People v. Vilt

488 N.E.2d 580, 139 Ill. App. 3d 868, 94 Ill. Dec. 581, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 2907
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedDecember 20, 1985
Docket3-83-0127, 3-85-0079 cons.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 488 N.E.2d 580 (People v. Vilt) 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. Vilt, 488 N.E.2d 580, 139 Ill. App. 3d 868, 94 Ill. Dec. 581, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 2907 (Ill. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

JUSTICE SCOTT

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Donald Peter Vilt, on July 29, 1980, was charged by indictment with two counts of deviate sexual assault and single counts of rape and aggravated kidnaping. The victim of these offenses was 17-year-old Theresa Peeler. These charges alleged various sex offenses committed against the victim, and as to the kidnaping charge, the aggravation consisted of a completed rape.

Prior to the trial of the defendant, the State filed a motion in limine wherein it was asked that pursuant to the rape shield statute the defense be not permitted to elicit evidence of the prior sexual activity of the victim and further that the victim not be asked with whom she lived or had lived in the past. This motion was granted by the trial court. During cross-examination of the victim, the State claimed a violation of the motion in limine when counsel for the defendant inquired of the defendant as to whom she had been living with in Valparaiso, Indiana. The victim responded with a person’s name, and counsel for defendant asked whether that person was her boyfriend and further whether the victim had terminated previous employment in order to live with her boyfriend. The State moved for a mistrial, which the trial judge granted after terming defense counsel’s questions as a “flagrant violation” of the in limine order and a violation of the rape shield statute.

Prior to a new trial, the defendant made a motion to dismiss the indictment, contending that the trial judge had improperly declared a mistrial and hence the second trial placed him in double jeopardy. This motion was denied on January 18, 1982.

The new trial commenced in September 1982. The jury returned verdicts finding the defendant not guilty of deviate sexual assault (fellatio) but guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor based on the fellatio count; guilty of deviate sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor based on an anal intercourse count; not guilty of rape but guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor based on having sexual intercourse with the victim, and not guilty of aggravated kidnaping.

The trial court vacated the conviction for deviate sexual assault (anal intercourse) and contributing to the delinquency-of-a-minor conviction. The defendant was sentenced to a term of 325 days of imprisonment and a fine of $900 on counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

From this conviction and sentence imposed thereon the defendant appealed, which was docketed as No. 3 — 83—0127. The State appealed from the trial court’s vacation of the conviction for deviate sexual assault, which resulted in a reversal of the trial court’s order and a remand to the trial court for additional proceeding. (See People v. Vilt (1983), 119 Ill. App. 3d 832, 457 N.E .2d 136.) After remand and additional proceedings, the defendant on the conviction of deviate sexual assault was sentenced to a term of 15 years’ imprisonment, said sentence to run concurrently with a 12-year sentence imposed on the defendant in another case, to-wit, Kankakee County circuit court case No. 80 — CF—175, affirmed on appeal by order of this court on October 7, 1983, as case No. 82 — 550, People v. Vilt (1983), 118 Ill. App. 3d 1166 (Rule 23 order). From this conviction of deviate sexual assault and the sentence imposed thereon the defendant appeals in case No. 3 — 85—0079, which has been consolidated for determination with case No. 3 — 83—0127.

The acts of the defendant as established during his trial and from which these appeals stem are as follows.

Theresa Peeler, age 17, on April 17, 1980, went to a Job Service office in Kankakee. She was approached by the defendant, who advised her about the possibility of obtaining a job at the local Holiday Inn. She accepted the defendant’s offer of a ride to the Inn in order to check on the availability of the job. She entered the defendant’s light green truck, which had a florist sticker on the window. Evidence would establish that the defendant was the proprietor of a commercial landscaping business.

The defendant drove toward Indiana with the explanation that he had to go out of his way in order to deliver a box. He ultimately stopped on a dirt road, restrained the victim Peeler, tied her hands with her belt and removed all of her clothing. He then compelled the victim to perform an act of oral sex upon him. He next ordered the victim to the rear of the truck, where he had anal sex with her. Evidence would establish that at this time another truck came by them. The victim, still bound, was made to “duck” as the other vehicle passed them. The defendant then proceeded to drive back to Kankakee and order the victim to perform another act of oral sex on him while he was driving. The defendant thereafter stopped the truck in a wooded area, ordered the victim to again go to the back of the truck, and after complying with the order, the defendant again had anal sex with the victim. Shortly thereafter the defendant had vaginal intercourse with the victim.

The defendant ultimately returned the victim to the Job Service office. The victim then drove home arriving there at about 6 p.m. Her father and three brothers were at the home, but she did not mention her experiences to them. She bathed and then called her mother in Indiana, who contacted the police.

After talking to the police, the victim was taken to a hospital. An examination disclosed that the victim had fresh bruises, scrapes, vaginal bruising and a bite mark on her breast. Medical personnel noted some non-functional tears in the rectum, and there was some indication of rectal bleeding.

The defendant was contacted by officers from the sheriff’s office and he agreed to participate in a “lineup” for identification purposes. After such participation he was arrested and charged with the offenses which have heretofore been set forth.

Further recitation of evidence adduced at trial will be set forth as the same becomes pertinent to the determination of the issues raised in this appeal.

The defendant first asserts that his convictions should be reversed since they resulted from a second trial conducted in violation of the double jeopardy rule since there was no manifest necessity for the declaration of a mistrial in defendant’s first trial on the charges.

We have heretofore set forth the action of the defense counsel which gave rise to this issue. The trial court determined that the violation of the in limine order concerning the rape shield statute was flagrant and of such seriousness as to dictate a declaration of mistrial.

A mistrial should be granted whenever there is a manifest necessity for the mistrial or the ends of justice would otherwise be defeated. (Illinois v. Somerville (1973), 410 U.S. 458, 35 L. Ed. 2d 425, 93 S. Ct. 1066.) In Somerville the United States Supreme Court recognized that the granting of a mistrial is within the trial court’s discretion and double jeopardy does riot arise unless such discretion was abused. (410 U.S. 458, 461, 35 L. Ed. 2d 425, 429, 93 S. Ct. 1066, 1069.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Barfield
680 N.E.2d 805 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1997)
People v. Kuhfuss
608 N.E.2d 1204 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1993)
People v. Stevens
544 N.E.2d 1208 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1989)
Thomas v. Greer
200 Ill. App. 3d 202 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1989)
People v. Hughes
521 N.E.2d 240 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1988)
People v. Cobbins
516 N.E.2d 382 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1987)
State v. Moore
721 S.W.2d 141 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1986)
People v. Hope
491 N.E.2d 785 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1986)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
488 N.E.2d 580, 139 Ill. App. 3d 868, 94 Ill. Dec. 581, 1985 Ill. App. LEXIS 2907, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vilt-illappct-1985.