People v. Walls

586 N.E.2d 792, 224 Ill. App. 3d 885, 166 Ill. Dec. 834, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 97
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 30, 1992
Docket2-90-0549
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 586 N.E.2d 792 (People v. Walls) 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. Walls, 586 N.E.2d 792, 224 Ill. App. 3d 885, 166 Ill. Dec. 834, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 97 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JUSTICE UNVERZAGT

delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Willie B. Walls, was charged by indictment in the circuit court of Kane County with one count of attempt (murder), one count of armed violence (based on aggravated battery causing great bodily harm) and four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault (while using a dangerous weapon; caused great bodily harm by stabbing; so as to endanger life by stabbing; during the commission of armed violence). Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, pars. 8—4, 33A—2, 12—14(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(4).

The defendant was acquitted of attempted murder, but he was convicted of the remaining charges. His motion for a new trial was denied except insofar as it sought the dismissal of multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault. He was sentenced on one count of aggravated criminal sexual assault and for armed violence to concurrent terms of eight years.

He appeals, contending (1) that the jury instructions erroneously omitted the requirement that the State prove beyond a reasonable doubt an absence of justification for his conduct; (2) that the absence of an aggravated battery issues instruction (the felony underlying the armed violence charge) requires reversal of his conviction; (3) that the evidence concerning the presence of semen was improperly admitted where the semen was not from him, he was precluded from questioning the complainant as to other sexual contact, and the prosecutor knew that the complainant had engaged in intercourse with someone else shortly before this incident; (4) that evidence and argument concerning his alleged conversation with police and failure to turn himself in to police thereafter were improperly presented; and (5) that his conviction of armed violence must be vacated in that it is based on the same conduct as his aggravated criminal sexual assault conviction.

In August 1989, the defendant and the complainant had known each other for some time. They were former neighbors whose relationship had evolved into an active sexual relationship, and they lived together for a year and a half. Even after they stopped living together in May 1989, they continued to see each other, and the defendant continued to assist the complainant financially.

On the evening of August 30, 1989, the defendant went to the complainant’s house in Aurora after speaking with her on the telephone and agreeing to bring her some money to help her with her telephone bill. When the defendant arrived, the complainant let him in. The complainant’s 10-year-old daughter was also home but was asleep in a bedroom.

The defendant and the complainant watched television, split a sandwich, had a beer and talked. They also engaged in intercourse in the living room of the complainant’s apartment; their testimony differed as to when the intercourse occurred and whether it was consensual.

The complainant testified that the defendant asked if they could have sex and that she said no. She stated that, after that, they continued watching television and that the defendant was not upset. They then spoke further, and the defendant asked about another relationship of the complainant’s. Although the complainant claimed that she was not upset, she told the defendant to leave. Complainant stated that the defendant then pulled out a small steak knife with a blade not longer than three inches. She knocked the knife away from him, and they began to wrestle. They ended up on the couch with the defendant on top of her, choking her neck with his hands. Although neither struck the other, and nothing was said, the complainant stated that she was trying to fight the defendant off.

According to the complainant’s testimony, the defendant held her by her braided hair during the struggle, told her to turn the light on, and she did so. The defendant began looking for the knife, and she and he both saw it wedged along the side of the couch. The defendant turned the light off and began to lead her toward the couch. The complainant grabbed for the knife by the blade end. The complainant stated the defendant tried to, and did, take the knife away from her and that her hands were cut.

The complainant stated that the defendant then held the knife and instructed her to close the patio door, lock her front door, and undress. The complainant stated the defendant walked her over to both doors, pulling on her hair, and that she did as she was told. When she disrobed, the defendant was four feet away. The complainant stated that she screamed, kicked, and wrestled with the defendant on the floor. She kicked a table into the wall to try to let her neighbor know there was something going on in her apartment. The complainant’s daughter was not awakened by these noises.

After the complainant kicked the table, the defendant stabbed her. He was sitting on her legs and she was holding his hand, trying to keep the knife away, but she could not. The first stab was in the middle of her chest and it hit bone. The second stab to her chest was slow and a little off-center. She heard air coming out of her chest after that stab. The complainant testified the defendant then told her to put her legs up, and he put his penis in her vagina; he still had the knife. She did not know if he ejaculated.

The complainant got up from the floor and went to the kitchen to wash her wounds; there were clots of blood coming from the second stab wound. The defendant sat on the couch and put the knife in his back pocket. He told her the cuts did not look that bad and that she had made him do something he did not want to do. He also remarked that he guessed he would be going to jail now, and she said, no, he was not. She testified she said that because she feared he would finish killing her if she said he was going to go to jail.

After the defendant left, the complainant telephoned her sister-in-law, who lived in the building next door. Complainant told her sister-in-law that she had been “cut.” Complainant’s sister-in-law came over and then called her husband, the complainant’s brother, and the police. Complainant’s brother arrived along with the police, and an ambulance took the complainant to the hospital. The complainant testified she did not really get to speak to her brother until she got to the hospital, but the complainant’s brother testified that the complainant told him when he arrived at her house and called 911 that she had been raped.

The defendant’s testimony was that, after he had been at the apartment for about half an hour, he asked the complainant if they could have sex. She agreed. The complainant removed her jeans and got on the floor. The defendant began to have intercourse with her consent, but he stopped because he was having difficulty on the floor due to a leg-and-knee injury. The defendant testified that he did not force the complainant to engage in sex and was not holding a knife to her. He testified he did not ejaculate.

Afterward, defendant testified they ate, had a beer, watched television, listened to the radio and talked. Later, the conversation got heated. The defendant testified that the complainant came out of the kitchen with a knife and they were arguing. He grabbed her wrist, she “was slinging [him] around,” and they went over the table and *** the couch.” The defendant then saw blood on the complainant’s chest, and they stopped.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
586 N.E.2d 792, 224 Ill. App. 3d 885, 166 Ill. Dec. 834, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-walls-illappct-1992.