People v. Satek

396 N.E.2d 1133, 78 Ill. App. 3d 543, 33 Ill. Dec. 409, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 3583
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 18, 1979
Docket78-251
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 396 N.E.2d 1133 (People v. Satek) 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. Satek, 396 N.E.2d 1133, 78 Ill. App. 3d 543, 33 Ill. Dec. 409, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 3583 (Ill. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE JIGANTI

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, James C. Satek, was indicted for armed robbery. The trial court suppressed certain testimony of James Poghen, Jr., a prospective witness for the State in the defendant’s trial, after finding that the testimony was obtained in violation of the Illinois eavesdropping statute. The evidence in this record indicates that Poghen participated in the robbery with the defendant. The State appeals the suppression of Poghen’s testimony.

The portions of the Illinois eavesdropping statute (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 14 — 1 et seq.) relevant to this appeal are as follows:

“A person commits eavesdropping when he:

(a) Uses an eavesdropping device to hear or record all or any part of any conversation unless he does so with the consent of any one party to such conversation and at the request of a State’s Attorney; * ” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 14 — 2(a).

“Any evidence obtained in violation of this Article is not admissible in any civil or criminal trial ° * Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 14 — 5.

“The following activities shall be exempt from the provisions of this Article:

# # #

(d) Recording or listening with the aid of any device to any emergency communication made in the normal course of operations by any * * * local law enforcement agency ° Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 14 — 3(d).

The State denies that the eavesdropping was illegal. Further, it denies that the defendant had standing to protest the eavesdropping of Poghen, a third party. Finally, it asserts that even if the eavesdropping was illegal, and even if the defendant has standing under the statute, Poghen’s testimony should not be restricted because he had first hand knowledge of the robbery, independent of the recording.

The evidence at the hearing on the motion to suppress consisted of testimony by village of Bridgeview police officer, Kenneth Osterman, and a stipulation as to the testimony which would be given by William Rasberry, a taxicab driver who witnessed the robbery.

If called as a witness, Rasberry would have testified that he was in his taxicab at a drive-in Photomat store on December 31,1974. The persons in the truck in front of him were acting suspiciously and, when they drove away, Rasberry asked the woman at the booth if she had been robbed. She responded affirmatively and Rasberry followed the truck. The two men fled from the truck after driving some distance. Rasberry was still watching the truck when the police came along and Rasberry told them in which direction the robbers had gone. The police located Poghen within five minutes, near a private residence. When asked by a police officer what he was doing there, he said, “I’ve come to visit someone at that house.” He said he was looking for a friend from work but he was unable to remember the friend’s name. The officer went up to the house and rang the door bell. A woman answered the door and the police asked if she knew Poghen. She said she had never seen him before. Poghen was arrested and charged with the armed robbery of the Photomat store, but he was never indicted. When Poghen was searched, $81 was found in his sock. The robbery proceeds amounted to $185.

Osterman testified that Poghen was arrested and taken to the village of Bridgeview police station about 5 p.m. on the day of the robbery. He was put in the lockup and, about half an hour later, placed in a lineup where he was identified by Rasberry. Poghen did not make any comment when he told that he had been identified. About an hour later, Osterman asked Poghen if he wanted to make a phone call. He responded affirmatively and was taken to Osterman’s office to make the call.

Osterman testified that there are no public phones at the police station. All calls are automatically recorded on the station’s emergency call system. The recording machine makes a beeping sound every 10 or 15 seconds which indicates to the speaker that the telephone conversation is being taped.

Osterman’s office, from where the call was made, measures approximately 9' by 9'. Poghen was not left alone during the phone call. Either Osterman or another policeman was in the room the entire time. Osterman heard Poghen mention “mother” and also heard the name “Jim.” The record contains no further information about the contents of the tape. Poghen was put back into the lockup. About half an horur later Osterman talked to him again. Poghen said he always put his money in his sock because he was afraid of being robbed, and that when he was arrested he was on his way to visit a friend from work, but that he could not remember the friend’s name. Osterman told him the woman who lived in the house outside of which he was arrested said “no such person” lived in the area. Osterman asked Poghen about the “Jim” referred to in the phone conversation; Poghen continued to maintain his silence.

Poghen’s personal property was inventoried and Osterman came across a photograph with the name “Jim” written on the back. Poghen was confronted with this photograph, asked if that was the “Jim” he had referred to during the phone conversation, and was also told that the call had been recorded. Poghen then admitted his involvement in the crime and said “Jim” was Jim Satek, Poghen’s ex-brother-in-law. The identity of the defendant was not known to the police until this time.

Osterman also testified that he did not listen to the recording of the conversation until a day or two after the confession. The trial judge stated that he did not believe this testimony. The recording was routinely erased at the police station, prior to the hearing, when other calls were recorded over it.

The State’s first argument is that the eavesdropping was legal because it occurred as part of an emergency communications system. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1973, ch. 38, par. 14 — 3(d).) It claims the legislature must have realized that emergency call systems would sometimes record a non-emergency call, and that occasional, inadvertent tapings of nonemergency calls should be encompassed by the exception. The State also argues that Poghen should have realized the call was being recorded because a beeping tone occurred every few seconds.

We are not persuaded by these arguments. The exception applies only to “emergency communication[s] made in the normal course of operations” by police departments and other institutions dealing in emergency services. Even if the State’s “inadvertence” argument were to be accepted in regard to incoming calls, we cannot believe the legislature intended that an outgoing call, made from a police station by a private person for private purposes, would be a call made in the normal course of operations by a police department.

We are similarly unconvinced by the State’s argument that Poghen should have known his conversation was being recorded because of the beeping tone which is built into the system. Assuming that Poghen did in fact “know” the conversation was being recorded, a separate question is whether such knowledge would amount to a waiver of his rights under the statute. We believe the question must be answered in the negative.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
396 N.E.2d 1133, 78 Ill. App. 3d 543, 33 Ill. Dec. 409, 1979 Ill. App. LEXIS 3583, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-satek-illappct-1979.