The People v. Rue

220 N.E.2d 457, 35 Ill. 2d 234, 1966 Ill. LEXIS 294
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 23, 1966
Docket39152
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 220 N.E.2d 457 (The People v. Rue) 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. Rue, 220 N.E.2d 457, 35 Ill. 2d 234, 1966 Ill. LEXIS 294 (Ill. 1966).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Schaefer

delivered the opinion of the court:

The grand jury of Edgar County returned three indictments against Floyd Rue and Harold Rigdon. One indictment charged that by force and threat of force they at- . tempted to compel Leslie Kelso to perform an act of deviate sexual conduct; another charged them with robbing Leslie Kelso, and the third charged them with aggravated battery upon Leslie Kelso. The defendant Rue was tried separately on the charge of aggravated battery. A jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for not less than two nor more than five years. Thereafter, he withdrew his pleas of not guilty to the other two indictments and pleaded guilty to each of them. On the charge of attempted deviate sexual conduct he was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than five nor more than ten years, and on the robbery charge he was sentenced to a term of not less than three nor more than ten years. The three sentences were to be served consecutively. By writ of error the defendant Rue has brought all three judgments before this court for review and he raises constitutional issues concerning each judgment.

His first contention is that statements that he made after his arrest were admitted into evidence at his trial in violation of his constitutional rights. All three indictments were based upon events that occurred during the early morning hours of June 14, 1963. At 3 :3o A.M. on that date the defendant was arrested and taken to the city police station where he was questioned by police officers and the State’s Attorney. One of the statements was made at that time. The other was made at his preliminary hearing before a police magistrate on June 21, 1963, seven days after his arrest. It is not suggested that there was any ill-treatment or improper conduct by the police, or that the defendant’s will was “overborne.” (Cf. Davis v. North Carolina, 384 U.S. 737, 16 L. Ed. 2d 895.) The record does not show, however, that on either occasion the defendant was advised of his right to remain silent or to have the advice of counsel.

The defendant relies heavily on Escobedo v. Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 12 L. Ed. 2d 977, and we withheld our decision in this case pending clarification by the Supreme Court of the United States as to the reach of that case. In Johnson v. New Jersey, 384 U.S. 719, 16 L. Ed. 2d 882, 892, the court held that the holding in Escobedo “is available only to persons whose trials began after June 22, 1964, the date on which Escobedo was decided.” The court also held prospective its decision of June 13, 1966, in Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694, which clarified and expanded the standards suggested in Escobedo. (See People v. McGuire, ante., p. 219.) The proceedings in the present case took place before the dates of the decisions in Escobedo and Miranda and those cases are not applicable. We see no objection therefore to the admissibility of the first statement of the defendant which was given in the police station immediately after his arrest.

The second statement, which was made at the defendant’s preliminary hearing a week after his arrest, presents a different problem. The statement then made was elicited from the defendant by questions put to him by the State’s Attorney. The admissibility of this statement is governed by our decision in People v. Jackson, 23 Ill.2d 263, decided in November of 1961. There the court drew a distinction between an extrajudicial admission and one elicited in the course of a judicial proceeding. The court quoted the opinion of Judge Wiley Rutledge in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Wood v. United States, (D.C. cir.) 128 F.2d 265, 278: “* * * when, as here, the accused is without counsel and it does not appear clearly that he knows his rights and intends to waive them, the ‘plea’ or its substantial equivalent, made without warning or advice, can not be received in evidence against him. Any other rule would make of the hearing a trap and an inquisition, with consequences for the accused and for the judicial system not tolerable under the Constitution.”

Our opinion in the Jackson case continued: “We think that the views expressed in the Wood case are the only ones compatible with the constitutional protection intended, and hold that where an accused is unattended by'counsel and does not become a witness of his own volition, a judicial confession made at a preliminary hearing may not be properly introduced into evidence at the subsequent trial, unless the proof affirmatively shows (1) that the accused had independent knowledge or was advised by the court of his right to refuse to testify; (2) that he was advised or knew that any statements made could be used against him, and (3) that he knowingly and intelligently waived his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination.” (23 Ill.2d at 268.) The record in this case does not show that any of the three requirements laid down in the Jackson case was met in the case before us.

In the Jackson case a lengthy extrajudicial confession, the reliability of which had been questioned at the trial, was also before the jury, and the court went on to consider whether the erroneous admission of the judicial confession was so prejudicial as to require reversal. In concluding that the error required reversal, the court said: “Although it is impossible to know what effect, if any, the admission of the judicial confession had on the minds of the jury, the very fact that it was a judicial confession, obtained during a court proceeding clothed with a presumption of dignity, fairness and truth, makes it reasonable to assume that it played a major part in the acceptance of the extrajudicial confession, in the ultimate determination of guilt, and in the punishment selected.” (23 Ill.2d at 269.) While in the case before us there is no claim that the extrajudicial statement resulted from police brutality, as there - was in the Jackson case, the record strongly suggests that the defendant was intoxicated when he made the statement in the police station. Thus we can not say that the later judicial admission only duplicated the first, without added effect on the jury. It is therefore unnecessary to consider whether the doctrine of harmless error is “impermissible” in this case under the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States. See, e.g. Lynumn v. Illinois, 372 U.S. 528, 537, 9 L. Ed. 2d 922; Payne v. Arkansas, 356 U.S. 560, 568, 2 L. Ed. 2d 975; Spano v. New York, 360 U.S. 315, 324, 3 L. Ed. 2d 1265; Haynes v. Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 517-18, 10 L. Ed. 2d 513.

Since there must be a new trial, the only other alleged error that must be considered with respect to the charge of aggravated battery is the defendant’s claim that he was held without bond in violation of his constitutional right to bail. (Const, of 111. 1870, art. II, sec.

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Bluebook (online)
220 N.E.2d 457, 35 Ill. 2d 234, 1966 Ill. LEXIS 294, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/the-people-v-rue-ill-1966.