People v. Brooks
| Decision Date | 18 May 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 99293.,99293. |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. Claude BROOKS, Jr., Appellee. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (Linda D. Woloshin, Assistant Attorney General, Chicago, Renee G. Goldfarb, Joan F. Frazier, Ashley Romito, Alan J. Spellberg, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.
Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender, Jennifer L. Blagg, Assistant Appellate Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellee.
Following a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant, Claude Brooks, Jr., was convicted of the predatory criminal sexual assault of his eight-year-old stepdaughter. After the appellate court affirmed his conviction, defendant filed a pro se petition under the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-1 et seq. (West 2002)) as well as a motion for DNA testing pursuant to section 116-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963 (725 ILCS 5/116-3 (West 2002)). The circuit court summarily dismissed defendant's postconviction petition as frivolous and lacking merit and denied the motion for DNA testing. The appellate court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the matter for further proceedings. We granted the State's petition for leave to appeal (177 Ill.2d R. 315) and now affirm in part and reverse in part the judgment of the appellate court.
At defendant's trial, the victim, L.N., testified that in 1997 she lived with her mother, brother, and defendant. On the evening of October 17, 1997, she was at the family's apartment alone with defendant. Before going to bed, L.N. took a bath and put on her two-piece pajamas. She then went into the dining room and lay down on a cot to watch television. Defendant, who was sitting in a chair near L.N.'s room, approached her and pulled down her pajama pants. Then, defendant pulled down his pants and climbed on top of L.N. L.N. testified that defendant's "private part" touched her "private part." L.N. testified that defendant was "pumping" on her and "going in and out" of her for about five minutes when her mother walked into the dining room. Defendant jumped up and pulled up his pants.
L.N. further testified that one morning, several days before her birthday, defendant entered the bedroom L.N. shared with her brother. Defendant woke her up and took off her pajamas. Defendant then disrobed and climbed on top of L.N. L.N. stated that defendant put his "private part" inside her "private part" and started "pumping" her. L.N. testified that after a few minutes, something came out of defendant's private part. L.N.'s brother was asleep at the time. L.N. did not shout or scream when defendant was on top of her because she was afraid that he would hurt her. On October 19, 1997, L.N. went with her mother to the hospital and told doctors what had occurred between defendant and her. During cross-examination, L.N. admitted that she could not recall the dates of these events without her mother's help.
L.N.'s mother, LaDell, testified that she was married to defendant and lived with him and her two children at the time of the incidents in question. On October 17, 1997, LaDell left the apartment at about 8 p.m. At that time, defendant was in the master bedroom, and L.N. was taking a bath. L.N.'s brother was spending the night at a friend's house. LaDell returned to the apartment around 45 minutes later and discovered defendant on top of L.N. The child's legs were up in the air, and defendant was positioned between her legs. LaDell screamed for the defendant to get away from L.N. LaDell took her daughter into the master bedroom and asked L.N. whether this was the first time defendant had engaged in such behavior. L.N. responded in the negative. That night, LaDell slept in a chair by L.N.'s bedroom. LaDell could not call police because the family did not have a telephone in the apartment. LaDell did not leave the apartment until two days later when her best friend came to the apartment to pick her up. LaDell took L.N. with her. LaDell told her friend what had occurred, and they drove to the police station.
LaDell admitted to using crack cocaine after she had witnessed the incident between defendant and L.N. She further admitted that she had left the apartment to purchase cocaine to use with defendant.
Dr. Gail Allen, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago Children's Hospital, testified that on October 19, 1997, she was assigned to the emergency room where L.N. was admitted. Dr. Allen conducted an evaluation of L.N. for sexual assault. In a preliminary interview, L.N. told Dr. Allen that after she took a bath, defendant "began feeling on" her. L.N. stated that she pushed defendant away, but that he returned and "started doing it to" her. However, L.N. told Dr. Allen that she had not been vaginally penetrated at that time, but she had been in the past.
Dr. Allen performed a general physical examination of L.N., which revealed the presence of "whitish" or "yellowish" secretions just outside of L.N.'s vagina. Although L.N.'s hymen was intact, Dr. Allen found it significant that during her examination, she discovered the development of "whitish" scar tissue on the right side of L.N.'s hymen. Such a finding is consistent with chronic abuse. Dr. Allen collected physical evidence for analysis and recommended that L.N. be admitted to the chronic care facility of the hospital.
On cross-examination, Dr. Allen admitted that she was unable to find any acute evidence of sexual abuse aside from the abnormal secretions. She explained that the term "acute" referred to evidence of sexual abuse occurring within 72 hours after the alleged incident.
The parties stipulated that Jennifer Shultz, a forensic scientist, received the vaginal swabs taken from L.N. and determined that they contained semen. The parties further stipulated that Amy Rehemstrom, a forensic scientist, compared the DNA from defendant's blood samples to the DNA from the vaginal swabs and determined that no conclusion could be drawn as to the source of the semen.
Defendant's sole witness was Sergeant Kenneth Burke, a youth investigator for the Chicago police department. Burke had observed, on October 20, 1997, a victim-sensitive interview of L.N. at the hospital. He described L.N. as being very alert and articulate. He recalled L.N. telling the social worker that defendant "kept messing" with her and that he touched her private part while she was in the bathtub. L.N. denied that defendant touched her with his private part.
The circuit court found defendant guilty. Although the court acknowledged the chronological inconsistencies in L.N.'s testimony, he found her description of the events to be credible. The court also found LaDell's testimony credible as well despite her admitted use of cocaine. The court found the medical evidence of scar tissue to L.N.'s hymen to be consistent with sexual abuse and that the presence of semen suggested some contact. The court sentenced defendant to 22 years' imprisonment.
The appellate court affirmed the conviction, finding defendant's insufficiency of the evidence argument to be unpersuasive. People v. Brooks, No. 1-00-1176, 328 Ill. App.3d 1085, 288 Ill.Dec. 93, 817 N.E.2d 218 (2002) (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23).
Defendant thereafter sought postconviction relief. To that end, he filed a petition in which he asserted that his trial attorney was ineffective for failing to call two witnesses, defendant's mother and his brother. Defendant alleged in his petition that their trial testimony would have called into question LaDell's credibility. Defendant also alleged that his appellate counsel, who was also his trial counsel, was ineffective for failing to raise his own ineffectiveness on direct appeal. Defendant's petition was supported by affidavits from both his mother and his brother. After reviewing the affidavits, the circuit court summarily dismissed the petition as being without merit.
Defendant also filed with his postconviction petition a pro se motion to compel polymerase chain reaction DNA testing (PCR DNA testing) of the vaginal swab taken from L.N. This motion was made pursuant to section 116-3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (725 ILCS 5/116-3 (West 2002)). The circuit court denied the motion.
Defendant appealed. The appellate court reversed the circuit court's summary dismissal of the postconviction petition because it found that the circuit court rendered the order more than 90 days after the date the petition was filed and docketed, in contravention of section 122-2.1 of the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-2.1 (West 2002)). No. 1-03-0586 (unpublished order under Supreme Court Rule 23). With respect to defendant's request for new DNA testing, the appellate court affirmed the circuit court's denial of the request, holding that defendant did not establish, as required under the statute, that the vaginal swab was not subjected to PCR DNA testing at the time of trial. Other pertinent facts will be discussed within the body of the analysis.
The State assigns error to the appellate court's conclusion that the circuit court's order of summary dismissal was void because it was rendered more than 90 days after the date the petition was filed and docketed. The State argues that the docketing requirement of section 122-2.1 of the Post-Conviction Hearing Act (725 ILCS 5/122-2.1 (West 2002)) is fulfilled on the date when the clerk of the court places it on the docket call of a trial judge with the authority to rule on it. Defendant, on the other hand, argues that the requirement is satisfied when the clerk of the court receives the petition.
The issue, as framed by the parties, involves the...
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