Court Opinion

ID: 9527910
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:35:30.326236+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:26:17.424471
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE SIMON, also concurring in part and dissenting in part: I concur in the court’s remand of the cause to the appellate court to consider the other issues raised by the defendant. I dissent, however, from the finding of the court that the evidence is sufficient to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. While the majority correctly states that it is not the function of the court on review to assess the credibility of witnesses, its opinion ignores the court’s duty to review the reasonableness of inferences the jury draws in reaching its conclusion that a defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Chief Justice Clark accurately points out that because the evidence in this bizarre case is wholly circumstantial, we are reviewing only the jury’s inferences, not its evaluation of demeanor evidence. The inferences drawn in this case are so tenuous that the defendant’s guilt cannot be established so “as to exclude every other reasonable hypothesis.” (People v. Garrett (1975), 62 Ill. 2d 151, 163.) Linscott’s conviction therefore should not stand. 62 Ill. 2d 151, 163; see also People v. Heep (1922), 302 Ill. 524; People v. Widmayer (1948), 402 Ill. 143. The majority emphasizes the similarity between the defendant’s account of his dream and the circumstances surrounding the murder. My colleagues overlook, however, that much of this information appeared in a newspaper account of the victim’s death, and that the defendant discussed this article with both his wife and a friend prior to calling the police. The article, which appeared on the second page of the October 6, 1980, Chicago Tribune, stated’that the victim was “bludgeoned to death with a blunt instrument.” The story also mentioned that police suspected that the victim and her assailant knew one another. The defendant, in his written statement to police on October 6, 1980, used similar language to describe the attack. The defendant wrote that he “saw a man bludgeon a person to death.” In addition, the defendant mentioned that the assailant’s weapon was a heavy blunt instrument. After further questioning by police, the defendant surmised that the victim and her assailant must have known each other since they appeared to feel comfortable together. In addition, we have no way of knowing what information the defendant might have picked up from the neighborhood discussion of the murder before he approached the police. According to the majority, there were other similarities between the defendant’s dream and the attack which only the murderer could have known. The majority places great emphasis on Linscott’s alleged description of the murder weapon as a tire iron. Linscott denied making the statement. A police officer contended, however, that Linscott referred to the murder weapon as a tire iron in his initial phone call to police. Not only has the State failed to either offer a tape recording of this call into evidence or even produce one, but also the first written report of this call was made by the police officer only after Linscott was arrested — seven weeks after the phone conversation took place. Moreover, throughout the recorded interrogations made subsequently to his phone call to the police, Linscott consistently refers to the weapon as a blunt instrument resembling the “counterbalance of a grandfather clock,” about 8 to 9 inches long. Had Linscott actually described the weapon as a tire iron in his phone conversation, it is curious that throughout the subsequent interrogations the police never confronted him with this inconsistency. Further, the State ignores that the actual murder weapon was 25 inches long — about three times the length of the blunt instrument used in Linscott’s dream. The other so-called striking similarities are: the account of the beating, the victim’s passive acceptance of the attack, and the presence of a stereo at the scene of the crime. The majority, however, incorrectly assesses the significance of these coincidences. As Chief Justice Clark notes, “beating downwards is the usual way to inflict blows.” Further, the victim’s passive acceptance of death was based solely on a hand signal. From the evidence presented, it is far from clear that the victim’s death was passive. Clothing was strewn around the room, and a TV set was overturned. This evidence is more consistent with a theory that a struggle ensued. Finally, the significance of the presence of a stereo in both the dream and at the murder scene eludes me. As Justice Rizzi noted in the appellate court’s sound opinion (135 Ill. App. 3d 773), ownership of a stereo is so common that it is hardly remarkable that in a dream about a room and in real life a stereo was included. More striking than the similarities between the dream and the real murder are the differences. The victim in the dream was black, not Caucasian as was the real victim. The attack in the dream took place in the living room of a three- or four-room apartment. The actual murder, however, took place in a studio apartment containing a bed and a display of religious objects, not the couch present in the defendant’s dream. Moreover, the assailant in the dream was far shorter than the defendant. But even supposing that this dream evidence could prove that the defendant caused the victim’s death, it is still insufficient to support a murder conviction. To convict a person of murder all of the elements of the crime must be established. Linscott’s dream, even when interpreted most favorably to the prosecution, does not establish that he killed the victim either intentionally or knowingly. (See State v. Petree (Utah 1983), 659 P.2d 443-47.) In the dream the attacker talked to the victim for some time before a “perverse smile” came over his face. We are not sure from this account whether the dream murderer knew what he was doing or what motivated the assault. More importantly, however, “[wjhat a dream means, if anything, presents an occurrence filled with mystery. As to the meaning of a dream, we can only conjecture.” (State v. White (1967), 271 N.C. 391, 394-95, 156 S.E.2d 721, 724.) Dream evidence of the type the State offers here is simply too ambiguous to support a murder conviction. The majority also relies heavily on forensic evidence to buttress the jury’s findings. Blood samples taken from the victim’s vaginal fluid indicated that her assailant could have had type “0” blood which is found in about 50% of the population. Evidence regarding hair strands found at the scene is far from sufficient to establish, even in conjunction with other evidence, that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Not only was the State’s expert witness confused as to how many characteristics were tested, but also “comparative microscopy of hair *** serves to exclude classes of individuals from consideration and is conclusive, if at all, only to negative identity.” (State v. Stallings (1985), 77 N.C. App. 189, 191, 334 S.E.2d 485, 486; see also 23 A.L.R4th 1199, 1210 (1983).) Hence such evidence is of little assistance in proving the defendant guilty. Finally, two other factors create substantial doubt regarding Linscott’s guilt. First, there was evidence indicating that the victim knew her assailant, there being no sign of a forced entry into the apartment. Both the State and the defense agree, however, that the victim and Linscott did not have any sort of relationship or even knew each other. Second, Linscott had no motive for killing the victim. “While the State is not required to prove a motive for a deliberate criminal act, the presence of a motive is important in considering the question whether the defendant did commit the act.” People v. Richards (1970), 120 Ill. App. 2d 313, 316, citing People v. Novotny (1939), 371 Ill. 58. The evidence, at best, as a matter of law leaves a reasonable doubt regarding Linscott’s guilt, and I would, therefore, reverse the conviction.