Opinion ID: 2072259
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence of Allegations of Prior Police Brutality

Text: Defendant testified that he was physically abused and racially harassed by Detectives Dwyer and Lotito during his interrogations. Defendant wanted to introduce the testimony of other persons who had filed complaints with the office of professional standards against Dwyer. The State filed a motion in limine to exclude testimony regarding prior alleged abuse by Dwyer, and after a hearing, the trial court granted the motion. Defendant requested that he be allowed to introduce evidence of three persons who were allegedly abused by Dwyer. At the resulting hearing on the State's motion in limine, Ms. Tomsek alleged that Dwyer pushed her and pressed his thumbs against her throat. Dwyer claimed that Tomsek was so intoxicated that she could not be interviewed and was placed in a room to sleep it off. Mr. Lawson complained that police were belligerent, but made no claim of any physical abuse. Defendant also requested that Stanley Howard be allowed to testify. In 1984, Howard filed a complaint that Dwyer had beat him around the face and head, punched him six times, kicked him in the stomach, and beat him in the ribs and ankles. In support of his argument that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of Tomsek, Lawson and Howard, defendant cites People v. Banks (1989), 192 Ill.App.3d 986, 140 Ill.Dec. 115, 549 N.E.2d 766. In Banks, the appellate court held that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of prior abuse by the officers who arrested Banks. A doctor testified that Banks sustained multiple bruises and scrapes as the result of trauma with a blunt instrument. Banks claimed he had been beaten by the police with a flashlight. Banks sought to introduce evidence that 13 months prior to the incident, another person was allegedly beaten by the same officers in a similar manner and sustained comparable injuries. In Banks, the court relied on three elements in admitting evidence regarding prior allegations of police brutality: (1) the prior allegations of police brutality were not unduly remote; (2) the prior allegations of police brutality were against the same officer, and they were similar to the allegations put forth by the defendant; and (3) in both the prior allegations of abuse and the case before the court, there was evidence of injury consistent with police brutality. We believe the present case is distinguishable from Banks. The allegations of Tomsek and Lawson are dissimilar to the allegations of defendant, and therefore, those allegations are not relevant to the present case. The trial judge stated that Howard's allegations of police misconduct by Dwyer were similar to the defendant's allegations in the present case. The alleged abuse of Howard, however, took place approximately three years prior to defendant's arrest. Hence, the alleged abuse was much more remote than in Banks. Further, there was no evidence that either Howard or defendant sustained injuries consistent with their claims of police brutality. We do not believe, therefore, that the trial court erred by excluding Howard's allegations of prior abuse.