Court Opinion

ID: 9720287
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 08:24:16.981014+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:15.297233
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE THEIS, specially concurring in part and dissenting in part: I must dissent from the majority’s determination that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant’s conduct was a substantial step toward the act of sexual assault. The majority accurately states the standard of review we must apply to defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Because inferences drawn from the evidence are well within the province of the jury, we must not substitute our judgment for the jury’s with regard to the weight of the evidence or credibility. People v. Jordan, 282 Ill. App. 3d 301, 668 N.E.2d 90 (1996). Reversal is inappropriate "unless the evidence is so unreasonable, improbable, or so unsatisfactory as to justify a reasonable doubt of the defendant’s guilt.” People v. Campbell, 146 Ill. 2d 363, 375, 586 N.E.2d 1261, 1266 (1992). The majority seeks guidance from People v. Bush, 19 Ill. 2d 151, 166 N.E.2d 91 (1960), and People v. Pitts, 89 Ill. App. 3d 145, 411 N.E.2d 586 (1980), while acknowledging that the holdings are "out of touch.” 287 Ill. App. 3d at 209. These opinions are not merely antiquated, they are entirely inapposite. The Bush decision involves a repealed rape statute, which required corroborating witness testimony to prove intent to forcefully engage in intercourse. Bush, 19 Ill. 2d at 154, 166 N.E.2d at 93. Similarly, the court in Pitts acknowledged that it was bound by a 1961 definition of rape which penalized only forcible sexual intercourse. Pitts, 89 Ill. App. 3d 145, 411 N.E.2d 586. The sexual assault statute, however, criminalizes the act of forcible sexual penetration. The broadness of the term "sexual penetration” highlights the incompatibility of the attempted rape cases to the instant case. See 720 ILCS 5/12—13(a)(1) (West 1992). While the majority neglects to set forth the term "sexual penetration,” the scope of culpable conduct is critical to the appropriate resolution of this case. Sexual penetration means: "[A]ny contact, however slight, between the sex organ of one person and the sex organ, mouth or anus of another person, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the body of one person or of any *** object into the sex organ or anus of another ***.” (Emphasis added.) 720 ILCS 5/12—12(f) (West 1992). "[T]he statutory definition does not require physical penetration but merely requires contact.” People v. Moore, 199 Ill. App. 3d 747, 773, 557 N.E.2d 537, 555 (1990), appeal denied, 133 Ill. 2d 567, 561 N.E.2d 701 (1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1031, 112 L. Ed. 2d 681, 111 S. Ct. 690 (1991). Therefore, unlike Bush or Pitts, we need not find evidence that defendant intended to engage in sexual intercourse. Rather, reversal of defendant’s conviction is inappropriate if any rational trier of fact could infer that the defendant intended to: (1) contact the victim’s sex organ with his sex organ or mouth; or (2) make "any intrusion” with "any part of [his] body” into the victim’s sex organ. 720 ILCS 5/12—12(0 (West 1992). In spite of the broadness of the sexual assault statute, the majority trespasses upon the province of the jury and reverses defendant’s conviction. The majority relies heavily upon People v. Rayfield, 171 Ill. App. 3d 297, 525 N.E.2d 253 (1988), for reversal, noting that both cases involved unlawful entry, physical assault, sexual suggestions, conversation, and the defendant’s nonviolent departure. The critical distinction between Rayfield and the instant case, however, involves the circumstances surrounding the sexual suggestion. In Rayfield, after a struggle, the victim was able to calm the assailant. The two sat on the victim’s couch and engaged in conversation. The defendant got up to leave, but before he left the apartment he asked the victim if he could see her vagina. The victim refused and the assailant made no attempt to force the victim to comply with his request. Of significance is the Rayfield court’s reliance upon the fact that not only did the assailant not disrobe, he did not demand that the victim disrobe either. The lack of an attempt to expose either party, coupled with a nonviolent sexual suggestion, tends to support the court’s conclusion that there was a reasonable doubt as to whether the assailant took a substantial step toward committing criminal sexual assault. Conversely, the defendant in this case knocked the victim to the floor and ordered her to take off her underwear. She struggled, begging him not to hurt her. The defendant choked the victim, repeating his demand to disrobe. She again refused and continued to fight him. During the struggle, the victim persuaded the defendant to take her money and leave. Unlike the assailant in Rayfield, the defendant made a demand to disrobe, which was coupled with contemporaneous violence. These facts support the jury’s conclusion that the defendant intended to contact the victim’s sex organ in some manner. It is irrelevant that the defendant did not disrobe, as the act of sexual penetration is not contingent upon the defendant being exposed. I believe the majority can find little solace in the Illinois Supreme Court’s recent decision in People v. Jones, 175 Ill. 2d 126 (1997). In Jones, the supreme court affirmed the jury’s finding of attempted aggravated criminal sexual abuse where the defendant never touched his victim or restricted the victim’s ability to leave the room. The court acknowledged the jury’s right to infer intent from the defendant’s exposure of his genitals coupled with a sexual suggestion, even in the absence of force or physical contact. The Jones decision in no way restricts the court’s previous holding in People v. Enoch, 122 Ill. 2d 176, 522 N.E.2d 1124 (1988), where the Illinois Supreme Court stated that ''[ejvidence of an assault with concomitant disrobing of the victim is sufficient to support a conviction for attempted rape.” Enoch, 122 Ill. 2d at 198, 522 N.E.2d at 1135. The facts in the instant case satisfy this criteria. While I join in the majority opinion as it pertains to all other issues raised on appeal, I cannot agree that this violent attack coupled with the demand to disrobe is evidence "so unreasonable, improbable, or so unsatisfactory” as to justify reversal of the jury’s verdict.