People v. Donaldson
| Decision Date | 23 March 1962 |
| Docket Number | No. 36804,36804 |
| Citation | 24 Ill.2d 315,181 N.E.2d 131 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Defendant in Error, v. Calvin DONALDSON, Plaintiff in Error. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Paul Homer, Chicago, for plaintiff in error.
William G. Clark, Atty., gen., and Daniel
William G. Clark, Atty. Gen., and Daniel Leach, and E. Michael O'Brien, Asst. Attys. Gen., and John T. Gallagher and Elmer C. Kissane, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for defendant in error.
Defendant was convicted of the murder of Ferdinand A. Wesley and was sentenced to death. This conviction was reversed and the cause remanded for a new trial in People v. Donaldson, 8 Ill.2d 510, 134 N.E.2d 776. On a second trial, defendant was found guilty by a jury of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the penitentiary. The present writ of error is to review this second conviction.
No question is raised as to sufficiency of the evidence, if competent, to sustain the conviction. Defendant contends, however, that the trial court committed prejudicial error in the admission of evidence, in instructing the jury, and in refusing defendant's request to call certain witnesses as the court's witnesses.
The principal contention is that the trial court erred in admitting in evidence a certain photograph of defendant. While it is unnecessary to an understanding of this question to summarize all the evidence in the record, it is necessary to set forth sufficient facts to place the significance of this photograph in proper perspective.
The defendant was apprehended in New Orleans and was picked up there by Chicago police officers. They left New Orleans on July 3, 1954, and arrived in Chicago about 1:20 A.M. on July 4. Defendant made two statements, which were reduced to writing but not signed, on the morning of July 4, the first at about 5:05 A.M. and the second at about 6:45 A.M. In the first statement, defendant admitted shooting the deceased during the course of a holdup, but claimed that the gun went off accidentally. The second statement denied and mistreatment by police officers. A preliminary hearing was held outside the presence of the jury on the voluntary nature of the statements, at the conclusion of which the court ruled that the statements were competent, and they were admitted in evidence. No question is raised on this writ of error concerning this ruling.
The defendant took the stand in his own behalf. Among other things, he testified that the statements were preceded by threats and beatings administrered by the police officers and that he made the statements only because of these coercive acts. The People then produced evidence in rebuttal. The photograph, the admissibility of which is questioned, was part of this rebuttal evidence. As a foundation to the admission of the photograph, the People put on the stand John F. Ryan, who testified that, on July 4, 1954, he was employed by the Chicago police department as a photographer, that on that date he took a picture of a man identified as Calvin Donaldson. The picture was marked for identification, and Ryan stated that it correctly portrayed the appearance of the man identified to him as Calvin Donaldson on July 4, 1954.
On cross-examination, Ryan admitted that he had no personal recollection of having taken the photograph, that he had no way of knowing how long the person whose picture he took had been in custody, and that he had no knowledge as to whether the clothes shown in the picture were the clothes worn by defendant when he was brought to the police building. He indicated that he determined the picture was taken on July 4, 1954, by a record that was kept of all work done by him, but that he did not have the record with him.
On redirect examination, Ryan testified that, before coming to court to testify, he checked both his personal records and the records of the police department. He was then asked to state what the record indicated. To this question, defense counsel objected on the ground that to permit the witness to state what the records show would violate the best evidence rule. This objection was overruled,...
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