People v. Barrow
| Decision Date | 25 October 1989 |
| Docket Number | No. 65070,65070 |
| Citation | 133 Ill.2d 226,139 Ill.Dec. 728,549 N.E.2d 240 |
| Parties | , 139 Ill.Dec. 728 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Ronald BARROW, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, Springfield, and Steven Clark, Asst. Defender, Chicago, Office of the State App. Defender, for appellant.
Neil F. Hartigan, Atty. Gen., Springfield , for people.
Following a jury trial in the circuit court of LaSalle County, the defendant, Ronald Barrow, was found guilty of the murder of Joseph O'Berto (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 38, par. 9-1), armed robbery (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 38, par. 18-2(a)), residential burglary (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 38, par. 19-3), and burglary (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 38, par. 19-1). A hearing was held on the State's motion to determine if the death penalty could and should be imposed. The jury found that there existed one of the aggravating factors set out in section 9-1(b) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill.Rev.Stat.1983, ch. 38, par. 9-1(b)) and that there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude a sentence of death. The trial court sentenced the defendant to death and to a consecutive 30-year prison term on the armed robbery conviction and a 15-year term on the residential burglary conviction. No sentence was entered on the burglary conviction. The defendant's sentence of death was stayed (107 Ill.2d R. 609(a)) pending direct appeal to this court (Ill. Const.1970, art. VI, § 4(b); 107 Ill.2d R. 603).
Evidence at trial showed that on February 19, 1984, the body of the victim, Joseph O'Berto, was discovered in the basement of his residence, located in Cedar Point, Illinois. He had been shot in the head, which an autopsy showed to be the cause of death. In a pool of blood beside the body, investigating officers found a spent projectile. Robert Hunton, a forensic scientist with the Illinois Department of Law Enforcement, testified that he examined the projectile and determined that it could have been fired from a gun of any one of four calibers, including a 9 millimeter. Hayden Baldwin, a crime scene technician with the LaSalle County police department, testified that several of the stairs leading to the victim's basement had been "torn up" and in the basement he observed an empty safe and three slot machines. Baldwin also stated that he examined the front and rear doors of the residence and found no signs of forced entry.
Darlene Brown, the victim's daughter, testified that on the previous evening she was with her father at his residence from approximately 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. When she returned home, at close to 9 p.m., Brown telephoned her father to inform him that she had arrived safely. The following morning, Brown and her husband Howard were beckoned to the victim's residence by her father-in-law, Floyd Brown, who was there and had been trying, without success, to reach O'Berto. They found the front door to the residence unlocked, several rooms in the house in disarray and the body of the victim lying in the basement in a pool of blood. Brown determined that a number of her father's possessions were missing, including his wallet, which she said typically contained about $500 in denominations of $100; a bankbook with $20,000 on deposit; and a gold money clip.
Leroy Blum, the victim's next-door neighbor, testified that on the evening of February 18, 1984, at approximately 9 p.m., he observed the outside light of the victim's residence go off and then go on again around 10:30 p.m. At close to 1:15 a.m., Blum noticed that the light was still on. At 3 a.m., he awoke and saw that the light had gone off.
Harry Hockings, an Illinois State trooper, testified that on March 15, 1984, Judy Herron informed him that her boyfriend, Harold "Smokey" Wrona, who was incarcerated in a Maryland State prison, had information concerning the victim's death and that he wished to meet with Hockings. Thereafter, Hockings and LaSalle County Sheriff Pete Wahl met with Wrona in the prison. Hockings testified that based on information Wrona provided them, they made arrangements with Maryland law enforcement officials to have Wrona released from prison so that he could meet with the defendant and provide the opportunity for him to make incriminating statements concerning the victim's death that could be recorded with eavesdropping equipment. On April 6, 1984, Wrona and the defendant met in a hotel room in Maryland which was set up with hidden audio and video equipment operated by Maryland law enforcement officials. After the defendant made a number of incriminating statements to Wrona, he was arrested and charged with the offenses stated above.
At trial, Wrona testified that he met the defendant in July of 1983, while they were incarcerated in the same cellblock at a Maryland prison. According to Wrona, he told the defendant that in 1966, two of his friends, Joe Doll and George Lakita, had committed a burglary in Cedar Point and stole $64,000 that they had found under one of the basement stairs. Wrona stated that Doll and Lakita told him that they also found three "barrels of change" in the basement but took only the cash. Wrona also told the defendant that Doll and Lakita had later discovered that an additional $175,000 was hidden in one of the lower basement stairs where they had not searched.
Wrona further testified that on February 2, 1984, after the defendant was released from prison on bond pending an appeal of a Maryland conviction for armed robbery, he visited Wrona in prison. At that time he told Wrona that he was going to Davenport, Iowa, because he had a "score there" and wanted to visit Wrona's son on the way. The defendant also inquired about the robbery of the man in Cedar Point that Wrona had earlier told him about. He sought directions to Cedar Point and asked Wrona whether he knew what the house looked like that had been burglarized.
On February 24, 1984, the defendant again visited Wrona in prison and stated that he had made "a pretty good score" in Cedar Point. The defendant said he and his brother Bruce had watched the victim's home for about a week. Late one night, he knocked on the front door and told O'Berto that he was having trouble with his car and asked to use the telephone. The defendant stated that he then stuck his foot in the door, pushed the victim back into the house with the gun and handcuffed him.
The defendant said he found a wallet in the victim's pocket which contained five $100 bills and that he searched the house and found a bankbook showing $18,000 on deposit. In the basement, he found an empty safe and three slot machines covered with plastic. The defendant also stated that he and his brother "tore a couple stairs up" but did not find anything. In addition, the defendant said he asked the victim where the money was but the man could not hear so he "whipped him." While pointing a finger to his head, the defendant told Wrona that he "had to take him [the victim] out of it." Wrona testified that the defendant said that he and his brother wore gloves the entire time they were in the house and that he disposed of the gun in a river in Indiana just prior to being stopped by an Indiana State trooper for speeding.
The defendant's conversation with Wrona, which was recorded by eavesdropping equipment while they were in a Maryland hotel room, was played for the jury and a transcript of the recording was received in evidence. The transcript shows that the defendant told Wrona that "everything went just like * * * we had planned it." The defendant said he watched the victim's home for a week and that late one evening, after midnight, he forced his way in the victim's house. The defendant stated that although he hit the victim "all over," he would not tell him anything except "where he kept change." The defendant said he searched everywhere and found only a safe in the basement and that was empty. He said also that he "pulled up" the first two stairs leading to the basement but did not find any money. Wrona asked the defendant what kind of gun he used and the defendant replied that it was a "hot, nine mil[limeter]" which he had obtained in Delaware. The defendant added that he had tossed the gun off a bridge on his way back from Cedar Point.
The State also presented evidence showing that the defendant was in the vicinity of Cedar Point on or about February 18, 1984. Judy Herron testified that in February of 1984, the defendant and his brother Bruce Barrow visited her home in Seatonville, Illinois, which is approximately 20 miles from Cedar Point. She testified that the defendant was driving a white car and told her that he was staying at a Holiday Inn motel in Peru, Illinois, registered under the name Lee Deibert. Several days later, Herron said, the defendant and his brother returned. At that time, according to Herron, the defendant stated that the previous evening Bruce had been stopped by a LaSalle County police officer for a traffic offense and that he had to call the police station in an effort to obtain Bruce's release. The defendant added that they had been fortunate because the officers had not discovered a gun that was in the car at the time.
Patricia Hurley, an employee of Budget Rent-A-Car in Newark, Delaware, testified that on February 11, 1984, the defendant rented a white Ford Thunderbird bearing license plate number 744741. A clerk of the Holiday Inn motel in Peru testified that on February 13, 1984, the defendant checked into room 123 with a second man and checked out on February 19.
Kathleen Noll, a LaSalle County police officer, testified that on February 16, 1984, at approximately 4:45 a.m., she observed Bruce Barrow driving a white Ford Thunderbird with Delaware license plate number 744741. She...
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