{ "id": 2797942, "name": "The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Chris Charles Brown, Defendant-Appellant", "name_abbreviation": "People v. Brown", "decision_date": "1975-09-10", "docket_number": "No. 58851", "first_page": "182", "last_page": "188", "citations": [ { "type": "official", "cite": "32 Ill. App. 3d 182" } ], "court": { "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.", "id": 8837, "name": "Illinois Appellate Court" }, "jurisdiction": { "id": 29, "name_long": "Illinois", "name": "Ill." }, "cites_to": [ { "cite": "17 Ill.App.3d 323", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2510548 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/17/0323-01" ] }, { "cite": "29 Ill.2d 375", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2823619 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/29/0375-01" ] }, { "cite": "3 Ill.App.3d 829", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2840068 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/3/0829-01" ] }, { "cite": "17 Ill.App.3d 871", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d", "case_ids": [ 2515902 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-app-3d/17/0871-01" ] }, { "cite": "373 Ill. 536", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill.", "case_ids": [ 2530222 ], "pin_cites": [ { "page": "540" } ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill/373/0536-01" ] }, { "cite": "52 Ill.2d 7", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5393840 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/52/0007-01" ] }, { "cite": "52 Ill.2d 107", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 5395691 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/52/0107-01" ] }, { "cite": "45 Ill.2d 33", "category": "reporters:state", "reporter": "Ill. 2d", "case_ids": [ 2896594 ], "opinion_index": 0, "case_paths": [ "/ill-2d/45/0033-01" ] } ], "analysis": { "cardinality": 642, "char_count": 12796, "ocr_confidence": 0.719, "pagerank": { "raw": 1.6717822123906922e-07, "percentile": 0.6960741726641205 }, "sha256": "04d1a7d319ab9e35c20ce077940278c0f0c398257b7266be95e1f1d507782c4e", "simhash": "1:65c8af427616d59b", "word_count": 2093 }, "last_updated": "2023-07-14T16:14:58.460223+00:00", "provenance": { "date_added": "2019-08-29", "source": "Harvard", "batch": "2018" }, "casebody": { "judges": [], "parties": [ "The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Chris Charles Brown, Defendant-Appellant." ], "opinions": [ { "text": "Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE DIERINGER\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nThis is an appeal from a judgment entered by the Circuit Court of Cook County. Following a bench trial, tire defendant was found guilty of rape. He was sentenced to a term of 4 to 12 years in the Illinois State Penitentiary.\nThe issues presented on appeal are (1) whether the defendant was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offense of rape; (2) whether there was sufficient corroborative evidence to establish the defendant\u2019s guilt; and (3) whether the trial court\u2019s remarks while finding the defendant guilty were improper.\nOn August 20, 1971, Miss Larry Jean Clark resided alone in an apartment at 56 North Laramie Street in Chicago. Miss Clark had worked until midnight, August 19, then had stopped at a bar for a beer with two girlfriends from work. She arrived at home alone at approximately 3 a.m. Miss Clark entered her apartment through the front door and immediately locked the door. She removed all of her clothing except a pair of panties. She went into the kitchen and prepared a sandwich, then went into the living room, turned on her record player and sat down to relax.\nShortly after sitting down, Miss Clark heard a noise, then saw a man enter the living room from the kitchen area, where the apartment\u2019s back door was located. The man was nude except for a woman\u2019s stocking which was over his head. The man, whom Miss Clark identified in court as the defendant, Chris Charles Brown, carried a knife and told Miss Clark not to scream or he would kill her.\nThe defendant approached Miss Clark and asked her for money. \u25a0 She said she had none and emptied her purse so defendant could see for himself that she had no money. Defendant sorted through the contents of the purse with one hand while holding the knife in his other hand. The defendant then asked Miss Clark where the bedroom was located. She pointed in its direction, then asked the defendant if she could finish eating her sandwich. Defendant allowed her to finish the sandwich, standing over her while she ate. Miss Clark asked if she could have a drink of water and defendant told her she could not. He then pushed her toward the bedroom by poking her in the back with the knife.\nAfter entering the bedroom, the defendant pushed Miss Clark onto the bed, closed the door, and took off her panties. Defendant told her he still had the knife and not to try anything. Defendant had sexual intercourse with Miss Clark for two or three minutes; He then got up and left the bedroom. A few seconds later Miss Clark heard running footsteps on the roof.\nMiss Clark got dressed, ran downstairs and flagged down a police car on Laramie Street. She told the policeman in tire car she had been raped. The officer told her he was on traffic patrol and she should telephone the police station. Miss Clark then went to the apartment of a friend, Richard Curry, who lived in the same building as Miss Clark. Miss Clark called the police and then she and Mr. Curry returned to her apartment.\nUpon returning to her apartment, Miss Clark saw two \u201cSalem\u201d brand cigarette butts in her ash tray. Neither Miss Clark nor Mr. Curry smoked that brand. She also noticed a long piece of green material on the floor.\nShortly thereafter, two police officers arrived and took Miss Clark to Cook County Hospital, where she was examined. The examination showed the presence of sperm. \u2019While at the hospital, Miss Clark discussed her attack with Investigator James-Sesso and other police officers.\n' Investigator Sesso: and iOfficer Clyde Craig drove Miss Clark home from the hospital and searched her apartment. The policemen discovered the strike plate had > been. removed from the jam of the rear door of the victim\u2019s apartment. Miss Clark showed' \u25a0 the policemen the piece of green cloth which she had previously discovered. The officers examined the back porch of Miss Clark\u2019s apartment. Investigator Sesso observed a ladder built into the side of the building. The ladder led to a skylight which was open. Sesso climbed the ladder and crossed the roof of the building to another open skylight, which he climbed through, using a ladder which was under the skylight. Investigator Sesso subsequently \u25a0knocked on the door of a nearby apartment. The defendant, who was identified by Sesso at trial, answered the door. He Was wearing green underwear of silk-type material. While Investigator Sesso was questioning the defendant, Miss Clark and Officer Craig arrived. Immediately upon seeing the defendant, Miss Clark said, \u201cThat is the man that did \u2022it.\u201d The defendant was then placed under arrest. The defendant -and the policemen went inside defendant\u2019s apartment so he could get dressed. While inside the apartment, Investigator Sesso saw a piece of material similar to that found in Miss Clark\u2019s apartment.\nThe defendant denied raping Miss Clark. At trial he introduced the testimony of his mother, Annie Mae Brown, who stated she shared the Laramie Street apartment with her son, on the date of the crime. Mrs. .Brown' testified the defendant was home and asleep at the time the alleged crime occurred. Defendant took the stand and corroborated the testimony of his mother.\nAt the close of the evidence, the trial judge found the defendant guilty of rape and sentenced him to a term of 4 to 12 years in the Illinois State Penitentiary.\nThe defendant first contends he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the offense of rape. In support of his contention, the defendant argues the testimony of the victim was unconstitutional, vague and unbelievable; the police investigation was so abbreviated as to violate due process; and the State suppressed cert\u00e1in evidence which it had an affirmative duty to produce.\nThe State contends the defendant was proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt where the victim positively identified the defendant as her attacker, and where the victim\u2019s testimony was substantially consistent and corroborated, and not based on any suggestive identification procedures.\nThe record in the present case shows that Investigator Sesso was searching- the victim's apartment building, investigating the crime by inquiring of residents whether they had seen or heard anything which could aid in the investigation, when he came upon the defendant\u2019s apartment. At that time, the victim, without suggestion or coercion by the police, approached the third floor of the apartment building on her own accord, and coincidentaUy spotted the defendant. She immediately identified him as her attacker. Nothing in the record indicates the identification was suggestive or coerced. To constitute a violation of due process, the identification of the defendant by the victim must be unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistaken identification. (People v. McMath (1970), 45 Ill.2d 33.) Whether an identification procedure is tainted depends upon the totafity of the circumstances surrounding the identification. (People v. Burbank (1972), 53 Ill.2d 26l.) The circumstances surrounding the defendant\u2019s identification in the instant case amounted to a \u201ccoincidental confrontation\u201d which was perfectly proper. People v. Canale (1972), 52 Ill.2d 107.\nIt should further be noted that defense counsel filed no motion to suppress the identification of the defendant. The supreme court, in People v. Pierce (1972), 52 Ill.2d 7, held that where there has been no motion to suppress defendant\u2019s identification, the defendant waives his right to challenge an allegedly improper identification.\nContrary to defendant\u2019s contention that the police investigation in the present case was so abbreviated as to violate due process of law, we believe the police procedures employed were proper and resulted in the prompt solution of a serious crime. The police questioned Miss Clark at the hospital, then drove her home and began their search for clues, which they found. Investigator Sesso then proceeded to follow the apparent escape trafl of the rapist. Sesso\u2019s actions eventuaHy led him to the defendant\u2019s apartment, and when Miss Clark spotted the defendant, she positively identified him as her attacker. The investigation carried out by the police was entirely proper and not violative of due process- of law. The brevity of the investigation was occasioned only by its unusual success.\nDefendant\u2019s argument that the State suppressed certain evidence which it had an affirmative duty to produce is without merit. Defendant maintains the State should have produced the police mug shots taken of defendant on the day of his arrest. Defense counsel, however, made no request for the photo, and did not seek to introduce any photograph of the defendant in evidence. Defendant therefore cannot now complain of the State\u2019s faflure to produce the mug shot\nThe defendant\u2019s second contention is there was insufficient corroborative evidence to establish his guilt. In support of his contention, defendant Cites the decision in People v. Grudecki (1940 ) 373 Ill. 536, 540, wherein the supreme court held:\n\u201cWhere a conviction of rape depends upon the testimony of the prosecuting witness and the defendant denies the charge, the evidence of the prosecuting witness ought to be corroborated by some other evidence, fact or circumstance in the case.\u201d\nThe State asserts the testimony of the victim was sufficient alone to establish the defendant\u2019s guilt, and moreover her testimony was corroborated by other facts in evidence.\nThe testimony of the victim in the present case was clear and convincing and there is no reason to regard it as unworthy of belief. It is well settled that clear and convincing testimony of the victim standing alone is sufficient to support a conviction for rape even without corroboration. (People v. Nichols (1974), 17 Ill.App.3d 871.) Clear and convincing evidence, however, is not synonymous with uncontradicted or unimpeached testimony. Minor variances in the testimony may occur, and, if so, these variances constitute mere discrepancies going only to credibility. (People v. Wright (1972), 3 Ill.App.3d 829.) It is the task of the trier of fact, here the court, to weigh these discrepancies. If it is found the discrepancies are so minor as not to detract from the reasonableness of the victim\u2019s story as a whole, her testimony may be found to be clear and convincing. (People v. Brown (1963), 29 Ill.2d 375.) The testimony of the victim in the instant case contained only minor discrepancies which did not detract from the reasonableness of her story as a whole. We believe the trial court correctly weighed the credibility of Miss Clark.\nMoreover, in the present case there was corroboration of some of the facts. Miss Clark complained to the police she had been raped immediately after her attack. She was taken to Cook County Hospital by the police and examined by a doctor. The examination showed the presence of sperm. A stipulation to that effect was admitted into evidence at trial. In People v. Hayes (1974), 17 Ill.App.3d 323 (abstract opinion), the Appellate Court found the testimony of the complaining witness in a trial for rape was sufficiently corroborated by her immediate complaint and by a stipulated medical opinion regarding the presence of sperm. Furthermore, the green cloth found in the defendant\u2019s apartment was similar to the piece of green cloth found in the victim\u2019s apartment immed;ately after her attack. We believe the evidence presented in the present case sufficiently corroborated the testimony of the victim to sustain the conviction of rape.\nThe defendant fin\u00e1lly contends the remarks made by tire trial court while finding the defendant guilty were improper.\n-At the close of th\u00e9 trial, the court made an extensive oral ruling in finding the defendant guilty of rape.-The trial judge apprised the defendant of the reasons for the court\u2019s decision. In the course of his comments, the judge spoke of the possible bias or interest of the witnesses, and what motive the victim or the police would have in not telling the truth. Nothing in the court\u2019s remarks violated defendant\u2019s rights. The court was merely giving its impression of the application of the law in the case at bar. We conclude the remarks of the trial court in finding the defendant guilty of rape were proper.\nFor the reasons stated herein, the judgment of the Circuit Court of Cook County is affirmed.\nAffirmed.\nADESKO and JOHNSON, JJ., concur.", "type": "majority", "author": "Mr. PRESIDING JUSTICE DIERINGER" } ], "attorneys": [ "Lionel J. Livingston and Dale W. Broeder, both of Chicago, for appellant.", "Bernard Carey, State\u2019s Attorney, of Chicago (Laurence J. Bolon and John T. Theis, Assistant State\u2019s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People." ], "corrections": "", "head_matter": "The People of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Chris Charles Brown, Defendant-Appellant.\n(No. 58851;\nFirst District (4th Division)\nSeptember 10, 1975.\nLionel J. Livingston and Dale W. Broeder, both of Chicago, for appellant.\nBernard Carey, State\u2019s Attorney, of Chicago (Laurence J. Bolon and John T. Theis, Assistant State\u2019s Attorneys, of counsel), for the People." }, "file_name": "0182-01", "first_page_order": 208, "last_page_order": 214 }