People v. Bonds, 1-07-1629.

• Decision Date: 24 April 2009
• Docket Number: No. 1-07-1629.,1-07-1629.
• Citation: 908 N.E.2d 102
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Stephanie BONDS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

908 N.E.2d 102

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Stephanie BONDS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-07-1629.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fifth Division.

April 24, 2009.

Rehearing Denied June 16, 2009.

Patricia Unsinn, Deputy Defender, Ann B. McLennan, Assistant Appellate Def., Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, IL, for Appellant-Stephanie Bonds.

Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, County of Cook, of counsel Assistant State's Attorneys, James E. Fitzgerald, Rimas F. Cernius, Jennifer Chow, Chicago, IL, for Appellee-People of the State of Illinois.

Justice TOOMIN delivered the opinion of the court:

In the present appeal we encounter the contentions of the defendant that the rule barring hearsay testimony was improperly invoked so as to preclude her defense at trial. Following a jury trial, Stephanie Bonds was convicted of first degree murder of her 10-week-old son and sentenced to a term of 45 years' imprisonment. On appeal, she contends that the trial court's erroneous evidentiary rulings precluded her from offering prior inconsistent statements of her own witness as impeachment and as declarations against penal interest. She also requests that the mittimus be corrected to reflect only one conviction for first degree murder. No challenge is asserted to the sufficiency of the evidence. For the following reasons, we affirm and order the mittimus corrected.

BACKGROUND

On June 1, 2005, Nyshon Johnson, defendant's 10-week-old son, suffered injuries ultimately causing his death. The following day, defendant confessed to inflicting the injuries in a videotaped statement. This statement was played for the jury at trial. Defendant claimed the initial injuries occurred when she tripped on a toy while carrying Nyshon through their apartment. The toy was left on the floor by her then-six-year-old son Chino. Nyshon then began to cry. As she carried Nyshon and cautioned him to be quiet, he hit his head on a wall between the two rooms.

Nyshon was inconsolable and continued to cry despite defendant's pleas for him to be quiet. Defendant sat down on the couch with Nyshon on her lap and began to shake him "hard" using her hands and one leg and began hitting him in the head with her hand. The crying continued and defendant took Nyshon with both hands and threw him forcefully to the floor, which was covered with an unpadded and worn carpet. The back of Nyshon's head impacted the floor and he cried more vocally.

Defendant retrieved Nyshon from the floor and returned to the couch where she shook him again and begged him to stop crying. It continued and she, once more, threw him to the floor. The side of his head again struck the floor. The tone of the cries changed, Nyshon continued to move his limbs, and the crying continued. Defendant then grabbed one of his arms and one of his legs and "flung" Nyshon onto the couch where he struck the wooden portion of the couch with his head. On examining Nyshon, defendant observed that his eyes "were rolling around." Nyshon then closed his eyes and stopped crying. She then walked outside.

Defendant's sister Stacy discovered Nyshon and brought him outside and gave him to defendant, who shook him but received no response. Nyshon was not breathing. A neighbor who heard the commotion came over and assisted defendant in performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Nyshon. Defendant never told anyone on the scene what she had done.

The fire department and then paramedics arrived to treat and transport Nyshon to the hospital. Defendant rode along to West Suburban Hospital where Nyshon was initially treated. He was later transported to Loyola University Medical Center by ambulance. Defendant never informed any of the paramedics or medical personnel what she did to Nyshon. While she was at Loyola, defendant called her sister and father to tell them to clean up the house before the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) came. When defendant later spoke with detectives, she lied to them about what she had done to Nyshon.

Assistant Medical Examiner Wendy Lavezzi conducted the autopsy of Nyshon. She was apprised of some of the facts of the case prior to conducting the post-mortem, but did not recall if she was aware of defendant's confession or if she learned of its contents shortly thereafter. She recalled being told Nyshon had been thrown.

The external examination revealed indications of Nyshon's hospitalization as well as several areas of bruising on the outside of his forehead, outside of his eye, and above his eyebrow. These bruises appeared to have been recently formed. There was bruising on his legs and one of his feet, though it was not clear whether they were due to traumatic injury, treatment, or organ failure while he was on the respirator. No cuts or lacerations were observed.

Dr. Lavezzi's also performed an internal examination, particularly of Nyshon's cranial cavity and brain. Diffuse hemorrhage was found "all over the top of the head" in the form of a subgaleal hemorrhage, which typically occurs at the focal point directly beneath the point of external injury. Signs of impacts were present on either side of his head. The amount of bleeding seen could have been worsened by the treatment and resulting bleeding disorder.

The left side of Nyshon's skull sustained a comminuted or branching fracture of the parietal portion of the cranium. The primary branch was four inches long with two downward branches measuring two-and-one-half inches. Similar fractures were observed on the right side. This indicated at least one impact on either side of the skull, but it was more likely that there were multiple impacts on each side. Fractures of this sort are not typical in children Nyshon's age due to the pliability of infant skulls. The nature of the fractures indicated that they were caused by "significant, directed force." There was also diffuse subdural hemorrhaging. The brain was extensively swollen, from the injuries and was likely exacerbated by the treatment at the hospital, including the time on the respirator. This swelling was evident in the external profile photograph depicting Nyshon's misshapen head. There was also hemorrhage around the optic nerves due to the impacts.

Dr. Lavezzi opined that the injuries were caused by blunt force trauma. The injuries were consistent with Nyshon's head hitting a wall. Of the approximately 15 autopsies she had conducted on infants who suffered blunt force trauma to the head, Nyshon's injuries were the worst she had ever seen. The injuries were not consistent with Nyshon having been dropped or accidentally struck. Instead, they were indicative of multiple instances of directed blunt force trauma to the head, specifically being struck against a large flat object several times. Likewise, Nyshon's presentation was consistent with more than one blow to the head, rather than a single blow or stomp to the head. Injuries to one side of the head can cause reciprocal injuries on the other side of the brain or tissue, but not to the skull itself.

The cause of Nyshon's death was "craniocerebral injuries due to blunt trauma," regardless of any other information or police reports. Likewise, the manner of death was homicide. Dr. Lavezzi opined that the injuries would not have been inflicted by a child because of the degree of force required to inflict these injuries. However, "anyone the size of an adult could inflict these injuries."

The State presented additional evidence not germane to the issues raised on appeal. Thereafter, the State rested its case-in-chief.

Defendant took the stand and testified the she did not tell anyone what she had done until she gave her statement. She did so after voluntarily accompanying detectives to the station. She initially denied knowing how Nyshon was injured, but later acknowledged that she had lied.

Defendant testified that she did not hurt Nyshon and that she was never alone with him during the time period he was injured. Instead, she maintained that she made the videotaped statement only after she was threatened with the loss of her children and her sister to DCFS custody. She was willing to say anything to keep that from happening. The detective told her what happened to Nyshon, what she should say in her statement, and that it would look good to the jury to give a statement.

Defendant's son, Chino, who was eight years old at the time of trial and six years old at the time of the occurrence, was called by the defense. On initially being sworn by the court clerk, Chino indicated that he did not understand what was asked of him. The trial judge asked him, "All right, do you solemnly swear that the testimony you're going to give here today will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God[?]" Chino responded nonverbally and was told he had to do so aloud and then said, "Yes." When asked if he understood what the judge said to him, he again responded nonverbally. He ultimately stated that he did understand.

Chino remembered his brother going to the hospital, but lacked any other way to remember the day of the events. He knew he went to school that day, was picked up by defendant, taken home, did his homework, and then went outside. While he was inside the house with Nyshon, he did not recall picking him up or dropping him. Likewise, Chino did not recall telling his aunt, Salina, he was sorry for hurting Nyshon and how Nyshon slipped out of his hands. While he remembered telling his maternal grandmother that he picked up Nyshon because he was crying, he did not recall telling her he dropped Nyshon. Chino also did not recall meeting with a woman from DCFS named Karen Wilson or telling anyone from DCFS that he "dropped Nyshon on Friday and Nyshon is now in heaven."

Chino admitted to having lied and told varying stories about what happened to his brother and denied being told to lie by any grown-ups. When asked to tell...