People v. Williams

585 N.E.2d 1188, 223 Ill. App. 3d 692, 166 Ill. Dec. 166, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 87
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJanuary 16, 1992
Docket3-90-0643
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 585 N.E.2d 1188 (People v. Williams) 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. Williams, 585 N.E.2d 1188, 223 Ill. App. 3d 692, 166 Ill. Dec. 166, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 87 (Ill. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinions

JUSTICE McCUSKEY

delivered the opinion of the court:

On July 24, 1990, defendant, Anthony Williams, was found guilty at a bench trial in the circuit court of McDonough County of committing aggravated criminal sexual assault, in violation of section 12 — 14(a)(1) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (the Code) (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1989, ch. 38, par. 12 — 14(a)(1)). Williams was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment. He appeals. We affirm.

The trial commenced on July 18, 1990, with the testimony of J.O., the complainant and victim. J.O. testified that on September 24, 1988, she joined a friend in celebrating her friend’s birthday. They went to a local tavern where J.O. drank about three beers. Thereafter, J.O. proceeded to the campus of Western Illinois University (WIU) to see a friend. While en route, she saw Mark Ackers, who was awaiting the arrival of two friends, one of whom was Williams.

J.O. later ran into Williams and his friend, Karl, who were looking for somewhere to “party.” J.O. escorted Williams to the female section of a residence hall at WIU so he could purchase cocaine. There, Williams purchased some cocaine. J.O., Williams, Ackers, and another person returned to J.O.’s apartment and ingested some cocaine and marijuana. After a brief stay, Williams, Ackers, and their friend left. Shortly thereafter, Williams returned to J.O.’s apartment. He inhaled more cocaine, and asked to spend the night. J.O. agreed, provided he would sleep on the couch. Later, Williams knocked on her bedroom door, asking her to turn off a certain light. As she moved into the living room, she observed Williams was dressed only in his underwear. J.O. stated Williams then pulled a knife, placed it next to her face, pushed her to the couch, commanded her to undress, and engaged her in both oral sex and vaginal intercourse.

Following the incident, Williams requested J.O. drive him back to WIU. Upon returning to her apartment, J.O. told her neighbor of the assault. Ultimately, the police were contacted. J.O. initially went to the hospital to be examined and seek medical treatment if necessary. While there, she told the emergency room physician the factual history of the incident. J.O. next proceeded to the police station, even though she had been initially reluctant to contact the police. In her testimony, J.O. did not explicitly recall the manner in which Williams used the knife. The record reflects no neighbors heard any unusual noises emanating from her apartment at the time of the incident.

During the State’s case in chief, J.O. was allowed to testify, over objection, to the adverse emotional effects the assault had on her. J.O. indicated that she had experienced panic attacks, depression, and was being treated by a doctor.

The examining emergency room physician also testified over objection to the factual history J.O. repeated to him regarding the incident. In addition, the physician testified that his examination of J.O. revealed no fresh bruises, scratches, or abrasions.

J.O. admitted to using narcotics immediately prior to this incident and also at other times. It is clear from the record that at one time, she had a drug dependency problem. The investigators discovered a knife in J.O.’s kitchen, but Williams’ fingerprints were not found on the knife. The investigators did find Negroid hair samples within J.O.’s apartment.

Williams denied committing any of the offenses alleged by J.O. He emphasized that J.O. had ingested considerable amounts of cocaine and marijuana over the course of the night in question and that she craved more. Williams insisted that J.O. agreed to have sex with him if he would purchase some cocaine. Following Williams’ purchase of cocaine at WIU, they all went back to J.O.’s apartment to “party.” Williams testified that J.O. had invited him to come back to her apartment after everyone left. Upon his return, they finished off more cocaine and engaged in sex. Williams stated that J.O. did not resist him in any way or instruct him to discontinue having sex with her. Williams also denied possessing and using a knife as well as using any force against J.O. When Williams learned the police were looking for him, he voluntarily turned himself in to the authorities even though he did not have sufficient money to post bond.

Williams was convicted and sentenced following a bench trial. Williams obtained new counsel who then filed a post-trial motion seeking a new trial on the grounds that his original trial counsel should have sought a change of venue. The trial judge denied Williams’ post-trial motion. Thereafter, the trial judge sentenced Williams to 12 years’ imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections. The trial judge announced while sentencing Williams that he had considered the adverse effects of the assault on J.O., e.g., psychological, emotional, physical, etc.

Williams’ initial contention on appeal is that he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offense of aggravated criminal sexual assault. Amidst this contention, Williams asserts that due to J.O.’s involvement with illegal drugs, her testimony was not reliable, credible, or trustworthy. Therefore, Williams alleges that J.O.’s testimony was not clear and convincing or sufficiently corroborated in order to support a conviction. Williams also contends that the trial judge applied an incorrect burden of proof in convicting him. Williams suggests that there was not sufficient evidence to corroborate J.O.’s testimony because J.O.’s testimony was substantially impeached.

Williams contends that allegations of sexual misconduct are easily made, hard to prove, and harder to defend. (People v. Nunes (1964), 30 Ill. 2d 143, 146, 195 N.E.2d 706.) Williams urges that a conviction for aggravated criminal sexual assault, where the defendant denies the charge, should be upheld upon review only when the testimony of the complainant is clear and convincing or is corroborated by other evidence. This standard of review has been followed in sex-offense cases for many years. However, our supreme court in a very recent decision has rejected the sex-offense standard of review, that a victim’s testimony be clear and convincing or substantially corroborated. (People v. Schott (1991), 145 Ill. 2d 188.) The court in Schott has adopted the reasonable doubt test set forth in People v. Collins (1985), 106 Ill. 2d 237, 478 N.E.2d 267. The proper standard of review according to Collins (106 Ill. 2d at 261) is that criminal convictions are not to be overturned on review unless the evidence is so improbable or unsatisfactory that it creates a doubt of the defendant’s guilt. The Collins test to be employed on review “ ‘is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” (Emphasis in original.) Collins, 106 Ill. 2d at 261, quoting Jackson v. Virginia (1979), 443 U.S. 307, 319, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560, 573, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789.

Prior to the Schott decision, we had already adopted the reasonable doubt standard articulated in Collins to be used when reviewing claims of evidentiary insufficiency in sex-offense cases. (People v. Wheeler (1991), 216 Ill. App.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
585 N.E.2d 1188, 223 Ill. App. 3d 692, 166 Ill. Dec. 166, 1992 Ill. App. LEXIS 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-williams-illappct-1992.