Court Opinion

ID: 9540542
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:17:15.511263+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:57.553895
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE UNDERWOOD, dissenting: I am not at all certain that the circumstances here even involve a Miranda violation (People v. Morgan, 67 Ill. 2d 1), for it was defendant, not the officers, who initiated the conversation the evening following his arrest by indicating he wanted to talk to the officers. He signed the waiver of rights form and asked to talk to a priest and psychiatrist. After being told a priest would be there that evening but that he would have to wait until he was at the county jail to see a psychiatrist, he called his mother and talked to her. When asked how he felt, he answered that he felt “real bad” about the dead boy, his family and defendant’s own family. He later indicated he wanted to talk but needed more time to think about it, and the statements which the majority holds improperly admitted were made later that night following defendant’s conversation with the police chaplain. But even assuming that a violation did occur, it is entirely clear to me that any error in admitting defendant’s statements into evidence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Chapman v. California (1967), 386 U.S. 18, 17 L. Ed. 2d 705, 87 S. Ct. 824. The evidence of defendant’s guilt is overwhelming. It is undisputed that shortly before the robbery, defendant parked his girl friend’s car in front of Clarence Peterson’s house near the Pacemaker store. Peterson saw a young man get out of the car, remove a small object from the trunk, put a hood over his head, throw something onto the front seat of the car, and walk towards the Pacemaker store. The woman’s plaid cape worn by the robber was found outside the store. Fibers on this cape had the same microscopic and chemical properties as the fibers from the white sweater defendant was wearing when arrested. A ski mask and dark pants were found discarded between the store and the garage where the murder occurred. The pants were turned inside out. Fibers on these pants matched, in all respects, fibers from the pants defendant was wearing when arrested. Michael Cook and Henry Gregg were the two stock boys who followed the robber’s footprints in the fresh snow to a garage at 1919 South Fourth Street. Gregg was shot in the head as he approached the garage. Cook ran across the street and sought help. On returning to the murder scene, he saw a man in the backyard. This man ran when he saw Cook, jumping over a wire fence into an alley. He then pointed a gun at Cook, who ducked behind the garage. Cook saw him run south down the alley. Police officers, who arrived about 30 seconds after Gregg had been shot, followed a single set of footprints from the body through the alley and up to a partially opened garage door. No other footprints were in the area. Defendant was found crouching in the garage. The murder weapon and robbery proceeds were found beside him. It is undisputed that defendant is the man Cook saw fleeing from the murder scene and that he had the gun and the money, although defendant does deny pointing the gun at Cook. The theory of the defense is that Jerry Wilson, to whom defendant had given money to buy drugs, committed the crimes, gave defendant the gun and robbery proceeds, and fled. But defendant has given three different versions of this theory containing major inconsistencies. First he told the police he had arrived in the area in Wilson’s car with Wilson. Wilson, according to defendant, left the car and returned in 15 minutes, handing defendant the gun and money. Defendant got scared and ran behind some houses into an alley, ultimately hiding in the garage. When the police pointed out that this meant he had the gun before the murder was committed, defendant changed his story. He then admitted driving his girl friend’s car to the area and said Wilson ran with him into the garage where he was found and gave him the gun there, but Wilson left before the police arrived. When informed only one set of footprints was found near the garage, he changed this story. All of the foregoing statements preceded the alleged Miranda violation. Defendant testified at trial that he saw two boys following Wilson, so he circled a house and eventually met Wilson behind a house. Wilson said he had robbed the boys, gave defendant the gun and money, and ran. Defendant went towards the alley to head back toward his car and while doing so ran by Gregg’s body. His testimony is inconsistent as to whether he saw the body once or twice. The State’s evidence in this case, including that concerning the matching fibers found on the robber’s cape and on the discarded trousers, is well-nigh conclusive. In contrast, defendant’s testimony is inconsistent with his earlier statements, contradicted in part by other testimony, and, it seems to me, simply devoid of probative value. If the circumstances which the majority holds constitute a Miranda violation are in fact a violation, which I doubt, they could not have prejudiced a defendant whose guilt has been so clearly established. I would reverse the appellate court and affirm the judgment of the circuit court of Winnebago County. MR. JUSTICE RYAN joins in this dissent.