People v. Patlak
| Decision Date | 15 April 1936 |
| Docket Number | No. 23405.,23405. |
| Citation | 1 N.E.2d 228,363 Ill. 40 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. PATLAK. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to Criminal Court, Cook County; Walter P. Steffen, Judge.
David Y. Patlak was convicted of larceny, and he brings error.
Reversed.
C. A. Caplow, of Chicago, for plaintiff in error.
Otto Kerner, Atty. Gen., Thomas J. Courtney, State's Atty., of Chicago, and A. B. Dennis, of Danville (Edward E. Wilson, Richard H. Devine, and John T. Gallagher, all of Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
David Y. Patlak, an attorney at law, was convicted in the criminal court of Cook county of larceny of $523 belonging to his client, August Krieter. The cause is here on writ of error.
The testimony of the people shows that between October 3 and October 9, 1933, Krieter employed defendant to refinance a defaulted mortgage loan of $14,000 and paid him an attorney's fee of $700 and also $523 to pay back taxes; that defendant represented the loan could be refinanced for not more than $8,000, out of which the attorney fee and taxes would be refunded; that he made no effort to secure the new loan and kept the money Krieter paid him. Defendant was surrendered to the state's attorney's office on December 11, 1933, and taken into custody. At a sanity trial on January 12, 1934, he was found insane and committed to the Illinois Security Hospital. He remained there until December 14, 1934, when he was released as improved. Shortly thereafter he was discharged as cured. On January 15, 1935, he was again taken into custody, and at another hearing he was found to be sane. His trial and conviction on the criminal charge followed.
Five lay witnesses, three of whom had been office associates of defendant for several years, testified to irrational acts and conduct of defendant from 1927 up to October, 1933, and that in their opinion he was insane at the time of the alleged offense.
Defendant was afflicted with diabetes of long standing and has had chorea, or St. Vitus' dance, since he was eighteen or nineteen years of age. Five alienists testified on the subject of his mental condition. Dr. James M. McManus, managing officer of the Illinois Security Hospital, had defendant under daily observation from February 15, 1934, until May 23. On the latter date he was given a physical and mental examination. The witness testified that defendant had an advanced case of diabetes, was afflicted with dementia praecox, and was a victim of auditory and visual hallucinations, that he had no opinion as to when the mental condition originated nor whether defendant was insane in the month of October, 1933, and that defendant responded favorably to a diabetic diet, with a resulting improvement in his mental condition.
Dr. David P. Phillips, specialist in mental diseases, connected with the Illinois Security Hospital, examined defendant on June 26, 1934, and found him gradually emerging from a mental illness. He still had some confusion and slowness of thought, and the witness could not tell how long defendant's mental condition had existed.
Dr. Harold S. Hulbert, a specialist in mental diseases, in response to a hypothetical question, testified that in his opinion defendant was insane in October, 1933.
Dr. Harry R. Hoffman, director of the behavior clinic of the criminal court of Cook county, was called as the court's witness. He testified that at defendant's first sanity hearing he made a physical and mental examination of defendant and an exhaustive inquiry into his history; that defendant had hallucinations of God talking to him, of murderous assaults, perverted sexual relations, vast holdings, and of making millions of dollars, and that from his examination and investigation he concluded defendant was suffering from dementia praecox and diabetes. However, at the sanity hearing in January, 1935, Dr. Hoffman testified defendant was sane on that date. At the trial in the instant case he testified he had changed his mind, and in his opinion defendant's mental illness at the time of his first examination was precipitated by his arrest and incarceration, due most likely to his diabetic condition, and that, after hearing all the witnesses, excluding opinion testimony, his conclusion was that defendant was sane at the time of his alleged offense.
Dr. John A. Larson, psychiatrist connected with the Illinois Security Hospital, was a witness on the part of the people. He testified that he examined defendant on February 21, 1934, found him suffering from a psychosis with hallucinations, and that he was mentally sick with a disease which affected his entire personality.
The medical testimony shows that defendant was afflicted with a mental illness and a toxic condition resulting from his physical ailments. He was...
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People v. Teague
...may give their opinion of his mental condition or capacity. (People v. Krauser (1925), 315 Ill. 485, 510, 146 N.E. 593; People v. Patlak (1936), 363 Ill. 40, 1 N.E.2d 228.) Rather, he contends that the lay witness opinion testimony elicited by the State was either wholly lacking in foundati......
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People v. Cooney
...as the basis for the opinion." (People v. Pruszewski (1953), 414 Ill. 409, 413, 111 N.E.2d 313, 315; accord People v. Patlak (1936), 363 Ill. 40, 1 N.E.2d 228; and People v. Dunigan (1981), 96 Ill.App.3d 799, 52 Ill.Dec. 247, 421 N.E.2d Whether the witness has testified to sufficient facts ......
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People v. Redmond
...doubt. (People v. Robinson (1961), 22 Ill.2d 162, 174 N.E.2d 820; People v. Skeoch (1951), 408 Ill. 276, 96 N.E.2d 473; People v. Patlak (1936), 363 Ill. 40, 1 N.E.2d 228. The common law, however, was replaced by section 3--2 of the Criminal Code of 1961, which is as '(a) 'Affirmative defen......
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People v. Dunigan
... ... (People v. Pruszewski (1953), 414 Ill. 409, 111 N.E.2d 313; People v. Patlak (1936), 363 Ill ... Page 1335 ... [52 Ill.Dec. 263] 40, 1 N.E.2d 228.) However, the question posed by defense counsel in this case was objectionable since it exceeded the ambit of merely seeking a lay witness' opinion concerning defendant's sanity. In People v. Lechner (1976), 35 Ill.App.3d ... ...