People v. Watson

231 N.E.2d 695, 87 Ill. App. 2d 453, 1967 Ill. App. LEXIS 1304
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedSeptember 28, 1967
DocketGen. 51,131
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 231 N.E.2d 695 (People v. Watson) 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. Watson, 231 N.E.2d 695, 87 Ill. App. 2d 453, 1967 Ill. App. LEXIS 1304 (Ill. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

MR. PRESIDING JUSTICE SULLIVAN

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal from a conviction of burglary. After a jury trial defendant was sentenced to a term of five to fifteen years in the penitentiary.

Defendant contends on appeal that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; that the jury should not have been given an instruction on flight, and that defendant was denied a fair trial due to misconduct of the prosecutor and improper admonition by the court. Defendant raised another point based on an allegedly prejudicial remark of the trial judge as shown in the record. An additional certification of the Report of Proceedings was filed which eliminated the prejudicial word which was the basis for this point. This court ordered that the record be sent back to the trial court and that, if it did not accurately disclose what had occurred there, it should be made to conform to the truth in conformity with Supreme Court Rule 329. A certified Report of Proceedings on that order was filed in this court which shows that no prejudicial remark was made and therefore defendant’s point is not tenable.

Mrs. Margaret Byrne testified that on June 15, 1965, she lived at 7626 Cregier with her three children. On that date she went to bed about 11 or 11:30 p. m., but was later awakened by a noise in the house. She called to her older son, William, and said “Someone’s in the house.” She saw the light of a flashlight shining in the dining room. She was momentarily blinded by the light and then heard someone run out the back of the house, chased by her son.

She also testified that about $7, including a $5 bill, a bill and some change, was missing from her wallet which had been left on the dining room table.

William Byrne testified that he was awakened about 2:30 a. m. by his mother’s screams. He saw a shadow in the living room. He chased the person through the house. When he reached the back porch he saw the man in the alley. He was able to see that the figure was a male Negro about 5' 8" wearing a tan sport coat and dark pants.

Instead of going after the figure Byrne went back into the house to see if anyone else was there. He then ran out the front door and down the street, parallel to the alley in which he had last seen the burglar. As he neared the corner of 77th Street he again saw the figure (wearing the same coat and pants) heading east.

He returned home and gave a description of the figure to police. Shortly thereafter, as a patrol car approached 75th and Constance (a few blocks from the Byrne home), they observed a male Negro (defendant) in a tan coat and dark pants. They alighted from the car and followed the man into an alley. Officer Laughlin hollered to the man to halt, announced he was a police officer and fired a warning shot. Defendant ran away from the officer into a yard. When the officer reached the gate to the yard defendant changed direction and headed towards the officer with his hand raised and holding a flashlight. He slipped on the grass, dropped the flashlight and was taken into custody.

Defendant was taken to the Byrne home. William Byrne testified that the person in police custody was the same figure he had seen earlier and was wearing the same coat and pants. Defendant was searched in front of the Byrne house and in his clenched fist were found two crumpled bills, a $5 bill and a $1 bill. Some small change was found in his pocket.

Defendant contends that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. In support of this he claims that there was no actual identification of him by any witness and that an improper identification was allowed at trial and was supported by inadmissible hearsay testimony.

William Byrne testified that, while he had not seen defendant’s face, he had seen his general build and the clothing he wore. These were the bases for his identification of the defendant the night of the burglary shortly after the crime was committed. While this may by itself seem weak, this weakness does not make it valueless and it was some evidence of Watson’s guilt. Defendant has cited cases in which convictions were reversed because of vague and doubtful identifications but those identifications were the only evidence connecting those defendants with the crimes of which they were accused. In the case before us there is more, albeit circumstantial, evidence. Watson was found in the neighborhood of the crime soon after it took place, and on his person were found a flashlight and money of the same denomination as Mrs. Byrne said was missing from her wallet. The court in People v. Lofton, 64 Ill App2d 238, 243, 212 NE2d 705, stated:

“A conviction based on circumstantial evidence may be upheld where the proof of circumstances leads on the whole to a satisfactory conclusion and produces a reasonable and moral certainty that the defendant committed the crime as charged.”

Looking at the circumstantial evidence and the identification, which is entitled to some weight, we cannot say Watson’s guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defendant also claims that it was prejudicial and reversible error for the court to allow Byrne to testify that defendant was the same man as the one he saw in police custody after the crime. While this practice may not be commendable, the jury could certainly distinguish the identifications, and recognize this as merely testimony that this was the man who was arrested the night of the crime. Allowing that testimony was not reversible error.

Defendant also argues that the impact of Byrne’s identification of Watson (as the man whom he saw running away from the scene of the crime) was increased by the admission of hearsay testimony of a police officer who was there at the scene. He claims that the admission of that evidence constituted grounds for reversal. The officer testified that when Watson was brought to the Byrne home he (the officer) talked with Byrne. While defendant claims that the officer testified to statements made by Byrne about defendant but out of his presence, this is not supported by the record. The officer described the scene, and in particular the relative positions of Byrne and defendant. He was not allowed to relate the remarks of Byrne made at that scene. Hearsay testimony is defined in McCormick, Law of Evidence, 1954, at page 460 as:

“testimony in court ... of a statement made out of court, such statement being offered as an assertion to show the truth of matters asserted therein, and thus resting for its value upon the credibility of an out-of-court asserter.”

The description given by the officer, therefore, was not hearsay. Although defendant claims that this testimony was also prejudicial, we do not agree. It merely portrayed the circumstances of Byrne’s identification of defendant.

Defendant next contends that the jury should not have received an instruction as to flight. Defendant failed to abstract all instructions but put forth only the one complained of, and under this condition the court will not consider the alleged error. People v. Harrell, 34 Ill App2d 205, 180 NE2d 889; People v. Woodruff, 9 Ill2d 429, 137 NE2d 809. See also People v. Bybee, 9 Ill2d 214, 221, 137 NE2d 251.

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Related

People v. Hanley
365 N.E.2d 676 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1977)
People v. Malcom
302 N.E.2d 352 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1973)
People v. Watson
270 N.E.2d 29 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1971)
People v. Karabatsos
266 N.E.2d 764 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
231 N.E.2d 695, 87 Ill. App. 2d 453, 1967 Ill. App. LEXIS 1304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-watson-illappct-1967.