People v. Crooks

• Citation: 326 Ill. 266,157 N.E. 218
• Decision Date: 22 June 1927
• Docket Number: No. 17598.,17598.
• Parties: PEOPLE v. CROOKS.
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

326 Ill. 266

157 N.E. 218

PEOPLE

v.CROOKS.

No. 17598.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

June 22, 1927.

Error to Circuit Court, Warren County; George C. Hillyer, Judge.

Clarence Crooks pleaded guilty to murder, and was sentenced to the penitentiary. An order was entered denying his motion to vacate the judgment of conviction and sentence, and for leave to withdraw his plea of guilty, and he brings error.

Affirmed.

F. O. Parrish, Charles E. Lauder, and Frederick H. Lauder, all of Monmouth, for plaintiff in error.

Oscar E. Carlstrom, Atty. Gen., Henry D. Lewis, State's Atty., of Monmouth, and Royce A. Kidder, of Springfield, for the People.

DUNCAN, J.

Plaintiff in error, Clarence Crooks (hereinafter called defendant), was indicted by the grand jury of Warren county on March 25, 1926, for the crime of murder, and on the same day entered a plea of guilty to the indictment, and was sentenced by the circuit court of said county on said plea to imprisonment in the pentitentiary at Joliet for a term of 15 years. On the same day that sentence was imposed on the defendant the circuit court adjourned until April 3, 1926. On March 29, 1926, the defendant was taken by the sheriff of said county to the penitentiary on a mittimus issued in the cause. On April 2, 1926, his attorneys filed his motion for an order of court vacating the judgment of conviction and sentence and for leave to withdraw his plea of guilty and to enter a plea of not guilty. The defendant filed affidavits of himself and others in support of his motion. The state's attorney appeared and resisted the consideration of the motion on the ground that the sentence of the court had been executed by taking the defendant to the penitentiary, and that the court was without jurisdiction to consider the motion for that reason, and for the further reason that the defendant was not in court. The court entered an order denying the defendant's motion. This writ of error is sued out to review the record.

The record discloses that on the day the defendant entered his plea of guilty he was furnished with a copy of the indictment, a list of the state's witnesses, and was formally arraigned previous to the entry of his plea. The court explained to the defendant and admonished him of the effect and consequences of his plea, and advised him of all his rights under the law, but he persisted in his plea of guilty. The court then appointed L. E. Murphy, a competent attorney of the Warren county bar, to advise and counsel with the defendant. There is in the record an affidavit of Murphy to the effect that he had been engaged in the practice of law for 19 years, and that, on being appointed as the defendant's attorney, at the request of the presiding judge, he retired with the defendant to another room, and there explained to him that he had a right to a trial by jury; that the next term of court would convene in May; and that, if he was unable to procure counsel, the court would appoint counsel for him; that he had a right to hear the witnesses testify against him and have his lawyer cross-examine them, and that he could withhold his plea of guilty until the May term of court, and have an opportunity to think the matter over and to interview his parents, who he said lived in Keokuk, Iowa. Murphy further stated under oath that this interview with the defendant covered the time of about 30 minutes, and that the defendant still persisted that he wanted to plead guilty, and that, when he returned into court, he still persisted in his plea of guilty before the court, and the record so shows. Thereupon three witnesses, A. D. Irey, Ray Nevius, and Mamie Young, were sworn as witnesses for the state.

Only one of the witnesses, Mamie Young, was examined by the state's attorney and cross-examined by Murphy, defendant's counsel. She testified, in substance, as follows: She first met Clarence Crooks, the defendant, on March 15, 1926. He was with Bruce Collins, whom she had known about a year. They were young colored fellows who came in a Ford touring car to her home in Monmouth, in said county, and remained there an hour or more on that day. She and the two colored fellows then went to Galesburg, Ill., in the Ford car driven by Collins and stayed there an hour or more. They all returned from Galesburg, and went to a colored man's place in Monmouth, who is known in the record as Smith Graves, alias Bud Graves. They parked their car across an alley on the east side of Graves' house. They knocked on his door, and he unlocked it and invited them in. They entered his place, and asked him if he had any liquor, and he said, ‘Yes,’ and the defendant told him he wanted a pint, and paid Graves $2 for it. They were seated in Graves' front room the greater portion of the time they were there, and drank the pint of liquor, and Collins and the defendant at intervals played a few pieces of music on a piano in the parlor, which was south of the main room they first entered. The defendant and Collins got into a dispute finally, and Collins struck the defendant, knocking him against a stove that was in the main room. The defendant then drew a knife on Collins, which Collins took away from him. The defendant had a gun or revolver, and undertook to draw that on Collins, but Collins also took the gun away from him, remarking that a knife and a gun were not nice things to play with. He then pointed the gun toward the defendant, and asked him if he liked it. The defendant laughed, threw up his hands, and said he had to like it. Collins then gave the defendant his knife and gun, and told him to put them away. The defendant then took the gun by the barrel, and, assuming an attitude of striking Collins with it, asked Collins if he liked it. Collins told him that was all right, and then the defendant put the gun in his pocket. She had seen the defendant with this gun on their way to Galesburg, and, so far as the evidence shows, the defendant was the only one of the four persons in Graves' place who had a gun on that afternoon, and said four persons were all who were in Graves' place on that afternoon. The witness did not make it clear what the cause of the quarrel was between the defendant and Collins. It does appear from her evidence that Collins had been keeping company with her since the time he had known her. Collins had called her into a bedroom on the north side of Graves' main room, and told her she had been paying more attention to the defendant than she had to him, and said to her that he did not think she had been doing him exactly right in doing so. Collins also told the defendant that he would never bring him to Monmouth again, and that he could go with him to any other place, but he would never bring him to Monmouth any more. She further testified when they first went to Graves' place she kissed the defendantonce or twice, and Collins seemed to be peeved about it. After the trouble was over between Collins and the defendant, the defendant told Graves that he wanted a half pint of liquor, and Graves sold it to him. The defendant then offered Collins a drink, but Collins refused to drink with him. The witness then asked the defendant for a drink, and he told her that she could not drink with him out of his bottle, and she said to him that was all right. Graves told her to go into the kitchen and get her a drink, which she started to do. The defendant then said to her that she might as well drink with him, and offered her a glass of whisky, and told her to drink it. She told him she did not want it, but he kept advancing towards her trying to get her to drink it, and finally set the bottle and the glass on the table. During this time Collins was wanting to leave the place, saying that he had to be in Burlington, Iowa, so that he could go to work at 8 o'clock that evening. The defendant told Collins that it did not matter to him whether he went or not, and Collins told him he was going to leave, and he could go back any way that he could go. Collins then asked the witness if she was ready to go, and she told him that she would be ready to go as soon as she could get another drink. Collins then picked up her coat, and was standing, holding it. During this conversation the defendant was prancing back and forth over the room with his hat on and his thumbs in his vest, acting like a drunken person. Graves then asked Collins when he would be back again, and Collins replied he did not know that he would ever be back. The witness then spoke up and said, ‘Oh, yes, you will be back again.’ Graves then said, ‘Yes, don't make this your last time; the next time you come there might be some live ones.’ These were the last words spoken. The witness then heard shooting, and looked at the defendant, who fired in quick succession two shots towards Graves, who was standing near the defendant. After the second shot Graves ran into the bedroom, exclaiming, ‘Oh, my Lord!’ The defendant then advanced toward the door of the bedroom, and, pointing his gun in that direction, continued to fire his revolver, and fired at least four shots in all. He then turned to the witness, saying that there was one shot more left, and that it could be for her. She did not know at this time where Collins was or where he went. The defendant left the room just after thus accosting her and after he had ceased firing at Graves. She then put on her galoshes and her coat, and went into the bedroom where Graves was, and saw him on his knees by the bed, groaning. She then left the place for her home, and arrived there between 5:30 and 5:45 in the afternoon. She further stated that she, the defendant, and Collins entered Graves' place about 4:10 o'clock that afternoon. The record further shows that Graves died as a result of his wounds from the pistol shots, and was found dead in his place of business by the police officers of Monmouth on the next day after he was shot. The defendant informed the trial judge that he was 19 years old. The court...