People v. Walton

875 N.E.2d 197, 376 Ill. App. 3d 149, 314 Ill. Dec. 687, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1127
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided October 11, 2007·No. 4-05-0873·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

PRESIDING JUSTICE STEIGMANN

delivered the opinion of the court:

In June 2005, a jury convicted defendant, Tyrone William Walton, of predatory criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/12 — 14.1(a)(1) (West 2002)). The trial court later sentenced him to 22 years in prison and imposed a $200 sexual-assault fíne and a $25 fine under the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Act (725 ILCS 240/10(b) (West 2002)). The court also gave defendant credit for 182 days served in jail prior to sentencing.

Defendant appeals, arguing that (1) he was denied a fair trial when (a) the State withheld certain evidence related to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), (b) the State withheld certain evidence that could have been used to impeach the victim, and (c) the State made improper comments during rebuttal argument; (2) he is entitled to one additional day of credit against his sentence for time served; and (3) his $25 fine imposed under the Act (725 ILCS 240/10(b) (West 2002)) should be reduced to $20. Because we agree only with defendant’s last argument, we affirm his conviction and sentence as modified and remand with instructions that the trial court amend the sentencing order to reflect a $20 fine under the Act.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Pretrial Proceedings

In April 2004, the State charged defendant with predatory criminal sexual assault, alleging as follows:

“[D]efendant, being 17 years of age or over, knowingly committed an act of sexual penetration with L.F. who was under 13 years of age when the act was committed, said act involving the penis of the defendant and vagina of L.F.”

On May 19, 2004, the State filed its discovery compliance, indicating that all materials pertaining to DNA evidence discoverable under Supreme Court Rule 417 (188 Ill. 2d R. 417) were available for inspection or copying or both.

At the conclusion of a late November 2004 hearing, defense counsel informed the trial court that he and the prosecutor had spoken informally regarding the required production of DNA-related material under Rule 417. Defense counsel also requested that the court set a date by which the State had to comply with defendant’s request for such material. The court ordered that the State provide defendant with the requested material by December 28, 2004.

At a December 28, 2004, hearing, defense counsel informed the trial court that he had received the State’s response to his request for DNA-related material under Rule 417. Counsel also indicated that if he needed additional Rule 417 material, he would “try to work with” the prosecutor.

In mid-May 2005, defense counsel sent the prosecutor an e-mail, requesting (1) a laboratory worksheet for L.F.’s jeans, including handwritten notes or drawings indicating the areas where swatches were cut; (2) a physician’s report accompanying the sexual-assault kit; and (3) a curriculum vitae for Kevin Zeeb, an Illinois State Crime Laboratory technician. That same day the prosecutor replied via e-mail, indicating that “[a]ll of their notes” were in the materials the prosecutor gave defense counsel, in accordance with Rule 417. Later in May 2005, defendant filed a “motion for additional discovery response,” seeking, in pertinent part, (1) a formal supplemental discovery response identifying Rule 417 materials and (2) the court file in McLean County case No. 02 — JA—76 (in which L.F. was adjudicated a neglected minor), which purportedly included information on a drug screen performed on L.F. at or near the time of the incident. Following an in camera review of the juvenile court file, the trial court denied defendant’s request for the court file, upon determining that the file contained no relevant or material information.

At an early June 2005 status hearing, the prosecutor indicated that (1) she had brought to court the “DNA file” that the crime laboratory had provided the State and (2) defense counsel could look at the State’s and “compare exhibit by exhibit and page numbers.” Defense counsel stated that he wanted to make sure that he had everything the State had.

Two days later, defendant filed a motion in limine, seeking to bar any reference at trial to semen and DNA-related evidence. The motion alleged, in pertinent part, that a determination as to the admissibility of such evidence was not possible without the State’s production of the following items: (1) the curriculum vitae and job descriptions of certain hospital personnel and Zeeb; and (2) reports and memoranda made by hospital staff in conjunction with the sexual-assault kit that was administered to L.F. That same day, the State filed a supplemental answer to its discovery compliance, providing, in part, Zeeb’s curriculum vitae.

At a hearing that same day, defense counsel stated that the State’s disclosure of DNA-related material was insufficient. The prosecutor indicated that the State had disclosed all material required under Rule 417. In particular, the prosecutor stated that material related to Zeeb did not fall under Rule 417 because Zeeb’s actions as a forensic technician constituted “precursor” actions to DNA analyses performed by Illinois State Police forensic analyst Debra Minton. The trial court determined that the requirements of Rule 417 applied to both Zeeb and Minton but not to the hospital personnel. The prosecutor informed the court that defense counsel “did have the opportunity to go through our DNA packet [of] compliance[,] and it does match counsel’s packet of compliance.” Defense counsel agreed with the prosecutor and stated that the State “has exactly what I had and [I] had some concerns that there might have been a few more pages of something floating out there and [the State has] represented that there weren’t and I have matched mine page for page.” The court then denied defendant’s motion to bar any reference at trial to semen and DNA-related evidence.

B. Defendant’s Trial

Because the parties are familiar with the evidence presented at defendant’s June 2005 jury trial, we discuss it only to the extent necessary to place defendant’s arguments in context.

Matthew Glim testified that in 2003, he was employed as a foster-care child-welfare specialist by The Baby Fold (a nonprofit agency that provides services to at-need children and families). In March 2003, he was the child-welfare specialist for L.F., who was then 12 years old. On the night of March 20, 2003, Glim received a telephone call informing him that L.F. had left her foster home earlier that evening without permission. Later that night, Glim met L.F. at her foster home and noticed her behaving “very oddly.” Glim took her to the hospital, where L.F. told him that she had had sexual intercourse that evening with a man (later identified as defendant). Glim asked hospital personnel to perform a drug screen on L.F., and a physician informed Glim that the drug screen was “negative.”

L.F. testified that on March 20, 2003, she went to The Baby Fold to hang out. She met defendant and began talking with him. L.F.

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People v. Walton, 875 N.E.2d 197, 376 Ill. App. 3d 149, 314 Ill. Dec. 687, 2007 Ill. App. LEXIS 1127 (Ill. Ct. App. 2007).

875 N.E.2d 197 (People v. Walton) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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