People v. Caylor
| Decision Date | 11 May 1944 |
| Docket Number | No. 27777.,27777. |
| Citation | 54 N.E.2d 514,386 Ill. 501 |
| Parties | PEOPLE v. CAYLOR. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Error to Criminal Court, Cook County; John A. Sbarbaro, Judge.
Joseph P. Caylor was convicted of taking immoral, improper, and indecent liberties with a female child, and he brings error.
Affirmed.Cecil L. Cass and George F. Mulligan, Jr., both of Chicago, for plaintiff in error.
George F. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and Thomas J. Courtney, State's Atty., of Chicago (Edward E. Wilson, John T. Gallagher, Melvin S. Rembe, and Joseph A. Pope, of Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
Joseph P. Caylor, plaintiff in error, was indicted and tried in the criminal court of Cook county on a statutory charge of taking immoral, improper and indecent liberties with a certain female child of the age of eleven years, in violation of the Criminal Code. Ill.Rev.Stat.1943, chap. 38, par. 109. The sufficiency of the indictment is not questioned. He was found guilty by a jury and motions, made at the close of the People's case and at the close of all the evidence to find the defendant not guilty, were overruled. After a verdict, motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment were denied and plaintiff in error was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term not less than three nor more than seven years. To reverse the conviction and sentence this writ of error is prosecuted.
Counsel for plaintiff in error presents for consideration four contentions in opposition to the judgment and sentence: (1) That the People's evidence fails to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the prejudicial conduct of the State's Attorney prevented the defendant from securing a fair and impartial trial; (3) the court erred in refusing to give proper instructions requested by plaintiff in error, and (4) overruling plaintiff in error's motion for a new trial.
It is urged by plaintiff in error that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crime of taking indecent liberties as charged in the indictment. To prove the charge, the prosecuting witness, a female child, eleven years of age, testified that she attended the Nazarene church located in Argo, Illinois, where she resided in March and prior to that time in the year 1943; that she was acquainted with Joseph P. Caylor, plaintiff in error, who was the janitor at the church; that in the month of March, while she was attending Sunday School, he asked her if she wanted something on the table in the furnace room; that after she asked him what was there she entered the room and he came in behind her and locked the door; that he grabbed her under her arms and put her on the table; that he kept her there about five or ten minutes; that her cousin came down and said her grandmother was coming; that he then let her loose, unlocked the door and she ran upstairs. She further testified that plaintiff in error took her into the furnace room on five or six occasions and that on each of these occasions he committed the acts complained of.
Prosecuting witness was corroborated in her testimony by her cousin, who was about the same age and attended the same Sunday school. The cousin testified that she was playing the piano and saw the prosecuting witness go into the furnace room with plaintiff in error; that this happened five or six times; that plaintiff in error would take prosecuting witness into the basement; that this happened sometimes before and sometimes after Sunday school.
The grandmother of the children testified that she saw them in the company of plaintiff in error, Caylor, at the church of the Nazarene in the month of December; that they were in the basement of the church; that she opened the double door and went downstairs when they failed to come up from Sunday school; that the classroom was downstairs where the children were; that she missed them when they did not come upstairs where they usually met; that the children each had a nickel which they said Mr. Caylor gave them.
Plaintiff in error, 49 years of age, testified that he was the caretaker and janitor of the Nazarene church in Argo, Illinois; that Sunday school was opened at 9:45 and that he opened the door from 9:30 to 9:35, usually around 9:30; that he was acquainted with the prosecuting witness; that he never in his life had anything to do with her and that he never took her into the basement of the Sunday school; that he never had anything to do with her in any way, shape or form. He further denied the testimony of the complaining witness. On cross-examination he admitted that on one Sunday he took her in his automobile. On redirect examination he testified that about two years ago as he was going home to get some towels for the church he let prosecuting witness and another girl in his automobile at their request; that on this occasion they rode down about three blocks and got out; that he turned the corner about the third or fourth door east of his place, got the towels and returned to the church.
Plaintiff in error offered in evidence as his exhibit 1, the attendance record of the junior girls of the Argo Nazarene church, covering the period from August, 1942, to August, 1943, said attendance record containing the names of twenty girls, including that of prosecuting witness. Two witnesses testified as to the method of keeping the chart and as to its correctness. The pupil who kept the chart testified that when a person was absent it would be indicated by ‘A’ and that sometimes they would just leave it blank; that if they were present it would be indicated by ‘P.’ From an examination of the attendance record the method followed showing absentees was not always the same. In the first and second quarters as shown on the chart, those in attendance were specifically shown by ‘P’ and those absent by ‘A.’ Blank spaces were not used in these two quarters for the purpose of showing absentees. The pupil keeping the chart further testified that in the third and fourth quarters the method was changed and blank spaces were left showing when pupils were absent, although it is significant from an examination of the chart...
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...the State's Attorney has a right to dwell on the evil results of crime and to urge fearless administration of the law. People v. Caylor, 386 Ill. 501, 54 N.E.2d 514. On the basis of these decisions, we cannot say that the prosecutor's statements drawn from facts in evidence, or his referenc......
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