People v. Steward

940 N.E.2d 140, 406 Ill. App. 3d 82, 346 Ill. Dec. 140, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1290
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided December 3, 2010·No. 1-09-1006·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

JUSTICE HOWSE

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Steven Steward, filed a petition for postconviction relief on February 9, 2009, asserting his actual innocence. The trial court summarily dismissed defendant’s petition, finding that it was frivolous and patently without merit. In doing so, the court determined that although defendant was detained under the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act (725 ILCS 207/1 (West 2008)), he was no longer imprisoned within the meaning of the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122 — 1 et seq. (West 2008)) and therefore he lacked standing to seek relief. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the trial court but vacate certain fees.

BACKGROUND

Defendant Steven Steward was convicted by a jury on May 16, 1996, of attempted aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/8 — 4, 12 — 14(a)(4) (West 1994)) and aggravated battery (720 ILCS 5/12 — 4(a) (West 1994)) and sentenced to 25 years plus 5 years, concurrently, in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Steward filed a direct appeal of his conviction claiming: (1) ineffective assistance of counsel at trial; (2) ineffective assistance of counsel during his posttrial motions, and (3) the trial court erred in granting the State’s pretrial motion in limine to introduce evidence of his prior felony. We affirmed the defendant’s conviction on March 31, 1998. People v. Steward, 295 Ill. App. 3d 735, 693 N.E.2d 436 (1998). Defendant’s petition for leave to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court was denied on October 6, 1998. People v. Steward, 179 Ill. 2d 611, 705 N.E.2d 447 (1998). Defendant subsequently filed a pro se writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court, which was denied.

Steward’s Arrest and Conviction

The following facts are derived from the trial court’s order on defendant’s petition for postconviction relief and a posttrial deposition of witness Patrice B. (Patrice).

On December 2, 1993, at approximately 4 a.m., the victim, Patrice, was walking in her neighborhood when she came across her friend, Fancy. Patrice stopped to talk when Steward approached and asked Patrice if he could talk to her. Patrice replied in the negative, at which point Steward grabbed her by the back of the neck and forced her into an apartment in a nearby building. Steward led Patrice into the bedroom and undressed.

“A *** violent game of cat and mouse ensued, Patrice retreating and [Steward] pursuing, until, ultimately, [Steward] struck Patrice in the head and legs with a hammer and she subsequently agreed to perform oral sex on him. Patrice knelt before [Steward] as he stood naked, overlooking her. She then proceeded to grab his groin, and with great force, wrench his scrotum downward.”

Steward then dropped the hammer he was holding and Patrice was able to flee the apartment to the street. Fancy saw her and called an ambulance. At the hospital, Patrice was treated for a black eye, multiple cuts, puncture wounds, and bite marks on her hand and arm. While at the hospital, Patrice identified herself as “Lisa,” admitted using heroin that night, and admitted she used various other names and birth dates in previous interactions with law enforcement. She also identified Steward’s photograph from a group of five photographs shown to her. Steward’s photograph had been taken at Cabrini Hospital, where he was being treated for injuries to his scrotum, which had been lacerated severely enough to separate it into a front half and a back half. Steward was arrested and convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/8 — 4, 12 — 14(a)(4) (West 1994)) and aggravated battery (720 ILCS 5/12 — 4(a) (West 1994)).

Steward was scheduled to be released from prison to serve a two-year period of mandatory supervised release on March 1, 2006. On February 28, 2006, the State filed a petition to have Steward committed pursuant to the Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act (SVPCA) (725 ILCS 207/1 (West 2004)). The petition alleged Steward was convicted of the offenses at issue here and was also convicted in 1990 of aggravated criminal sexual assault and sentenced to 10 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for that offense.

The State’s petition also alleged that Steward was diagnosed by Dr. Jacqueline Buck with the following conditions: (1) paraphilia, a condition where he is sexually attracted to nonconsenting females; (2) cannabis dependency; (3) he is subject to alcohol abuse; and (4) he has an antisocial personality disorder. According to the petition:

“These mental disorders are congenital or acquired conditions affecting the Respondent’s emotional or volitional capacity which predisposes the Respondent to commit acts of sexual violence.”

On March 30, 2006, the trial court conducted a hearing and found probable cause that Steward is a sexually violent person, pursuant to the SVPCA (725 ILCS 207/1 (West 2004)). The court ordered Stewart detained pending disposition of the petition.

After Steward was detained, his counsel deposed Patrice. Her testimony in the deposition was different in several respects from the testimony she gave at trial. Patrice testified that she knew Homer King, a/k/a Fancy. Patrice had in the past exchanged sex for money with Fancy. Patrice identified this practice as a “date.”

On the day of the incident with Steward, she came upon Fancy in a nearby park and he asked her if she still dated. Patrice testified that Fancy said he had a friend who wanted to date her. Steward approached and Fancy said he was the friend who wanted “to get to know [her].”

Patrice testified that she walked with Steward to an apartment. Steward asked her if she dated and she replied in the affirmative. Patrice testified that she walked into the bedroom and removed her pants but did not remove the three shirts she was wearing. Patrice and Steward engaged in intercourse. Afterwards, she asked to be paid and Steward gave her a bag containing jewelry, clothes and a coat. Patrice testified that she voluntarily engaged in intercourse with Steward a second time.

Shortly thereafter, Patrice was in the kitchen of the apartment and Steward grabbed her and a fight ensued. During the fight, Steward bit Patrice on her arm and hit her on the head with a hammer. Patrice testified:

“And then after that I say okay, I’m going to do what you want me to do, you know. Just don’t hit me.”

Patrice testified that Steward asked her to have a drink and she declined. Testimony continued in the following manner:

“A. He poured him a drink. He unzipped his pants. He told me to suck his penis.

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People v. Steward, 940 N.E.2d 140, 406 Ill. App. 3d 82, 346 Ill. Dec. 140, 2010 Ill. App. LEXIS 1290 (Ill. Ct. App. 2010).

940 N.E.2d 140 (People v. Steward) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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