People v. Wagner

546 N.E.2d 283, 189 Ill. App. 3d 1041, 137 Ill. Dec. 529, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1597
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 19, 1989
Docket4-88-0574
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 546 N.E.2d 283 (People v. Wagner) 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. Wagner, 546 N.E.2d 283, 189 Ill. App. 3d 1041, 137 Ill. Dec. 529, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1597 (Ill. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinions

JUSTICE LUND

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial, defendant was convicted of attempt (murder) and armed robbery, in violation of sections 8 — 4, 9 — 1, and 18 — 2 of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, pars. 8 — 4, 9 — 1, 18 — 2). Defendant was 16 years old at the time of trial, but he was tried as an adult, pursuant to section 5 — 4(6)(a) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 37, par. 805— 4(6)(a)). Shortly after the trial, defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary. (See Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 19 — 1.) The circuit court of Adams County sentenced defendant to a term of 22 years’ imprisonment for attempt (murder), 15 years’ imprisonment for armed robbery, and four years’ imprisonment on each of the three burglary convictions. The sentences were to be served concurrently. In addition, defendant was “ordered to pay restitution as set forth in the Presentence Investigation Report as to each victim.” In particular, the court ordered defendant to pay $44,568 to the victim of the attempt (murder) and armed robbery. Defendant appeals his convictions and sentences for attempt (murder) and armed robbery.

On appeal, defendant raises the following issues: (1) the trial court erred in finding defendant guilty of attempt (murder) because the court concluded defendant did not necessarily have an intent to kill, but that he did have an intent to commit great bodily harm; (2) the court erroneously denied defendant’s motion to suppress because his confessions were induced with the promise that he would be prosecuted under the Juvenile Court Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1985, ch. 37, par. 701 — 1 et seq.)] and (3) the order of restitution in the amount of $44,568 should be vacated because defendant will not be able to pay the sum within five years. Defendant has not challenged his convictions and sentences for burglary, and we will not address them. The pertinent facts follow.

Shortly before closing time on November 16, 1987, a man with a shotgun robbed a Clark oil station at 30th and Main Streets in Quincy, Illinois. The lone attendant, Mark Smith, testified he did not see the man’s face, as the man was wearing a black ski mask. He was also wearing a green Army jacket and carrying a shotgun. The man kicked open the door to the back room and shot Smith immediately after entering the room. Smith was able to reach a telephone and call police after the man moved to the front of the station. Another witness, the station manager, testified that a small amount of cash was taken from the register. The man escaped before police arrived.

Defendant was arrested in West Quincy, Missouri, on March 2, 1988. Defendant was wanted for questioning in Illinois on unrelated burglary matters, and he was transferred to the Adams County Youth Home in Quincy, Illinois. On March 3, 1988, defendant was questioned on three different occasions between 1 and 7 p.m. During the final interview, he confessed that he was the one who robbed the Clark oil station and shot Mark Smith. Based on the information obtained from defendant on March 3, the police recovered the shotgun, ski mask, and green Army jacket.

An amended information was filed on March 31, 1988, charging defendant with attempt (murder) and armed robbery, stemming from the incident at the Clark oil station. In addition, defendant was charged with six essentially unrelated counts of burglary and theft. Although he was only a 16-year-old juvenile, defendant was charged as an adult because of the presence of the armed robbery offense. Section 5 — 4(6)(a) of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 37, par. 805 — 4(6)(a)) requires a juvenile, who is at least 15 years of age, to be charged as an adult if he is charged with the commission of certain offenses. Armed robbery committed with a firearm is one of the offenses specifically mentioned. The court did grant defendant’s motion to sever the more serious counts of attempt (murder) and armed robbery.

Defendant filed a motion to suppress, alleging that his confession on March 3 had been induced with the promise that he would be tried as a juvenile, and not as an adult. The court heard testimony over two days and concluded that defendant’s confession was voluntary. The court made the statement that defendant could have entertained a reasonable belief that he would be tried as a juvenile based on some of the comments made by the interrogating officers. However, the officers made no promises to defendant in return for his confession, and there was nothing said by the officers that was intended to induce or coerce a confession. The officers gave all the proper warnings prior to obtaining defendant’s confession. Defendant was simply not told he would be tried as an adult for armed robbery because of statutory requirements.

Defendant subsequently waived his right to a jury trial, and a bench trial was held on June 7, 1988. He was found guilty of armed robbery and attempt (murder). On the attempt charge, the court concluded it could not clearly find defendant intended to kill when he fired the shotgun. However, the court found defendant clearly intended to commit great bodily harm.

Following defendant’s bench trial, defendant negotiated a guilty plea on the remaining charges against him. He was sentenced as above stated and ordered to pay restitution in the sum of $44,568 to Mark Smith, the attendant at the Clark station.

Defendant first argues his conviction for attempt (murder) must be vacated because the court based the conviction on erroneous grounds. The State concedes the court committed error and requests that we reduce the conviction to aggravated battery.

The trial court found defendant guilty on both charges for which defendant was tried at the bench trial. In making its findings, the court explained its rationale for finding defendant guilty. As to the attempt (murder) charge, the court stated:

“You went in there with the gun ready. You had a shell in the chamber and you shot that gun just like that for really no apparent reason. And you shot the individual at close range.
So whether or not you really intended to kill him, I really don’t know that. I can’t find that that is what your true intent was, but there certainly can be no question but what you intended to do great bodily harm. ***
A person who didn’t want to ever use that weapon wouldn’t bother to even load it. They would just take the gun in and hope to be able to commit the crime without doing anything more than scaring the individual into believing that it may be loaded. You went fully prepared to do whatever you had to do. You have admitted to the police that if you had to shoot someone you didn’t want to kill them. You just wanted to hurt them bad enough to complete the crime. So, perhaps in your youth you thought you could intentionally shoot somebody with the safety of knowing that you weren’t really going to kill them. You were just going to seriously hurt them.
That is why the law makes it against the law to shoot someone under those circumstances. It makes it attempt murder. The law doesn’t have to prove absolutely that your mind set was to kill somebody.

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People v. Wagner
546 N.E.2d 283 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1989)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
546 N.E.2d 283, 189 Ill. App. 3d 1041, 137 Ill. Dec. 529, 1989 Ill. App. LEXIS 1597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wagner-illappct-1989.