People v. Stone

378 N.E.2d 263, 61 Ill. App. 3d 654, 18 Ill. Dec. 799, 8 A.L.R. 4th 1, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2884
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 7, 1978
Docket76-495
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 378 N.E.2d 263 (People v. Stone) 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. Stone, 378 N.E.2d 263, 61 Ill. App. 3d 654, 18 Ill. Dec. 799, 8 A.L.R. 4th 1, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2884 (Ill. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE GEORGE J. MORAN

delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Bobby Stone, appeals from a judgment of the circuit court of Saline County entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of committing indecent liberties with a child. The defendant was subsequently sentenced to a penitentiary term of from 4 to 12 years.

The defendant contends on appeal that a statement given by him to the police on February 12, 1976, was coerced and as such should not have been admitted into evidence, that the defendant was deprived of his right to an impartial jury when the court refused to excuse incompetent jurors for cause, that the court erred in refusing certain of the defendant’s instructions and that in any case the conviction should be reduced to the offense of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a child.

The events giving rise to the offense in this case began the morning of February 10,1976, when two young girls, the complaining witness Taresa Dzuris, age 14/2, and Wilma Courtney, age 13/2, ran away from their respective homes in Morganfield, Kentucky. The girls departed Morganfield about 8 o’clock that morning and hitchhiked with a male motorist to Harrisburg where they arrived at midmoming. After roaming around for a while, the girls went to the city park where Wilma became ill and vomited. The complaining witness stated that she then proceeded to a nearby house where she requested a washcloth from the woman who answered the door. Before leaving the park, the girls met a carload of boys who were on their lunch break and who invited the girls to go for a ride with them. Taresa and Wilma voluntarily joined the boys and remained with them for somewhat less than an hour. The boys promised to return for the girls after work; however, when they had not arrived by 6:30 that evening, Taresa and Wilma walked to a nearby pool hall. Taresa denied having drunk any liquor but admitted that her companion had.

Once inside the pool hall the girls met Carl Coseboon, age 20, and asked him for a place to spend the night. The three of them walked to Carl’s mother’s apartment where they were joined by the defendant, Bobby Stone, age 17. Carl explained the situation and asked Bobby if he knew where the girls could stay. Bobby allegedly volunteered his garage whereupon the four spent the night there, sleeping on the same bed. Dzuris stated that sometime during the night she and the defendant had sexual intercourse. From Wilma Courtney’s statement to the police it appears that she and Carl Coseboon also had sexual intercourse that evening.

Taresa Dzuris testified that she wanted to appear older than her true age and in furtherance of that goal actually did tell the defendant she would be 16 in a few months. On direct examination Taresa stated that she had no money and that she engaged in sexual intercourse with the defendant because if she did not, she felt she would have no place to stay. She later stated that she and Wilma spent the night in defendant’s garage because that is where they wished to stay. During their stay together the defendant provided sodas and sandwiches for the girls.

The next day the group sojourned to a bam on a cliff out of town where they remained until several boys arrived to inform the defendant that his father was angry with him and that he should return home. The complaining witness stated that defendant and Carl had planned to take the girls back to Morganfield, but as they walked into town they saw Carl’s mother sitting in a car across from the police station. It appears that Mrs. Coseboon was instrumental in persuading the girls to subsequently turn themselves over to the authorities.

During the evening of February 11, 1976, Taresa and Wilma, accompanied by Mrs. Coseboon, appeared at the police station in Harrisburg. As the police had earlier received a phone call from the parents of one of the girls, they promptly notified the parents of her presence at the station. After the parents’ arrival Taresa admitted to her mother that she had engaged in sexual intercourse the previous night. The girls were immediately transported to the hospital where Dr. Deri D. Warren examined them for evidence of coitus. At trial Dr. Warren testified that his examination of the complaining witness around 10:30 p.m. on February 11, 1976, confirmed the presence of spermatazoa. Shortly before midnight Taresa and her companion made written statements to the police concerning the events of the previous night.

On the basis the above-detailed investigation police officer Kenneth Childers ordered two other officers to arrest the defendant. He specifically instructed them not to ask defendant any questions since he intended to interrogate him later. The defendant was subsequently arrested and read the Miranda warnings. At the suppression hearing defendant testified that Officer Pelhank and Officer Murphy asked him some questions concerning Coseboon’s whereabouts while en route to the Saline County jail. Defendant alleges that at that time he informed the officers he did not wish to discuss the matter. According to defendant the officers then attempted to trick him into talking by asking him why Carl’s sister was crying when they apprehended Carl. When the defendant again refused to discuss the matter, he was searched and left alone in the cell where he promptly went to sleep.

At 3:20 a.m. defendant was awakened and transferred to the booking room where Officer Childers read him “his rights” and commenced interrogating him. At that time defendant requested permission to phone Dawn Pritchett, his juvenile parole officer. He explained that he wished to speak to her before answering any questions because “she told me whenever I had trouble to call her.” In response to defendant’s plea for advice, Ms. Pritchett informed him that it would be in his best interest to cooperate with the police. At the suppression hearing she stated that she advised defendant that it was the policy of the juvenile corrections department to cooperate with county and city law enforcement officials whenever possible; therefore, defendant should answer any questions that the police might put to him. Officer Childers testified that after this conversation the defendant announced, “I am ready to talk with you now. Go ahead. I will tell you what happened.” The defendant then wrote the following statement which we quote in full:

“(BS) Some tine in the Late after noon, Wed. feb. 10. (BS) I meat to runaws foron Kenetucky. how wanted a place to stay. I ask Both girls how old thay were thay Both sead 15M years old. I tock the girls to my house and we stayed in the groge. We all slept on the same Bed. Soné time dering the night Teresa and I had sex. I used (BS) (BS) no force at all. (BS).”

Defendant testified at the suppression hearing that Childers suggested which words he should use in making the statement. In addition, defendant stated that he did not read the printed portion admonishing him of his rights before signing at the bottom of the page. At trial Childers testified that he did not know whether defendant understood the warnings, but that he assumed he did. Finally, the defendant asserted that at the time of the interrogation he was “half-asleep.” After conducting an evidentiary hearing the court refused to suppress the defendant’s statement as involuntary and the statement was subsequently admitted into evidence at trial.

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Bluebook (online)
378 N.E.2d 263, 61 Ill. App. 3d 654, 18 Ill. Dec. 799, 8 A.L.R. 4th 1, 1978 Ill. App. LEXIS 2884, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-stone-illappct-1978.