People v. Daniels

• Decision Date: 31 December 1987
• Docket Number: No. 2-86-0470,2-86-0470
• Citation: 164 Ill.App.3d 1055,116 Ill.Dec. 47,518 N.E.2d 669
• Parties: , 116 Ill.Dec. 47 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Estella DANIELS, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 669

518 N.E.2d 669

164 Ill.App.3d 1055, 116 Ill.Dec. 47

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Estella DANIELS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-86-0470.

Appellate Court of Illinois,

Second District.

Dec. 31, 1987.

Rehearing Denied Feb. 2, 1988.

G. Joseph Weller, Deputy Defender, Kim M. DeWitt, Asst. Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Elgin, for Estella Daniels.

Paul A. Logli, Winnebago Co. State's Atty., Rockford, William L. Browers, Deputy Director, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, John X. Breslin, Deputy Dir., State's Atty. Appellate Prosecutor, Rita Kennedy Mertel, State's Attys. Appellate Service Com'n, Ottawa, for People.

Justice UNVERZAGT delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Estella Daniels, appeals from her conviction of aggravated criminal sexual assault following a bench trial in Winnebago County. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 38, par. 12-14(b)(1).) The offense was committed against her son, R.G., who was 11 years old at the time of the offense. She received a six-year term of imprisonment.

She contends (1) she was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the court erred in admitting and considering irrelevant and highly prejudicial physical evidence; (3) her rights to a fair trial and due process were violated when her attorney was barred from interviewing R.G. and his 10-year-old sister, B.D.; (4) B.D. was not competent to testify; (5) the prosecutor's misconduct prejudiced the trial court's judgment and requires a new trial; (6) she did not receive the effective assistance of counsel; and (7) the sexual assault law is unconstitutional.

The trail of events leading up to the defendant's arrest began on August 27, 1985, when a neighbor, Lori Leng, was told her children were smoking in a cornfield behind her house. When she got to the field, she talked with her children, then examined a grocery bag containing magazines, a notebook and a backpack which belonged to Estella Daniels' son, R.G. Mrs. Leng then telephoned a child abuse agency, and was subsequently contacted by the police. Over defendant's objection, Leng identified the notebook and magazines. Rockford police detective James Thompkins also identified the items in court.

A representative from the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) and a Rockford police officer removed R.G. and B.D., the defendant's children, from their home on August 22 and they were placed in a foster home. During the period August 23 to October 11, 1985, the children were interviewed separately by the police, DCFS, and its affiliate, Family Advocate, with varying frequency but initially three to four times per week. Based on information developed during that time period, the defendant and her husband, Vernon Daniels, were arrested on October 12. The defendant was tried separately for the instant offense against her son, R.G.

John Germano, crime scene technician for the Winnebago County sheriff's department, identified two items found in the defendant's home during a search conducted pursuant to warrant: a camera floodlight and an eight-millimeter movie projector found in a hallway closet.

On cross-examination, Germano testified the projector was not tested to see if it worked. An eight-millimeter film was also found but it was not viewed to determine its contents. On redirect examination, Germano described the box cover of the eight-millimeter film as depicting partially nude males and females. On recross, Germano stated that judging by the box cover, the film looked commercially made. Due to the extent of the testimony received concerning the film, the court allowed the State a recess to secure the film, and Germano identified it in court. Holding several frames of the film up to the light, Germano testified he could see a male and female but could not see what they were doing.

B.D., the defendant's 10-year-old daughter, was called to testify for the State. She testified she would be 11 on July 14, 1986, and until a few months prior, she lived at 4339 Brookdale Road in Rockford with her mother, the defendant, and her father, Vernon Daniels. She did not remember the name of the church she attended. She did not know what an oath was, and said that "to tell the truth" means to remember what happened. She did not know what the judge or her mother would do to her if they found her lying. She named her school and teacher, and said she was in third grade. Her brother, R.G., was 12 and also lived at the Rockford address before they were both placed in the foster home of Rita Tennor.

B.D. testified that in July 1985 she had breakfast with her mother, her father, and her brother, R.G. Afterward, Vernon told them, "We are going to have sexual touching." They all took off their clothes in the living room and she, R.G., and the defendant touched each other's genital areas. Vernon was taking pictures with a black camera about 10 inches wide. At one point, Vernon had to get dressed to go buy more film. When he returned, they all went into her mother's bedroom where her mother told R.G. to put his penis in her vagina. R.G. did so, while Vernon took pictures.

On cross-examination, B.D. stated she was held back in second grade and in kindergarten. She said sexual intercourse was when a person's hands touch another person's vagina. She first heard the words "sexual intercourse" from Assistant State's Attorney Gemignani; she could not remember what he said it meant. She then stated sexual intercourse is the same as sex, and that sex was what it was called when a man puts his penis in a woman's vagina. She denied she ever had sexual intercourse with anybody, or that she ever had sex with her brother, R.G. She did not remember signing a written statement, and she denied having sex with her father or telling anyone that she had. She stated she did have sex with Tim B., however, and clarified her previous denial of sexual relations "with anybody" by stating she meant she never had sexual relations with her family. She denied she had sex with or knew a boy named "Lewis"; she said R.G. knew a boy named Lewis, though. Tim B. lived near her grandmother. She denied ever telling anyone her grandmother was in movies with her, but admitted she told Assistant State's Attorney Gemignani and Lou Gadow (executive director of the DCFS affiliate, Family Advocate) that her grandmother took movies of her. She denied ever telling Gadow that she had sex with her father or her brother. She remembered telling police officer Billy Burgess she had sex with Rodney N., her next door neighbor. It happened one time in his garage in 1984; he put his penis in her vagina and it hurt. She could not describe his penis, how deep he inserted it or how long he kept it in.

She stated she had sexual intercourse with Tim B. more than once but not more than 10 times in his shed. R.G. and Tim's sister were present when she and Tim had intercourse, and Tim also had sex with R.G. on more than one occasion. She saw Tim's penis; it hurt her, and he did not put it in deep. He was seated and she was sitting on top of him. She did not know what an orgasm was and saw nothing come out of Tim's penis. She denied knowing Lewis or that he touched her in any way or that she had told anyone that. She did not have intercourse with her father, but he touched her vagina externally. She knew what a vibrator looked like but not what it was; she denied that either she or her mother used a vibrator on her. She admitted she told Lou Gadow that R.G. put his penis in her, but stated that she also told her it was not true. She stated the last time she saw R.G. have sexual intercourse with her mother was not in 1986 or 1985, but in 1984. She described R.G.'s penis as looking like "a rabbit's tail."

She stated her father was mean to her; he hit her with a board and gave her two black eyes a long time ago. She loves her mother and would like to live with her, not Vernon. Her father sold the pictures he took after breakfast to some of his and her mother's friends; she and R.G. were with them at the time. She stated her father also took movies of her and sold them to somebody.

She did not see her mother shoot somebody. Her mother said she had shot somebody in the butt. B.D. said she told her foster mom about this. She denied she knew anyone named Ross and denied telling Lou Gadow that her mother shot and killed a boy named Ross. She and R.G. buried a dog one time, not a person.

She did not recall being examined by a doctor. She admitted she first told Lou Gadow she never had intercourse with anybody, including Tim B., and stated that she did not know why she lied to her.

On redirect examination, B.D. stated that she and her mother were in a movie titled "Mother Daughter Love." She and her mother, her father, and R.G. were in a movie called "Family Touching." Her father decided what movies would be made. She denied either her grandparents or her aunt Bonnie (Duke) had anything to do with the movies. She denied being in any movies with a whip, or that she or R.G. were ever in a movie with a dog. She stated she made one movie at a place called "the studio." She stated she loves her mother and would go back to live with her if there was no sex.

On re-cross examination, she denied telling Officer Burgess that her grandpa was the boss who makes the movies. She denied signing defendant's exhibit No. 3 purporting to be the statement she gave to Officer Burgess on October 23, 1985. She did not know who filmed the movie "Family Touching."

On further redirect examination, she stated that "Family Touching" was made at the studio, but she could not recall who was taking the pictures. On further recross examination, she denied any movies were taken at her Aunt Bonnie's house in Dixon or that she had reported that to Officer Burgess.

On the second day of trial, March 18, 1986, R.G. was called as the State's witness. He testified he was 12 years old. He identified...