People of The State of Ill. v. MIMS

• Decision Date: 30 September 2010
• Docket Number: No. 1-08-2460.,1-08-2460.
• Citation: 403 Ill.App.3d 884,934 N.E.2d 666,343 Ill.Dec. 342
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William MIMS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

403 Ill.App.3d 884

934 N.E.2d 666

343 Ill.Dec. 342

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,

v.William MIMS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-08-2460.

Appellate Court of Illinois,First District.

Aug. 20, 2010.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 30, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED.

Anita Alvarez, Cook County State's Attorney, Chicago, IL (Alan J. Spellberg, Eve Reilly and Ashlee Cuza, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Patricia Unsinn, Deputy Defender of Cook County, Chicago, IL (Brett C. Zeeb, Assistant Appellate Defender), for Defendant-Appellant.

Justice McBRIDE delivered the opinion of the court:

Following a jury trial, defendant William Mims was found guilty of aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnaping and aggravated robbery for the November 2002 attack of T.A. Subsequently, the trial court sentenced defendant to natural life as a habitual criminal based on previous convictions.

Defendant appeals, arguing that his trial counsel was ineffective for: (1) failing to request that the jury be instructed on the defense of consent; and (2) failing to object to hearsay testimony of a police officer which retold the victim's account of the attack.

The following evidence was presented at defendant's January 2008 jury trial.

T.A. testified that on November 21, 2002, she was 17 years old and a senior at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy. She lived on the 5800 block of South King Drive in Chicago. She woke up early to get ready for school. She left to catch the King Drive bus between 6:15 to 6:30 a.m., but she missed the bus. T.A. then walked to 59th and State Street to get a different bus. She tried to stop in a liquor store to get change, but the store was closed. She stated that the traffic was light at that early time and she was standing alone at the bus stop.

While T.A. was waiting for the bus, she saw a white truck drive by, make a U-turn and park across the street from where she was standing. A man exited the vehicle and walked toward her. T.A. identified this man as defendant. She thought defendant was going to open the liquor store. T.A. testified that she did not know defendant and this was the first time she had seen him. Defendant approached T.A., put his arm through her arm, and pressed a gun to her side. She testified that defendant said, “b----, get in the truck.” They walked across the street, arm in arm. As they passed the truck, T.A. looked at the license plate and memorized it, 353 1322. Defendant opened the passenger door and pulled her into the truck.

T.A. stated that defendant drove around the Kennedy-King College area. He kept the gun in his left hand. While defendant was driving, T.A. sat with her back toward the window and tried to unlock the passenger door, but she was unable to do so. Defendant asked for T.A.'s purse, which she gave him. He removed her identification and read her information aloud. T.A. testified that it seemed like she was in defendant's truck for “ about four, five hours.”

Eventually, defendant pulled into an alley near 67th and Perry and then backed into a lot. Defendant told T.A. to give him her jewelry, including her bracelets, earrings, and a chain. She removed the jewelry and gave it to him. Defendant then moved the passenger seat down and told her to take off her shoes. She did and defendant threw them out the window and into the alley. Defendant started to take off her pants. He unbuttoned her belt, removed her pants and underwear, and threw them into the alley as well.

T.A. testified that defendant climbed over her. She stated that “[h]e took his penis out and he told [her] to put it inside [her].” She asked him to use a condom and he told her to “shut the f--- up.” T.A. did as he said and put his penis in her vagina. Defendant told her to look out the window and he placed the gun against her left cheek. After two minutes, defendant ejaculated inside her and wiped himself off with a towel.

Defendant started the truck, drove to the end of the alley and told T.A. to get out of his vehicle. She got out and looked at defendant's license plate again before defendant drove away. She then walked down the alley to retrieve her clothes from the wet ground and put them on. A few minutes later, a couple in a car stopped to see if she was okay. She was crying at that time. The couple drove her home. When T.A. arrived home, she told her mother and aunt what happened. Her aunt called the police. The police arrived a short time later. T.A. stated that she told the officer what happened and gave her the license plate number from defendant's truck. The officer took T.A. to the place where the sexual assault occurred and then took her to Provident Hospital. T.A. admitted on cross-examination that she suffered no physical injuries during the attack.

A few days later, a detective came to her house and showed her a several photographs. She selected one of the photographs as the person who assaulted her. Then, in January 2003, T.A. went to Area One to view a lineup. During the lineup, she identified defendant as the person who assaulted her.

Officer Brenda Hayes testified that she is a police officer with the Chicago police department. She received a dispatch shortly before 9 a.m. on November 21, 2002, to assist a rape victim at the 5800 block of South King Drive. Officer Hayes was working in uniform and without a partner. She proceeded to that location and met with T.A. and her mother. T.A. appeared “very distraught, agitated” to Officer Hayes.

During the prosecutor's direct examination, Officer Hayes testified about what T.A. told her had occurred. Officer Hayes' testimony essentially recounted T.A.'s description of what happened. The trial court called the attorneys over for a sidebar conference and raised a sua sponte objection to this testimony as inadmissible hearsay. The prosecutor contended that the testimony was admissible as an excited utterance, but the court disagreed. Defense counsel stated that he did not object because the testimony assisted his defense strategy “to make clear to these jurors that no matter what the police officers say in this trial, it's only based on what this young woman said to them.” The court concluded that the testimony was inadmissible hearsay and instructed the jury that it could consider Officer Hayes' testimony about how T.A. appeared to her, but may not consider any conversations as to what T.A. told the officer.

Officer Hayes also testified that T.A. said defendant was driving a white Mitsubishi Montero and gave Officer Hayes the license plate number. She took T.A. to the location of the crime and then to Provident Hospital.

Detective Samuel Brown testified that he is a detective with the violent crimes section of the Chicago police department. Detective Brown stated that he conducted the lineup in which T.A. identified defendant as the man who sexually assaulted her. He also located defendant's white Mitsubishi truck with license plate 353 1322 from an “impound” lot.

The parties stipulated that Dr. Michael Lamonto would testify that he examined T.A. on November 21, 2002. She told Dr. Lamonto that she had been a victim of a sexual assault. He took a vaginal sample from T.A., which was included in an evidence collection kit along with T.A.'s underwear and a panty liner and turned over the kit to the Chicago police department. He noted no acute injuries or bleeding, but that in his professional opinion “not all forcible sexual assaults result in medical findings of injury.”

The next several stipulations related to DNA analysis. Melissa Thompson would testify that she extracted a male DNA sample from semen found on T.A.'s underwear. Donald Parker would testify that he received a buccal sample from defendant and performed a DNA analysis on that sample. Karen Abbinanti would testify that she compared the male DNA sample from the semen stain in T.A.'s underwear to defendant's DNA profile and found that these two profiles matched.

N.B. testified that on March 6, 2002, she was 19 years old. On that day in the early evening, she was leaving her boyfriend's house near 79th and Greenwood in Chicago. She was on her way home. She went to catch the METRA train, but had missed it. She decided to return to her boyfriend's house. When she came down from the platform, she was approached by defendant, whom she identified in court. She testified that he “grabbed” her, told her to come with him and if she made any noise or screamed, he would kill her.

Defendant took N.B. to his car. She described the car as a silver, “maybe SUV type,” Toyota. She got the license plate, but could not remember because it had been six years since the assault. She did recall that the vehicle had temporary plates. Defendant put her in the passenger seat and said if she screamed or fought, he would kill her. Defendant got in the car and drove to an alley off of Greenwood.

N.B. testified that defendant grabbed her by the neck and told her to take one leg out of her pants. She was in the passenger seat and defendant was in the driver seat. He had one hand behind the seat and she believed he had “some form of weapon.” Defendant climbed over and told her to put his penis in her vagina. N.B. complied. Defendant told her “to moan and act like [she] liked it.” While this happened, one of defendant's hands was around her neck and the other was behind the seat. When defendant finished, he told her to get dressed and drove her back to 79th Street. He told her to get out of the car.

After the assault, N.B. went to the hospital and spoke with police. Later, she viewed a lineup and identified defendant as the person who sexually assaulted her. N.B. denied knowing T.A. prior to coming to court.

On cross-examination, defendant's attorney impeached N.B. about the type of car she initially told police defendant drove, a white Jeep Cherokee.

The State also entered into evidence a certified copy of vehicle records from the Illinois...