The People v. Cappalla

154 N.E. 451, 324 Ill. 11
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 23, 1926
DocketNo. 17704. Reversed and remanded.
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 154 N.E. 451 (The People v. Cappalla) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The People v. Cappalla, 154 N.E. 451, 324 Ill. 11 (Ill. 1926).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Dunn

delivered the opinion of the court:

William J. Cappalla has sued out this writ of error to review the judgment of the criminal court of Cook county convicting him of rape and sentencing him to imprisonment in the penitentiary for forty years.

The crime was committed on July 29, 1925. LaVerne Miller, the victim, was a child seven years old in December, 1924. ' She lived with her parents at 2744 South Euclid avenue, in Berwyn, where they had lived since June 13, 1925. Cappalla had been married on April 22, 1925, and with his wife had moved on May 30, 1925, into the house at 2730 South Euclid avenue, which he, with his wife, had contracted to buy. One house and some vacant lots were between this house and the Millers’. On the morning of Saturday, August 1, 1925, Mrs. Miller discovered spots of blood on LaVerne’s bed and nightgown. The child was taken to Dr. William Timmer, who examined her and found her vagina swollen and tender and that the hymen had been recently torn. There was some discharge, and a smear was taken from the opening of the vagina and sent to the hospital for analysis by Dr. Piette, who found the germ characteristic of recent gonorrheal infection. The defendant was arrested at Sharon, Pennsylvania, and while in the custody of the police- at Berwyn, between August 13 and 17, was examined by Dr. Bishop, who did not testify. Upon his admission to the county jail he was examined by Dr. Herald, clinician of the county jail, for evidence of active venereal infection, but none was discovered. He made further examinations on November 25 and January 7 but found no evidence of active infection. Dr. Charles E. M. Fischer, a specialist in diagnoses and consultations, also made an examination of a specimen from the defendant on November 19, 1925, for the purpose of determining the presence of gonorrheal infection, and testified that from his examination he was able to say that there was no presence of gonorrheal infection.

The little girl testified that she called at the Cappalla house several times. One time she played tag with Mr. and Mrs. Cappalla in the basement, another time with Mrs. Cappalla on the porch, and another time with Marion O’Donnell when Cappalla was not at home. On the afternoon of July 29 she went for Marion O’Donnell, a girl of her own age living across the street, to come out and play, but Marion could not come, so she came back across the street to the Cappalla house, where she was met at the door by Cappalla and invited in. Cappalla told her that his wife had gone out for a few moments but would return soon. She went in and the acts were done which constituted the offense charged. There is no reason to doubt that the acts to which she testified constituted the offense charged in the indictment, and if they were committed by the plaintiff in error he was properly convicted. The defense, besides the defendant’s denial of the commission of the acts and testimony of his good character, was an alibi. Three witnesses testified to the good character of the defendant: Edward McAndrews, who married a sister of the defendant’s wife; Michael McAndrews, his brother; and Ethel Favrow, a sister of the defendant’s wife. Cappalla testified that after July 15 he did not live at 2730 South Euclid avenue and was not at that place; that at that time he moved to 648 Belden avenue, in Chicago, to a rooming house conducted by Mrs. Jones, where he spent the night of July 28 and on the morning of July 29 went to the place of business of the William H. Wrigley Company, at the Wrigley building, on Michigan avenue, where he had an appointment with Roos and Koestner, of the Wrigley Company, at nine o’clock.

The plaintiff in error was a traveling salesman employed by the Bay Needle Company, and on June 1, after having moved into the house at No. 2730 South Euclid avenue two days before, left Chicago for a trip in Nebraska, from which he returned a month and two days later. His contract with the Bay Needle Company terminated on July 4, and on July 11 or 12 he answered an advertisement of the Wrigley Company, to which he received a reply two days later, after which he was at the Wrigley place of business almost every day, there being many applicants for the place. His appointment on July 29 was in connection with his application, and he had an interview that morning with Roos and Koestner, at which an agreement was reached to enter into a written contract on August 1. The interview lasted from 9:3o until 10:3o in the morning. At its conclusion Cappalla went to the Northwestern depot to get a satchel which he had left there when he came back from Nebraska. He left the depot about 11:3o and went on a street car to 2355 West Chicago avenue, which was the place of business of Peter Jerard, who was doing business under the name of Perfection Sheet Metal Works. He reached there about noon and shortly after went with Jerard to his house, at 2735 Rice street, a block from Jerard’s place of business, for dinner. After dinner the two remained at the house until about two o’clock, then went back to the sheet-metal works, where they remained about fifteen minutes, and then, at the suggestion of Jerard, who had only two days more to live in the place he was occupying and was looking for a new location, they went in Jerard’s automobile to look at some real estate in Forest Park. They went first to 7238 West Madison street to the store of one Nickadero, where they arrived about three o’clock and remained about forty-five minutes. The three then went in the automobile to the place of business of Humboldt & Krickl, real estate dealers. They arrived there about four o’clock, met both Humboldt and Krickl, and after about five minutes Cappalla, Jerard and Nickadero went in the automobile of the real estate dealers, with Krickl, to the 6400 block on West Roosevelt road, where they remained until about 4:20. Jerard did not like the place, and the four then went in the automobile west on Roosevelt road to some place opposite a golf links, which they reached about 4:30. They were there about ten or fifteen minutes and then went back to the office of Humboldt & Krickl, at Wisconsin avenue and Roosevelt road. Cappalla, Jerard and Nickadero returned to Nickadero’s home, at 7238 West Madison, which they reached about 5:10, and remained there until twenty minutes or a quarter to six o’clock. Cappalla and Jerard then went back to the city, and Cappalla left Jerard at Kedzie and Washington boulevard and went on the elevated to the post-office, which he reached about 6:30 or 6:45. He remained there about twenty-five minutes, talking to some friends in the auditing department. He then had supper at Thompson’s lunch room at Adams and State streets, then went to a picture show on Madison street near Clark, and then went home to 648 Belden avenue.

Jerard testified corroborating the plaintiff in error’s account of his movements during the part of the afternoon of July 29 which he spent with Jerard, in every detail, except that the plaintiff in error testified that Jerard’s wife and children were present at dinner, while Jerard testified that his wife was sick in bed and his oldest daughter served the dinner. Mrs. Jones was not a witness. Nickadero was sick at the time of the trial, as Jerard testified, so that he was not a witness. Neither Jerard’s wife nor daughter was a witness. Neither Koestner nor Roos testified, nor any of the post-office employees, nor Humboldt. Krickl testified and corroborated the evidence of Jerard and the plaintiff in error so far as it referred to their being with him from three to five o’clock in the afternoon, about July 29, 1925.

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Bluebook (online)
154 N.E. 451, 324 Ill. 11, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-people-v-cappalla-ill-1926.