Court Opinion

ID: 9522863
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 02:33:02.002746+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:04:08.270100
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE BARRY, dissenting: I do not agree with the majority that the State failed to prove defendant’s intent to harass or annoy Donna Kurlinkus, and therefore, I dissent. The jury as the trier of fact is permitted to infer defendant’s intent to commit the offense from the facts and circumstances surrounding the words and actions of the defendant. (People v. Jones (1981), 93 Ill. App. 3d 475, 417 N.E.2d 647; People v. Mertens (1979), 77 Ill. App. 3d 791, 396 N.E.2d 595.) The majority opinion seems to concentrate mainly on the words spoken by defendant without regard to all the accompanying circumstances, and by my view, the majority also engages in a selective distortion of the testimony of the witnesses. The victim testified that she was an experienced MEG agent who had gone to the Taco House bar with a new MEG agent on an undercover assignment. The two agents were trying to arrange a drug “buy” that evening. Although the victim had been in the bar for about 45 minutes when she decided to go to the restroom, she had not seen defendant. She entered the enclosed hallway which led to two restrooms at the back of the barroom. She heard someone following her into the hallway, and when she turned around, she saw defendant. She testified that his tone of voice was threatening and that he “grabbed” her arm twice (not that he touched it). She stated that she was frightened by defendant but that her first concern was to protect the identity of the fellow agent who was accompanying her so that he could continue to work as an undercover agent. For that reason, she did not call for help or make a public commotion immediately after the incident. The victim also testified that she knew the bartender was the defendant’s sister. The majority opinion gives considerable weight to the fact that the encounter occurred in a public place and by chance, but the record indicates that the encounter actually took place in a secluded hallway, separated from the public room by a solid wooden door which opened inward and which defendant held closed. It appears the defendant purposefully followed her into the hallway and after she pulled away from him and entered the ladies’ room, he waited about five minutes in the hallway for her to come out. When she did, he blocked the exit, grabbed her arm again, and said he wanted to talk to her. They struggled until she pushed him aside and exited the restroom area. Defendant’s actions coupled with his words would seem to indicate an intent to harass or annoy the police agent who had been a witness against him in an earlier case. After carefully reviewing the record, I am persuaded that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the jury verdict of guilty.