People v. Wych

617 N.E.2d 1285, 248 Ill. App. 3d 818, 187 Ill. Dec. 564, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1186
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedAugust 5, 1993
Docket2 — 91—0803
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 617 N.E.2d 1285 (People v. Wych) 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. Wych, 617 N.E.2d 1285, 248 Ill. App. 3d 818, 187 Ill. Dec. 564, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1186 (Ill. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

JUSTICE QUETSCH

delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a bench trial in the circuit court of Boone County, defendant, Alan Wych was convicted of a single count of criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/12 — 13 (West 1992)) and was sentenced to a four-year term of imprisonment. Defendant appeals, contending that the State failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress certain statements he made to police after requesting an attorney.

The evidence presented at trial was as follows. On December 7, 1989, M.B. was living with her niece, Brenda Blodgett, and Brenda’s husband, Paul Blodgett, at their house in Belvidere. Also living in the house and present that night were Brenda’s daughter and Mike Richardson, a friend of the Blodgetts who was staying in their finished basement. M.B. testified that, at about 10 p.m. on December 7, she had gone to sleep on the couch in the living room. At about 11:30 p.m. she awoke and found defendant lying on top of her with his penis inside her vagina. Defendant said “f— me” to M.B. M.B. asked defendant “what the hell he [thought] he was doing,” at which point defendant jumped up and ran out a patio door. M.B. got up and saw defendant drive away in a red car. M.B. had known defendant for 10 years or longer, but they had never had any kind of romantic relationship.

That evening, M.B. slept in a flannel gown which came down about six inches below her knees. She testified that when she awoke with defendant on top of her, the gown was pulled up over her stomach and she was exposed from the waist down. Later, during cross-examination, M.B. stated that her clothes were pulled up to her neck. Defendant did not hit M.B. or tear her clothes. M.B. didn’t scream, bite, scratch, or kick defendant M.B. had been drinking earlier that day. During the period from about 3:30 p.m. until she went to- bed, M.B. had about seven beers and three shots. She was relaxed but not intoxicated.

After defendant left, M.B. went to Paul and Brenda’s bedroom and told them that she had been raped, at which point Brenda contacted the police. Paul and Brenda testified that M.B. was crying when she told them that she had been raped. M.B. was later taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital in' Rockford. A nurse who attended to M.B. testified that M.B. appeared very upset and started to cry while being examined. During the examination, a pubic hair was found in M.B.’s vaginal area. The hair was examined at the Illinois State Police Crime Laboratory and was found to be dissimilar to samples taken from M.B. While the hair was found to be consistent with a sample taken from defendant, its origin could not be conclusively determined. No seminal material or spermatozoa was found in the examination of M.B.

Early in the morning of December 8, 1989, defendant was questioned in an attorney room at the Boone County jail by Detectives Royal White and Joseph Gough of the Belvidere police department. Prior to questioning, defendant was advised of his Miranda rights. Defendant indicated that he understood his rights and signed a waiver form. Thereafter, defendant told the detectives that he went to Paul Blodgett’s house to talk to Paul about some money Paul owed him. When he got to the house and could not make contact with Paul, he went downstairs and talked to Michael Richardson. After a short time, he left Richardson and returned upstairs. Upon doing so, he noticed someone on the couch trying to get his attention and motioning for him to come over. Defendant told the detectives that he messed around with the person on the couch a little bit and then left. Asked by the. detectives whether he had intercourse with the person on the couch, defendant stated that he had not and had never taken his pants down.

At that point defendant asked if he could speak to his attorney, and defendant placed a telephone call to an attorney outside of the presence of Detectives White and Gough. After the call was completed, Detective White asked defendant if he had contacted his attorney, and defendant responded that he had. White then asked defendant whether he wanted to continue talking to the detectives, and defendant stated that his attorney told him to keep quiet. White then told defendant that he and Gough would stop asking questions. Defendant replied that he wanted to continue talking but would refuse to answer questions that he thought he should not answer.

After this exchange, defendant told White that there was a lot of drug trafficking going on in the Blodgetts’ residence, and he expressed his desire to make a deal. White responded that he was not in a position to make a deal with the police. White told the defendant he would review the case and would then inform defendant with what offense he would be charged. Detectives Gough and White then left.

White later returned without Detective Gough to serve defendant with the complaint charging criminal sexual assault. According to White, during this encounter, defendant stated that he could not believe M.B. was doing this to him. White again asked defendant if he was sure he did not have sex with M.B., and defendant responded that he did not think so. According to White, defendant further stated, “Royal, if I did this I was more drunk and more fucked up than I thought I was, but I don’t think I did it.” Defendant also indicated that he did not know the person on the couch was M.B. until he was on top of her, at which point he recognized her. Defendant was coherent during his discussions with White and did not appear to White to be under the influence of alcohol.

Paul Blodgett testified that he had known defendant for about 20 years. At one point defendant had worked for Paul in his seamless gutter business before defendant went into business for himself. Paul was also married to defendant’s sister, Tina, at one time. They were divorced in 1976 but had lived together a few times thereafter. On one occasion, Paul struck Tina in defendant’s presence, and defendant responded by striking Paul. According to Paul, there was no ill will between him and defendant as a result of Paul’s divorce from Tina, nor did any conflict arise from competition between them in the seamless gutter business.

According to Paul’s testimony, at around 9 a.m. on December 8, 1989, he received a telephone call from defendant, who asked to speak to M.B. When Paul refused to allow defendant to talk to M.B., defendant asked Paul if he would talk to M.B. for him. Defendant indicated that he wanted to get M.B. an apartment and pay her rent for the first two or three months. Defendant also indicated that he wanted M.B. to drop the charges against him. Defendant repeated several times his desire that M.B. drop the charges against him and his willingness to rent an apartment for M.B. About one-half hour later, defendant called Paul again and mentioned that he had been arraigned and did not have enough money for bond. Defendant again discussed helping M.B. rent an apartment and M.B. dropping the charges. Defendant also discussed selling Paul his car for $1,500 so that he could get out of jail. Paul testified that, during their conversation, defendant stated that he had been drinking the night before and “didn’t remember being there.” Paul asked defendant if he “did it” and defendant responded, “[w]ell, I don’t know why I did it.” Defendant wanted to apologize to M.B.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
617 N.E.2d 1285, 248 Ill. App. 3d 818, 187 Ill. Dec. 564, 1993 Ill. App. LEXIS 1186, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wych-illappct-1993.