People v. Robinson

565 N.E.2d 206, 206 Ill. App. 3d 1046, 151 Ill. Dec. 935, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1853
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 7, 1990·No. No. 1—88—2073·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE MURRAY

delivered the opinion of the court:

Stanley Robinson (Robinson) appeals a conviction and sentence for criminal sexual assault (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, par. 12—13(b)) and attempted robbery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 38, pars. 8—4 (c)(4), 18—1(b)). Following a bench trial, Robinson was sentenced to 12 years with the Illinois Department of Corrections; a sentence of five years for attempted robbery to run concurrent with a sentence of 12 years for criminal sexual assault.

On appeal Robinson argues: (1) he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) he should not have been convicted of attempted robbery because no force was used until after the effort to take money was completed; and (3) a reversal of the robbery conviction requires a resentencing hearing.

For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the trial court.

The victim testified to the following sequence of events. Early in the morning on September 17, 1987, she left her apartment to visit a couple of friends. As she approached the security door leading to the apartment building, the victim observed two men behind her. The large apartment building where her friend lived had a locked outer door. The two men approached her as she attempted to enter the building. When questioned on direct examination whether the two men said anything to her, the victim stated, “the two guys was [sic] saying something and they started to approach me and so I got scared and juggled the door *** I ran up the steps, and they came behind me.”

The two men followed her up the stairs. They were arguing. The individual accompanying the defendant told the defendant to leave the victim alone, and the defendant responded by saying, “No man, no man.”

The individual, later identified as Robinson, started going through the victim’s jeans saying, “I know you have money. What you doing up here? You have money? You have money.” After searching the victim’s front and back pockets, Robinson began beating her with a striped umbrella and kicking her over the head, neck, and chest. The wooden handle of the umbrella broke off as the defendant delivered blows to the victim’s body. The victim testified that she placed her arms in front of her body as the defendant beat her. The defendant then took out his penis, positioned it towards her face and inserted it in her mouth.

As defendant placed his penis into the victim’s mouth he stated, “I know you can do better than that.” Subsequently, the defendant ordered the victim to pull down her pants, which she did. Shortly thereafter, the defendant pulled the victim to the first-floor landing and continued to force her to perform oral sex. The victim indicated that the lighting conditions of the first-floor landing were “lit up very well” and she was able to “see him very, very well.”

The victim heard the police approach the front of the apartment building. The defendant ran up the stairs while the victim yelled for the police. The police arrived to find the victim exposed. She described her assailant as wearing a striped gray and black shirt with black pants, and that he was “very, very, very dark.” In addition, the victim told the police that her assailant was carrying a striped umbrella with a light-colored, broken wooden handle. After giving the police the description, she was taken to the hospital where she received medical treatment for injuries sustained during the beating. Following the medical treatment, the victim identified Robinson in a police lineup.

Officers Penzine and Pfaller of the Chicago police department both testified. Officer Penzine testified to the following. He received a radio dispatch of a disturbance on Ashland Avenue. As he approached the scene, Officer Pfaller had already arrived on the scene. The two officers proceeded to 6948 North Ashland, where they noticed a woman through the security door. The woman’s pants were pulled down slightly above her ankles. He asked the victim what had happened to her and the victim responded that two black males had attempted to rob her. The victim told him that one of the individuals struck her on the head with an umbrella and forced her to have oral sex with him. After Officer Penzine escorted the victim to the hospital, he returned to the scene of the beating to search for the attacker. Shortly after returning to the scene of the beating, Officer Penzine received a radio dispatch which disclosed the defendant’s alleged location. Officer Penzine drove to the defendant’s apartment, where he met Sergeant Chandler and Officer Pfaller. Officer Penzine knocked on defendant’s door, and a man later identified as Stanley Robinson appeared. The defendant was wearing dark pants and a gray, long-sleeved striped shirt. Upon entering the defendant’s apartment, the officers noticed a striped umbrella with a broken handle standing in the corner.

Officer Pfaller testified that he arrived at defendant’s alleged location just prior to Officer Penzine. The two officers entered the vestibule of the apartment building where they observed the victim run towards them with her pants pulled down slightly above her ankles. The victim described her attacker to Officer Pfaller as a black male, approximately 5 feet 7, 175 pounds, dressed in a gray striped shirt with dark pants. Additionally, Officer Pfaller testified that the lighting conditions of the hallway where the victim was attacked “were good.”

Robinson testified on his own behalf. He denied attacking the victim, but admitted to having contact with her, claiming that she agreed to exchange sexual favors for cocaine. Robinson testified that he finished work at 5 p.m. on September 16, 1987, and went to his apartment for approximately one half hour. He left his apartment to “hang out at a park near Howard Street for a couple of hours.” He then proceeded to Jonquil Street to meet a couple of friends. He consumed alcohol while he was on Jonquil Street. At approximately 8 p.m., he returned home and visited a friend of his located on the first floor of his apartment building. Robinson purchased alcohol for himself and his friend. The two men watched cable television together for several hours. Robinson testified that he left his apartment and went to 6948 Ashland Street, where he purchased a half a gram of cocaine. Robinson was freebaseing the cocaine when he observed the victim enter the apartment.

Robinson testified that the victim approached him and indicated that she would exchange sexual favors for cocaine. He further testified that the victim smoked the cocaine but refused to have sex with him; consequently, when the victim attempted to leave the apartment, “he got kind of steamed and threw the umbrella at her.”

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People v. Robinson, 565 N.E.2d 206, 206 Ill. App. 3d 1046, 151 Ill. Dec. 935, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 1853 (Ill. Ct. App. 1990).

565 N.E.2d 206 (People v. Robinson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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