People v. Carini
| Decision Date | 15 April 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-02-3574.,1-02-3574. |
| Citation | 293 Ill.Dec. 134,357 Ill. App.3d 103,827 N.E.2d 1015 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. William CARINI, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago (Michael J. Pelletier and Daniel J. Walsh, of counsel), for Appellant.
Cook County State's Attorney, Chicago (Richard A. Devine, Renee Goldfarb, James Fitzgerald and Yvette Loizon, of counsel), for Appellee.
Following a jury trial, defendant William Carini was convicted in 1985 of concealing the homicidal deaths of John Kuba and Joanne Seaquist. After serving prison time for those offenses, defendant was tried in 2002 for the first degree murder of Kuba and Seaquist. Following a bench trial, defendant was convicted and sentenced to natural life in prison. On appeal, defendant now contends that the trial court erred in: (1) denying his motion to dismiss the indictment based on unreasonable pre-indictment delay; (2) denying his counsel's request for a continuance to present the testimony of a witness who would testify regarding defendant's relationship with Ed Kuba, who is defendant's uncle and was John Kuba's brother; and (3) failing to address his posttrial pro se complaints of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. For the reasons that follow, we affirm defendant's convictions for first degree murder.
While the facts surrounding the deaths of John Kuba (hereinafter referred to as Kuba) and Joanne Seaquist are largely detailed in People v. Carini, 151 Ill.App.3d 264, 104 Ill.Dec. 546, 502 N.E.2d 1206 (1986), certain testimony described in that opinion is pertinent to defendant's contentions in this appeal.1 On September 3, 1983, the bodies of Kuba and Seaquist, a friend of defendant, were found in the trunk of Kuba's white 1968 Chevrolet, which was housed in a self-storage facility in Northbrook. Defendant had rented the storage space on April 5, 1983.
In the months before Kuba's death, defendant and Kuba, who was defendant's uncle, lived in a Glenview house that had belonged to Kuba's parents (defendant's grandparents). Defendant testified that on the night of April 2, 1983, he and Seaquist were at the house, and Kuba came home. Defendant went to sleep in the basement, leaving Kuba and Seaquist in the kitchen. Defendant testified that he later was awakened by gunshots and loud voices, including Kuba's. Defendant stated that he hid in a crawlspace for about an hour before going upstairs to find Kuba and Seaquist missing.
To counter the State's charge that he concealed Kuba and Seaquist's homicidal deaths, defendant raised the affirmative defense of compulsion, testifying that while he searched the house for signs of Kuba and Seaquist on April 3, an anonymous telephone caller directed him to "get rid of the Chevy." That call was followed by two additional calls ordering defendant to dispose of the car. Defendant received a fourth phone call on April 4, and he brought the Chevrolet to the self-storage facility the next day.
Defendant was convicted of two counts of concealment of homicidal death. On appeal, this court affirmed defendant's convictions but modified his consecutive five-year terms, holding that the two five-year sentences should be served concurrently. Carini, 151 Ill.App.3d at 287, 104 Ill.Dec. 546, 502 N.E.2d at 1220. Defendant was released from prison in August 1987.
At defendant's 2002 trial, the State presented the following relevant evidence. Seaquist's sister, Jennifer Brenner, testified that at about 11 p.m. on April 2, 1983, Seaquist called home at the end of her shift at her waitressing job to tell Brenner that defendant was picking her up from work. When Seaquist did not return home the following morning, Brenner called defendant, who said he had dropped Seaquist off at a bar at 5 a.m. On cross-examination, Brenner stated that although her sister and defendant were not friends, Seaquist did not dislike defendant, and they often spent time with other people at a local park. Brenner did not know if Seaquist had known Kuba.
The parties stipulated to the entry of the testimony of Seaquist's mother from defendant's previous trial. Seaquist's mother, who was also named Joanne, corroborated Brenner's testimony regarding her daughter's phone call from work on April 2. Seaquist testified that her daughter and defendant had known each other since childhood and that their families once lived in the same neighborhood. Seaquist stated that her daughter and defendant were friends but had not dated.
Jon Johnson testified that he was a friend of Seaquist and defendant. On the night of April 2, Johnson and defendant were playing pool at defendant's house. Johnson testified that because he was afraid of Kuba, he asked defendant if Kuba was home, and defendant replied that Kuba had been missing for a couple of weeks. Johnson testified that Seaquist called and asked defendant to pick her up. Defendant, Johnson and Seaquist arrived back at defendant's house at 3 or 4 a.m. on April 3. Johnson testified that he left the house at about 5 a.m.
Johnson testified that on April 4 or 5, he was questioned by local police, and defendant called him to ask what he had said. Johnson asked defendant if he and Seaquist were romantically or sexually involved, and defendant responded that he was interested in Seaquist but that she did not feel the same way. According to Johnson, defendant also remarked about a part of Seaquist's female anatomy.
David Pinter testified that in 1983, he was defendant's supervisor at United Parcel Service (UPS). As he had testified at defendant's earlier trial, Pinter stated that on March 31, defendant did not come to work and did not call to explain his absence. The next day, defendant came to work and told Pinter he was absent the previous day because his uncle was found dead and he had been making arrangements.
Kathleen Kuba testified that she and Kuba married in 1978 and were involved in divorce proceedings in 1982 and 1983. Kathleen stated that she and Kuba were scheduled to appear in court regarding their divorce on April 4, 1983, which was a Monday. Kathleen testified that on March 26, defendant called her and told her not to
Gary Campbell testified that he and Kuba were acquainted through their mutual interest in race cars and that he also had met defendant. On or around April 8, 1983, defendant contacted Campbell about selling car parts that belonged to Kuba. When Campbell questioned defendant about his offer because he knew that Kuba was very protective of his cars, defendant replied,
Katherine Owens testified that she was a high school friend of Seaquist and that she and another friend, Teri Budzik, went to defendant's house on the afternoon of April 4 to ask him about Seaquist's disappearance. Owens also stated although she did not mention Kuba, defendant told them that Kuba had been missing for a week and that he had reported Kuba missing to police.
Philip Bettiker testified that as a Cook County sheriff's detective, he was at the Glenview home on April 19, 1983. Bettiker stated that Ed Kuba consented to a search of the home. Bettiker asked defendant about his missing uncle, and defendant replied that he had not seen Kuba since March 26, when he had been in his basement bedroom and heard Kuba in the kitchen with several people.
Bettiker's testimony was consistent with that offered at defendant's earlier trial. In addition, Bettiker testified that during the interrogation of defendant on September 4 in an Iowa jail, defendant called Kuba a "jagoff" and said that Kuba belittled him and that they would argue and fight. Defendant told Bettiker that Kuba dealt in cocaine and owed money to many people and that the Chicago Outlaws may have been responsible for Kuba's death.
Deborah Prusinski, who had a child with defendant in 1989, testified that while she and defendant were living together in the summer of 1988, she asked defendant about Seaquist. Defendant told her that he had killed Kuba because Kuba "deserved to die." Defendant denied killing Seaquist, saying he had been in love with her. Prusinski testified that defendant did not tell her that a struggle had taken place or that Kuba had killed Seaquist. Prusinski said that these conversations took place shortly after she and defendant had ingested heroin and cocaine. Prusinski was imprisoned from 1992 to 1996 for burglary, and in 1995, she contacted the office of the Lake County State's Attorney regarding defendant's comments about Seaquist and Kuba.
Ed Kuba testified, as he did at defendant's earlier trial, that he last spoke to his brother on March 24, and they arranged to meet at the house on the morning of March 26 to look at a car Kuba bought. When Ed and his wife entered the house on March 26, defendant told them that Kuba had left at about 2 a.m. with two men. Ed, his wife and defendant went into the garage, and Ed noted that the engine of one of his brother's cars was warm. Defendant told Ed he had taken the car for a drive. Ed testified that was unusual because Kuba "never let anybody drive his cars." On March 28 or 29, defendant told Ed he was selling Kuba's car parts because Kuba owed him money.
At about 8:30 a.m. on April 3, Ed and his wife returned to the house, and defendant told them he had not heard from Kuba. The following week, Ed returned to the home and discovered bloodstains on a set of stairs in the garage. Ed scraped up some of the stain onto a piece of paper and gave the sample to police.
On cross-examination, Ed stated that he had operated a commercial carpet installation and cleaning...
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