt argument made by defendant is that, if defendant was sufficiently identified as a participant in the crimes, it was inconsistent to convict him of the armed robbery of Houston’s pistol while not convicting him of the murders of Nodiff and Greer. Although it is not clear that a reversal of this case would be required if we in fact found the verdicts to be inconsistent (see People v. Hairston, 46 Ill.2d 348, 263 N.E.2d 840; People v. Dawson, 60 Ill.2d 278, 326 N.E.2d 755), we find it unnecessary to discuss that point, for under the circumstances of this case there was no inconsistency in the verdicts.

As stated previously, defendant’s second trial was for three offenses— ■the murder of Joseph Nodiff, the murder of Wilbur Greer, and the aimed robbery of a pistol from Edward Houston. Among the jury instructions given were IPI 7.01, 7.02, 14.01, and 14.02. These instructions were given in full, with no modification other than the insertion of the names of the victims and the term “armed robbery” where appropriate. No instruction on the law of accountability was given, however. IPI 7.02 says in part:

“To sustain the charge of murder, the State must prove the following propositions:
First: That the defendant performed the acts which caused the death of____;
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
341 N.E.2d 744, 33 Ill. App. 3d 827, 1975 Ill. App. LEXIS 3248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-parson-illappct-1975.