{
  "id": 3209048,
  "name": "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. FRANK CHOURA, Defendant-Appellant",
  "name_abbreviation": "People v. Choura",
  "decision_date": "1980-05-27",
  "docket_number": "No. 79-453",
  "first_page": "228",
  "last_page": "231",
  "citations": [
    {
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      "cite": "84 Ill. App. 3d 228"
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  "court": {
    "name_abbreviation": "Ill. App. Ct.",
    "id": 8837,
    "name": "Illinois Appellate Court"
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  "jurisdiction": {
    "id": 29,
    "name_long": "Illinois",
    "name": "Ill."
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  "cites_to": [
    {
      "cite": "52 Ill. App. 3d 609",
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      "reporter": "Ill. App. 3d",
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    {
      "cite": "65 Ill. 2d 360",
      "category": "reporters:state",
      "reporter": "Ill. 2d",
      "case_ids": [
        5435025
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      "year": 1977,
      "opinion_index": 0,
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        "/ill-2d/65/0360-01"
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  "last_updated": "2023-07-14T15:36:38.181565+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. FRANK CHOURA, Defendant-Appellant."
    ],
    "opinions": [
      {
        "text": "Mr. JUSTICE WHITE\ndelivered the opinion of the court:\nOn November 3,1978, the defendant was indicted by the grand jury in St. Clair County, Illinois, alleging that on or about the 18th day of January 1978, the defendant committed the offense of bribery (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 33 \u2014 1), official misconduct (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 33 \u2014 3) and failure to report a bribe (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 33 \u2014 2). The defendant entered a not-guilty plea, demanded a trial by jury and was tried. At the close of the People\u2019s evidence, the trial judge dismissed the bribery count and the official misconduct count. The jury found the defendant guilty of failure to report a bribe. The defendant was sentenced to supervision and fined $100.\nThe statute in question states:\n\u201cAny public officer, public employee or juror who fails to report forthwith to the local State\u2019s Attorney any offer made to him in violation of Section 33 \u2014 1 commits a Class A misdemeanor.\u201d Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 33 \u2014 2.\nThe pertinent provision of the bribery statute under which the defendant was indicted states:\n\u201cA person commits bribery when:\n# # #\n(d) He receives, retains, or agrees to accept any property 000 which he is not authorized by law to accept knowing that such property \u201d # \u00b0 was promised or tendered with intent to cause him to influence the performance of any act related to the employment or function of any public officer * * Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 33 \u2014 1.\nA brief statement of the People\u2019s evidence is in order. A Frederick Gischer, in December of 1977, or early January 1978, had three traffic tickets pending in the Circuit Court of St. Clair County, Illinois. Two of these traffic tickets were for driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 95\u00bd par. 11 \u2014 501), and the third one was for improper lane usage.\nSome time in December 1977 or January 1978 Gischer met George Tirpak in a tavern in St. Clair County, Illinois. During the course of this meeting a discussion was had concerning the pending traffic complaints. As a result of the conversation, and some time later, Gischer gave Tirpak $400 on two different occasions.\nTestimony further shows that some time around the date in the indictment, Tirpak went to the defendant\u2019s home to discuss Gischer\u2019s pending court cases with him. Defendant, at the time, was a clerk for the jury commission for the circuit court of St. Clair County, Illinois. Tirpak apparently requested the defendant to intercede on behalf of Gischer with a member of the judiciary of the circuit court of St. Clair County concerning, according to the indictment, cause No. 77-T-031749, alleging driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, which was pending at that time in the circuit court.\nThe evidence further shows that cause No. 77-T-031749 was disposed of on January 26, 1978, by a plea of guilty to reckless driving by Mr. Gischer.\nAbout four or five weeks later, according to the evidence, Tirpak again came to the defendant\u2019s home and requested him to intercede again on behalf of Mr. Gischer. Tirpak informed defendant it would be worth $200. At that time, the defendant refused and told Mr. Tirpak he didn\u2019t want anything else to do with Mr. Gischer\u2019s cases. Tirpak placed $200 on a table in the defendant\u2019s living room and left. Subsequently, the defendant returned to Mr. Tirpak the $200.\nThe defendant presented no evidence at the trial.\nThe defendant raises two points on appeal: (1) The constitutionality of the statute in question, and (2) he was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.\nWe have reviewed the record filed herein and find that an error occurred, affecting a substantial right of the defendant, that was not brought to the attention of the trial court. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 110A, par. 615(a).) Therefore, it will not be necessary to discuss the points raised on appeal.\nThe statute in this case requires that an offer made in violation of section 33 \u2014 1 be reported forthwith to the local State\u2019s Attorney. We hold the statute requires the offer to be reported to the State\u2019s Attorney in the county where the offer of a bribe took place.\nThe evidence is unambiguous that if an offer took place at all, it was in the living room of the defendant\u2019s home. The record is silent as to the county in which the defendant\u2019s home is located.\nThe only reference to the possible location of the defendant\u2019s home is in the answers to discovery filed by the People where they listed a witness before the grand jury and/or at the preliminary hearing as a Mrs. Frank Choura, 9110 Bunkum Road, Fairview Heights, Illinois. No evidence was offered to this effect at the trial.\nAs a general rule, criminal actions shall be tried in the county where the offense was committed. (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1977, ch. 38, par. 1 \u2014 6(a); Ill. Const. 1970, art. 1, par. 8.) Venue is not jurisdictional (People v. Ondrey (1976), 65 Ill. 2d 360, People v. Goulet (1977), 52 Ill. App. 3d 609), but it is a well-established rule that the charge that a crime was committed in a particular county is a material averment and must be proved to sustain a conviction (People v. Pride (1959), 16 Illl. 2d 82).\nIn the instant case, the People failed to offer proof that the crime occurred in the county alleged in the indictment; therefore, the. conviction cannot stand.\nAccordingly, we reverse.\nJONES, P. J., and SPOMER, J., concur.",
        "type": "majority",
        "author": "Mr. JUSTICE WHITE"
      }
    ],
    "attorneys": [
      "Robert H. Rice, of Belleville, for appellant.",
      "Clyde L. Kuehn, State\u2019s Attorney, of Belleville (Martin N. Ashley and Gillum Ferguson, both of State\u2019s Attorneys Appellate Service Commission, of counsel), for the People."
    ],
    "corrections": "",
    "head_matter": "THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. FRANK CHOURA, Defendant-Appellant.\nFifth District\nNo. 79-453\nOpinion filed May 27, 1980.\nRobert H. Rice, of Belleville, for appellant.\nClyde L. Kuehn, State\u2019s Attorney, of Belleville (Martin N. Ashley and Gillum Ferguson, both of State\u2019s Attorneys Appellate Service Commission, of counsel), for the People."
  },
  "file_name": "0228-01",
  "first_page_order": 250,
  "last_page_order": 253
}