Opinion ID: 2230536
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Aggravated Kidnapping Conviction

Text: Defendant's second contention is that the State failed to prove the elements of the crime of aggravated kidnapping. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 10-2.) Defendant's conviction for aggravated kidnapping made him eligible for the death penalty (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 9-1(b)(6)(c)). That conviction is the sole statutory aggravating factor supporting the sentence of death. The statute under which defendant was charged provides as follows: (a) Kidnaping occurs when a person knowingly:    (3) By deceit or enticement induces another to go from one place to another with intent secretly to confine him against his will. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 10-1(a)(3).) A person commits aggravated kidnapping when he inflicts great bodily harm or commits another felony upon the kidnapped victim. Ill. Rev. Stat. 1983, ch. 38, par. 10-2(a)(3). The State's position is that the evidence supports the conclusion that defendant deceived or enticed the victim to accompany defendant to his apartment by falsely representing that defendant would pay the victim money in exchange for sexual services, and that, once they were in the apartment, defendant secretly confined the victim, bound and tortured him, and ultimately stabbed him to death. Defendant raises numerous alternative arguments. He argues that any confinement was incidental to the murder rather than an independent crime. He also argues that the State has not rebutted the possibility that Bridges consented to be bound and tortured, or the possibility that the ligature marks and puncture wounds on his body might have been inflicted by some other customer of the victim. Finally, he contends that even if the wounds were inflicted by the murderer against the victim's will, the wounds were simply a part of the murder. (In his reply brief, defendant abandoned his argument that the evidence is insufficient because the victim, a male prostitute, almost certainly went to defendant's apartment voluntarily. As the State correctly pointed out in its brief, under the deceit and enticement provision of the kidnapping statute, the victim by definition will voluntarily accompany the kidnapper.) In order to prove the defendant guilty of kidnapping under the relevant portion of the statute, the State must prove that the defendant knowingly (1) induced the victim to go from one place to another (2) by deceit or enticement (3) with the intent secretly to confine the victim (4) against the victim's will. Defendant does not challenge elements one and two  the inducement by deceit or enticement. He also does not contend that the confinement, if any, was not secret. He argues that the evidence does not show that the victim was confined by defendant against the victim's will. We disagree. The record reveals the following. Dr. Robert Stein, chief medical examiner of Cook County, examined the victim's body at the scene where the body parts were found, and later performed an autopsy. He testified that there were 14 puncture wounds to the front of the victim's chest, which were made before the victim died. These wounds were small and appeared to be something that could be produced with an ice-pick-like or an awl-like instrument. These wounds were not very deep; they went through the skin and some of the underlying fat and muscle. On both wrists there were round abrasions which were compatible with a ligature. The victim's right eye was black and blue; this injury was of recent origin. There was also a small abrasion on the left side of the face. There were five stab wounds in the front of the victim's body, and three stab wounds to the back. The cause of death, as stated on the death certificate, was the stab wounds to the back. Cocaine and alcohol were found in the victim's bloodstream. The police provided Dr. Stein with a hacksaw blade which was recovered from defendant's apartment. Dr. Stein used that blade to make a cut through the bone of the victim's body; this cut was compatible with the cuts made by the dismemberment of the body. The police also provided Dr. Stein with the awl recovered from defendant's apartment; Dr. Stein testified that in his opinion, the awl could have caused the 14 puncture wounds. Finally, Dr. Stein was given the piece of rope or clothesline that was wrapped around the package containing the torso. He testified that the diameter of that rope matched the size of the patterned-like abrasion found on the victim's wrists. The jury viewed photographs of the body parts, including photographs of the victim's chest and wrists. The State and the defendant appear to agree that the confinement, if any, in this case is shown by the binding of the victim's wrists. (See People v. Enoch (1988), 122 Ill.2d 176, 196 (evidence that victim's hands were bound, plus evidence that victim's blood was found in several rooms and on the telephone, was sufficient to prove victim was restrained by defendant; aggravated kidnapping conviction affirmed).) Defendant acknowledges that in the typical homicide case, if the victim's body shows signs of bondage, it can be inferred that the binding occurred at the time of the murder. He contends, however, that such an assumption cannot be made in the case at bar because the victim here was a prostitute. The defendant argues, first, that the jury could have concluded that the ligature marks on the victim's wrists were inflicted by someone other than the murderer  i.e., by another customer of the victim. In support, he points out that there was testimony that bondage and promiscuity are not uncommon in the homosexual community, and that there was no testimony stating that the ligature marks were inflicted contemporaneously with the murder. The answer to defendant's contention is that the jury could have reached a different conclusion, but it did not, and the evidence fully supports the conclusion it did reach. It was certainly within the province of the jury to decide, based on the testimony of Dr. Stein and the photographs it viewed, whether the ligature marks were fresh. The State points out, and defendant does not dispute, that the photographs do not show any scarring or healed rope marks; this fact tends to negate the inference that the victim engaged in bondage of the type evidenced here on other occasions. The photographs show, and the defendant does not dispute, that the puncture wounds are all symmetrical, straight punctures, not angled, and there are no tears or horizontal wounds. This evidence supports the inference that the victim was bound so tightly that he was unable to attempt to avoid the punctures. In other words, the jury could reason that had the victim engaged in this sort of bondage before, there would probably be evidence of scarring or healed rope marks. In the absence of such evidence, the jury could conclude that the ligature marks were inflicted by the murderer. In sum, a rational jury could conclude from the evidence that defendant confined the victim and, from this, the jury could infer that defendant possessed the requisite intent to secretly confine the victim. Defendant next theorizes that even assuming the victim was confined by the murderer, the jury could conclude that the victim, a prostitute, consented to the bondage and to the infliction of the puncture wounds. Again, the jury could have so concluded, but it did not. As we have explained, the evidence supports the inference that the victim had no history of the sort of bondage or sadistic sex inflicted upon him. Given this, the jury could conclude, contrary to defendant's suggestion, that it was very unlikely that this 15-year-old would, for the first time, consent to such activities on this occasion. The evidence supports a finding that the victim was confined against his will. Defendant also argues that, even assuming confinement without consent, the puncture wounds were simply a part of the murder. We recently rejected a similar contention in People v. Phillips (1989), 127 Ill.2d 499. The defendant in Phillips, like the defendant in the case at bar, was convicted of murder and aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to death. The aggravated kidnapping charge was based on the infliction of great bodily harm on the victim. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 38, par. 10-2(a)(3).) The defendant in Phillips argued that his sentence must be reversed because the acts which formed the basis for the murder charge were the very same acts which already had enhanced the crime of kidnapping to aggravated kidnapping. 127 Ill.2d at 538. We rejected this contention because there was sufficient evidence to support a finding of aggravated kidnapping independent of the evidence supporting the murder conviction. The cause of death was strangulation; a secondary cause was loss of blood resulting from blows to the head. The evidence showed the victim suffered additional injuries, such as contusions and abrasions on her face and body, which supported the aggravated kidnapping conviction without reference to the injuries which caused her death. (127 Ill.2d at 539-40.) Similarly, in the case at bar, the cause of death was the stab wounds to the back. In addition, there was evidence of other injuries: the 14 puncture wounds, the blow to the right eye, and the abrasion on the left side of the face. The infliction of these injuries was not, as the defendant phrases it, simply part of the murder. The evidence supports defendant's conviction for aggravated kidnapping quite apart from the murder conviction. Finally, defendant contends that under the Levy-Lombardi doctrine, his conviction for aggravated kidnapping cannot stand. ( People v. Levy (1965), 15 N.Y.2d 159, 204 N.E.2d 842, 256 N.Y.S.2d 793; People v. Lombardi (1967), 20 N.Y.2d 266, 229 N.E.2d 206, 282 N.Y.S.2d 519.) Generally speaking, the Levy-Lombardi doctrine states that a defendant cannot be convicted of kidnapping where the asportation or confinement of the victim was merely incidental to another crime, such as robbery, rape or murder. (In this case, the only question is whether the confinement was incidental; the asportation aspect is not relevant, since it is agreed that the victim voluntarily went to defendant's apartment.) In People v. Enoch (1988), 122 Ill.2d 176, we briefly addressed the Levy-Lombardi doctrine. We agreed that an aggravated kidnapping conviction should not be sustained where the asportation or confinement may constitute only a technical compliance with the statutory definition but is, in reality, incidental to another offense. (122 Ill.2d at 197.) However, we ruled that Enoch was not such a case; the evidence showed that there was more than a simple detention incidental to the murder or rape. While the defendant and the victim were inside the victim's apartment where she was murdered, the victim's boyfriend attempted for 45 minutes to contact her by calling her apartment and ringing the doorbell. When the victim was found, her hands were bound behind her back with wire. There was a laceration across her throat, numerous stab wounds in her chest, and a cut from her sternum to her pubic bone. Blood was found in several rooms and on the telephone, indicating an attempt to escape. In these circumstances, we found that there was a secret confinement which constituted kidnapping. 122 Ill.2d at 197. Similarly, the confinement which occurred in the case at bar was not incidental to the murder. The evidence supports the inference that when defendant induced the victim to go to defendant's apartment for the supposed purpose of prostitution, defendant had something else in mind: to bind (and most likely gag), torture, and stab his victim before murdering him, in a place where the victim was beyond the reach of anyone who could help him. The confinement necessary to accomplish this cannot be said to be incidental to the crime of murder. ( Cf. People v. Levy (1965), 15 N.Y.2d 159, 204 N.E.2d 842, 256 N.Y.S.2d 793 (no kidnapping where defendants, at gunpoint, accosted the victims seated in their car, took control of the car, robbed the victims during a 27-block ride that lasted 20 minutes, stopped the car and fled).) For these reasons, the Levy-Lombardi doctrine is inapplicable to this case. In sum, a rational jury could find that the State proved all the elements of the offense of aggravated kidnapping.