In re Rolandis G.

• Citation: 232 Ill.2d 13,902 N.E.2d 600
• Decision Date: 20 November 2008
• Docket Number: No. 99581.,99581.
• Parties: In re ROLANDIS G., a Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Rolandis G., Appellee).
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

902 N.E.2d 600

232 Ill.2d 13

In re ROLANDIS G., a Minor (The People of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Rolandis G., Appellee).

No. 99581.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

November 20, 2008.

Rehearing Denied January 26, 2009.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Paul A. Logli, State's Attorney, Rockford (Michael A. Scodro, Solicitor General, Leah C. Myers, Michael M. Glick, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, Norbert J. Goetten, Martin P. Moltz, and Mary Beth Burns, Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, of counsel), for the People.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Patricia Unsinn, Deputy Defender, Elizabeth A. Botti, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellee.

Mary E. Sawicki, of Alexandria, Virginia, and Victor Vieth, Winona, Minnesota, for amici curiae National District Attorneys Association and the American Prosecutors Research Institute.

OPINION

Justice BURKE delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion:

Eleven-year-old Rolandis G. (respondent) was adjudicated delinquent after a juvenile court judge, in the circuit court of Winnebago County, found him guilty of the aggravated criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/12-14(b)(i) (West 2002)) of six-year-old Von J. The appellate court reversed the adjudication and remanded for a new trial, ruling that the hearsay testimony of two witnesses had been improperly admitted under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). 352 Ill.App.3d 776, 288 Ill.Dec. 58, 817 N.E.2d 183. The appellate court also held that the statute which permitted the hearsay testimony to be admitted into evidence, i.e., section 115-10 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/115-10 (West 2002)), was unconstitutional "to the extent [it] permits the introduction of [testimonial] statements" in violation of the confrontation clause of the United States Constitution (U.S. Const., amend. VI). 352 Ill.App.3d at 781, 288 Ill.Dec. 58, 817 N.E.2d 183.

The State petitioned this court for leave to appeal, which we granted. In this appeal we are asked to resolve a number of issues, some of which were left open by our recent decision in People v. Stechly, 225 Ill.2d 246, 312 Ill.Dec. 268, 870 N.E.2d 333 (2007).

BACKGROUND

On July 16, 2002, Rolandis G. was arrested and charged with the aggravated criminal sexual assault of Von J. The following day, a delinquency petition was filed wherein it was alleged that on June 25, 2002, Rolandis had forced Von to perform fellatio on him. The petition asked that Rolandis be declared a delinquent minor and made a ward of the court.

On November 21, 2002, a trial was held on the delinquency petition. Prior to trial, the State filed motions in limine pursuant to section 115-10 (725 ILCS 5/115-10 (West 2002)),¹ seeking to admit into evidence hearsay statements Von made to his mother and to Officer Cure of the Rockford police department, as well as a videotaped statement made to Jacqueline Weber, a child advocate at Rockford's Carrie Lynn Children's Center. The court deferred ruling on these motions until after hearing all of the testimony.

The matter proceeded to trial and Von was called as the first witness. Von answered a few preliminary questions about himself and made an in-court identification of Rolandis, stating that Rolandis was someone he had known from the neighborhood. However, when asked about events that occurred on June 25, 2002, Von resolutely refused to respond. Even after he was given a short recess to speak to his mother and a child advocate, Von could not bring himself to answer questions about the allegations concerning Rolandis. The court offered defense counsel the opportunity to cross-examine Von, but she declined to do so.

The State then called Von's mother, Jacqueline M., to the stand. She testified that around 11 a.m. on June 25, 2002, her six-year-old son, Von, went outside to play with the neighborhood children. She said Von returned home shortly after noon, accompanied by Rolandis. Upon entering the home, Von immediately went to the bathroom, while Rolandis remained by the front door of the apartment. She heard Rolandis call to Von and ask him to come back outside, but Von refused and Rolandis left.

Jacqueline testified that while Von was in the bathroom she saw him coughing, spitting, and rinsing his mouth out with water. She asked Von if something was wrong and Von told her that his "throat was hot." Von remained inside the apartment and, after a few minutes, returned to the bathroom and started coughing and spitting again. Shortly thereafter, Von came into the living room, where Jacqueline was sitting, and told her, "Rolandis made me suck his dick." Jacqueline said she questioned Von and he told her that while he had been outside that morning Rolandis had forced him into a nearby wooded area and threatened him with a stick if he did not do what Rolandis wanted. Von told her Rolandis called him names and made him cry. Also, Von said that, after he did what Rolandis told him to do, Rolandis made Von "pinky swear" not to tell anyone. Jacqueline testified that, because of the "pinky swear," Von did not want her to tell anyone else what Rolandis had done. Nevertheless, Jacqueline called the Rockford police department to report what had happened and within 10 minutes Officer Robert Cure came to Jacqueline's apartment to speak to her and Von.

Officer Cure was the next witness to testify. He told the court that, on June 25, 2002, he responded to Jacqueline's call to the Rockford police department and spoke with Jacqueline and Von at their apartment. Officer Cure testified that Von told him that Rolandis had forced Von to "suck his dick" and that Rolandis had been holding a stick in his hand when he forced Von to perform this act. Von also told Officer Cure that he had choked while he was performing the act and that a fluid had come out of Rolandis' penis. Von told Officer Cure that, after this happened, he came home and began to wash his mouth out with water.

The State's last witness was Detective Paul Swanberg from the Rockford police department. He testified that, on July 1, 2002, he went to the Carrie Lynn Children's Center in Rockford, a facility which provides services to child victims of sexual and severe physical abuse. Von J., accompanied by his mother, came to the Center that day to be interviewed by child advocate Jackie Weber. Because Weber was unavailable to testify at trial, Detective Swanberg, who had observed the interview, testified regarding Weber's interview with Von.

Detective Swanberg testified that Von's interview took place in a room that was equipped with a one-way mirror and a hidden audio/videotaping device. In accord with Center protocol, Weber's interview with Von was videotaped. Von and Weber were the only people in the room when the interview was conducted. However, Detective Swanberg and another staff person from the Carrie Lynn Children's Center observed the interview via the one-way mirror.

Detective Swanberg testified that Weber asked Von to identify various parts of a boy's body using two anatomical drawings (front and back). Weber then wrote down Von's responses on the drawings. At trial, Detective Swanberg identified the two drawings Weber had marked and they were placed into evidence.

Detective Swanberg also testified that when Weber completed her interview with Von he took a copy of the videotaped interview into custody. The videotape was placed into an evidence bag and kept at the police department. At trial, Detective Swanberg identified the evidence bag and the videotape. Subsequently, the videotape was played in its entirety for the court. On the videotape, Von told Weber about the incident with Rolandis, repeating what he had told his mother and Officer Cure, adding some additional details in response to Weber's questioning.

After presenting its evidence, the State asked for a ruling on its motions in limine. The court heard the arguments of counsel and then ruled, in accord with section 115-10(b)(1), that the time, content, and circumstances under which Von's statements were made to his mother, to Officer Cure, and to Jackie Weber provided sufficient indicia of reliability. The court further ruled that, even though Von had been unable to answer questions at trial regarding Rolandis' conduct, Von had "testified" within the meaning of section 115-10(b)(2)(A). Accordingly, the court held that the testimony of Von's mother and Officer Cure regarding Von's out-of-court statements, as well as Von's videotaped interview with Jackie Weber, were admissible as exceptions to the hearsay rule. The State then rested.

Defense counsel called Rolandis to testify on his own behalf. Rolandis admitted that he had been playing with Von on June 25, 2002, and that he had walked Von home through a wooded area near his home. He denied, however, that he had forced Von to perform any sexual acts and could offer no explanation as to why Von would make up such a story. Defense counsel also called as witnesses Rolandis' mother, Rolandis' friend Jessie, and another friend's mom, Jessica. These witnesses provided no material evidence with respect to the charged offense. Although Jessie had been with Von and Rolandis on June 25, 2002, Jessie testified that he left before Rolandis walked Von home. Defense counsel attempted to ask the other witnesses questions about Rolandis' general character, but the State objected to the line of questioning and the evidence was ruled inadmissible.

After hearing counsel's arguments, the trial court held it was "convinced beyond a reasonable doubt" that Rolandis was guilty of committing aggravated criminal sexual assault. The court adjudicated Rolandis delinquent, made him a ward of the court, and sentenced him to probation for a period of five years.

Rolandis appealed his adjudication. He initially argued, based on section 115-10, that...