People v. Clayton
| Decision Date | 20 November 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 61264,61264 |
| Citation | 339 N.E.2d 783,34 Ill.App.3d 376 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DeArmon CLAYTON, Jr., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Paul Bradley, First State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for defendant-appellant; Steven L. Clark, Chicago, of counsel.
Bernard Carey, State's Atty., Chicago, for plaintiff-appellee; Laurence J. Bolon, John T. Theis, Chicago, of counsel.
Defendant, DeArmon Clayton, Jr., after a jury trial, was found guilty of the murder of his wife, Carol Ann Clayton (Ill.Rev.Stat.1971, ch. 38, par. 9--1), and was sentenced to a term of 25 to 75 years. Defendant appeals, arguing that the trial judge improperly denied his motion to suppress evidence found when the police officers entered his apartment.
Since defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence against him, a recitation of the facts adduced at trial is unnecessary. At the motion to suppress, Chicago Police Officer Ronald W. Meyers was the only witness to testify. He stated that on July 20, 1972, at approximately 6:20 P.M., he and his partner responded to a missing persons call at the home of Mrs. Joyce Leslie, who informed him that her daughter, Carol Ann Clayton, left home at 1:00 P.M. to pick up Mrs. Leslie's car at an automobile dealer's service department two miles away. She had called the dealer whose place was then closed, and determined that her daughter never arrived, and the car was still at the dealer's. Mrs. Leslie made several attempts to locate her daughter but was unsuccessful.
Officer Meyers was informed that Carol Clayton and the defendant, her husband, were separated and in the process of getting a divorce. Mrs. Leslie stated that her daughter had been harassed by defendant who had been seen in the back yard and alley of the Leslie Home at all hours of the day and night. On one occasion he had attempted to gain entry to Carol's bedroom but was unsuccessful. Three days before, at gun point he had forced Carol to remain in his apartment and various other homes all day and threatened to kill her. Mrs. Leslie told Officer Meyers that defendant always carried a gun.
Officer Meyers went to defendant's apartment, rang the bell and knocked on the door, but did not receive any response. He testified that he could hear movement inside, and when no one came to the door he returned to the Leslie home. Mrs. Leslie made several more telephone calls but could not locate her daughter. Officer Meyers learned that Carol left keys for defendant's apartment at Mrs. Leslie's. At approximately 7:10 P.M., Mrs. Leslie and Officer Meyers returned to defendant's apartment; Officer Meyers knocked on the door but got no response, and he then instructed Mrs. Leslie to use the key to open the door. He went into the apartment and saw Carol lying on the bed in the bedroom with a gun in her right hand, surrounded by blood stains. There were two bullet wounds on the left side of her body.
Defendant's only argument on appeal is that the trial judge improperly denied his motion to suppress the evidence found when the police entered his apartment. He seeks to have suppressed the body of the deceased, the gun and various items of personal property found in his apartment. In People v. Brooks (1972), 7 Ill.App.3d 767, 289 N.E.2d 207, this court rejected a similar contention, holding that in an emergency situation a police officer may properly enter a private home without a warrant. The court...
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State v. Blades
...for an occupant reliably reported missing. 2 W. LaFave, Search and Seizure (2d Ed.1987) § 6.6(a), p. 702; see People v. Clayton, 34 Ill.App.3d 376, 339 N.E.2d 783 (1975) (police entered woman's apartment when no one answered door after woman was reported missing and husband was known to car......
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...and search of the premises was for the purpose of providing aid to persons or property in need thereof. (See People v. Clayton (1st Dist.1975), 34 Ill.App.3d 376, 339 N.E.2d 783; People v. Brooks (1st Dist.1972), 7 Ill.App.3d 767, 289 N.E.2d 207.) Evidence of crime discovered during such an......
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...which justified a search once they were validly in the house and were told by Micah of the possible hiding place. People v. Clayton (1975), 34 Ill.App.3d 376, 339 N.E.2d 783; People v. Polito (1976), 42 Ill.App.3d 372, 355 N.E.2d At trial defendant sought to establish the affirmative defens......
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