Court Opinion

ID: 9716133
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 06:28:03.517586+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:58:45.606326
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE STROUSE, dissenting: While I concur with my colleagues’ finding that the statements of the defendant were voluntary and that the corpus delecti of the rape was not proved, I must respectfully dissent from their decision to remand the cause for a new trial based on the failure to admit the confessions of Andy and Spreitzer. The law permits a confession of another to be admitted in evidence when it is relevant. Since it is an exception to the hearsay rule, it is not admitted until there is a “considerable assurance” of its reliability by objective indicia of trustworthiness. (People v. Bowel (1986), 111 Ill. 2d 58, 67.) The dispute with my colleagues specifically centers on the relevancy of these confessions and the application of Chambers v. Mississippi (1973), 410 U.S. 284, 35 L. Ed. 2d 297, 93 S. Ct. 1038, and People v. Bowel (1986), 111 Ill. 2d 58, concerning their admissibility. A confession of another to a crime is relevant only if it tends to show that the defendant did not commit the crime. Here, the confessions exclude any mention of the defendant and seem to be carefully phrased to avoid mentioning him. Andy’s and Spreitzer’s statements do not exclude the defendant’s participation in this crime. The majority admits that the statements failed to implicate the defendant, but it attempts to explain that Andy and Spreitzer were aware that the defendant’s name was not known to the police at the time they confessed and that they did not want to implicate him. That is one of the cogent reasons why their confessions are not only irrelevant as failing to negate the defendant’s participation but also are lacking in trustworthiness. Chambers and Bowel establish the basic rules of law that govern the admissibility of such confessions in Illinois. The four factors enunciated by the Chambers court are considered when determining a statement’s admissibility because each factor is an objective indicia of trustworthiness and tends to support the reliability of the hearsay statement. Those four factors seem to be the most common criteria relied upon for determining the “considerable assurance” of reliability upon which the admission of such hearsay statements depends. In this case, the declarations were not made under circumstances that provide “the considerable assurance” of reliability by objective indicia of trustworthiness that is required in both Chambers and Bowel. (People v. Bowel (1986), 111 Ill. 2d 58, 67.) Our supreme court, in deciding Bowel, did not find the Chambers test invalid but held that all four of the criteria of Chambers need not be present. (111 Ill. 2d 58, 67.) Our supreme court did, however, find that “considerable assurance” of reliability by objective indicia of trustworthiness was the principal determination. 111 Ill. 2d 58, 67. As the majority did, I will examine the Chambers criteria in the same order to determine if the record presents enough “considerable assurance” of reliability to admit the confessions. First, the out-of-court statements were not made spontaneously or shortly after the murder occurred. They were made almost six months after the occurrence. Many cases cited in the majority opinion hold that such a lapse of time alone casts considerable doubt on the reliability of the statements. (See, e.g., People v. Tate (1981), 87 Ill. 2d 134, 144; People v. Nally (1985), 134 Ill. App. 3d 865, 871; People v. Cunningham (1984), 130 Ill. App. 3d 254, 264.) Second, the statements were made while Andy and Spreitzer were in police custody, not to a close acquaintance, casting additional doubt on their reliability. The majority’s attempt to find such “considerable assurance” in these statements has been rejected by many cases in Illinois. (See, e.g., People v. Bonilla (1983), 117 Ill. App. 3d 1041, 1043; People v. Petrovic (1981), 102 Ill. App. 3d 282, 289-90; People v. Bracey (1981), 93 Ill. App. 3d 864, 872-73; People v. Garza (1981), 92 Ill. App. 3d 723, 735-36; People v. Black (1980), 80 Ill. App. 3d 116, 120-21.) Bowel does not reverse the “considerable assurance” of reliability aspect of those cases. I would not reverse this substantial body of Illinois authority. Third, while some details of the confessions were corroborated, the confessions were contradictory and inconsistent in critical areas. In my opinion, this detracts from, rather than adds to, their “considerable assurance” of reliability. Fourth, the declarants were not present in the courtroom, were not under oath, and could not have been cross-examined by the State. Counsel’s representation that the declarants would not testify is the only record of their unavailability in this case. Such a statement standing alone does not excuse the declarants’ presence when required. The majority, in its attempt to excuse Andy’s and Spreitzer’s presence from testifying, avoids the critical focus of admitting the hearsay statements set forth in Chambers and explained in Bowel: that the failure to testify in support of their confessions detracts from the “considerable assurance” of reliability. Bowel did not reject the Chambers tests. Bowel simply held that all four of the Chambers tests were not necessary, although a “considerable assurance” of reliability is still the principal focus of admissibility. Excusing consideration of one or all of the Chambers tests does not provide reliability. Even if all objective indicia of trustworthiness were properly excused, the statements would not be admissible because there would be no objective indicia of reliability to overcome the objections of the hearsay rule. As I read the majority opinion, it has established entirely new criteria for judging the admissibility of such hearsay statements and, in the process, overruled a substantial body of case law which was not reversed by the holdings in Chambers and Bowel. When I couple the failure of the statements to exclude the defendant from participation in the crime with four missing or seriously impaired indicia of Chambers, I find no reliability in the preferred confessions. I would affirm the ruling of the trial court in refusing the confessions.