People v. Dresher
| Decision Date | 24 March 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-04-0742.,1-04-0742. |
| Citation | 847 N.E.2d 662 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Glen DRESHER, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Law Office of James Cutrone and Marc Martin, Ltd., Chicago (James Cutrone and Marc Martin, of counsel), for Appellant.
Cook County State's Attorney, Chicago (Richard A. Devine, James E. Fitzgerald, Michelle Katz and Michele Grimaldi Stein, of counsel), for Appellee.
Following a jury trial, defendant Glen Dresher was convicted of attempted first degree murder and aggravated domestic battery for striking his former wife, Roseanne Dresher, with his car several times in July 2001. The trial court sentenced defendant to 10 years in prison for attempted murder and a consecutive 4-year term for aggravated domestic battery.
On appeal, defendant raises the following contentions: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding that defendant was not mentally ill, and the judgment should be modified to guilty but mentally ill; (2) the State improperly introduced into evidence statements that defendant made while in police custody and after he asserted his right to counsel; (3) the State verbally attacked and disparaged the main expert witness for the defense; (4) the trial court erred in refusing to admit certain defense exhibits that defendant asserts were relevant to his state of mind at the time of the offense and also erred in allowing the State's expert witnesses to review testimony of defense experts; (5) the cumulative effect of those errors prevented a fair trial; and (6) the trial court should not have imposed consecutive sentences because, according to the indictment, his two convictions were based on the same physical act. For the reasons set forth below, defendant's conviction and 10-year sentence for attempted murder are affirmed. However, we vacate defendant's aggravated domestic battery conviction and sentence.
The record contains the following facts and testimony relevant to the issues that defendant has raised on appeal, and further facts pertinent to each issue are set out later in this opinion. Defendant and Roseanne wed in 1969 and had two sons and a daughter during their 25-year marriage. Defendant filed for divorce in 1988 after discovering Roseanne's infidelity; however, he later stopped the proceedings. Defendant filed for divorce again in 1994, and the couple's divorce was final in 1997.
On July 19, 2001, defendant called Roseanne to ask if he could bring some insurance forms to her house the next morning that she needed to sign. On July 20, defendant drove to Roseanne's house in Glencoe and parked at the end of the driveway near the street. After defendant honked his car's horn, Roseanne went outside and walked to defendant's car. Roseanne testified that defendant remained seated in his car while she signed the document.
After their conversation, Roseanne turned her back to the car and started walking toward the house. Roseanne testified that she heard the car's motor "rev up" and then was struck from behind and thrown into the air. After he hit her with the car a second time, defendant got out of the car, approached her as she lay on the ground and said, "Remember, this is only an accident."
Defendant returned to his vehicle and struck Roseanne between five and seven times, getting out of his car again several times to tell her that it was an "accident." Roseanne testified that after the car hit her a fourth time, defendant bent over Roseanne silently before resuming the attack, and she "played dead," hoping that he would stop and leave. Defendant's car struck the house at one point. Roseanne's injuries included multiple rib and pelvic fractures, a fractured wrist and collapsed lungs.
Defendant and Roseanne's daughter, Abra, testified that defendant knew she was in town from California that week to visit her parents and extended family; however, Abra said defendant was not expecting her to be at Roseanne's home on July 20 because she told defendant a few days earlier that she would be gone by July 18 or 19. On the morning of July 20, Abra testified that she was inside when she heard the house shake. Standing at the top of the stairs, Abra saw defendant enter the house, pick up the telephone, dial a number and replace the receiver. Defendant went back outside, and Abra followed him and saw Roseanne on the ground. Defendant was sitting in his car and Abra testified he looked "agitated" and "very pale."
After Abra went inside and called 911, she returned to the driveway, where she confronted defendant and they pushed and hit each other. Defendant told Abra several times that it was an "accident." Defendant got back in his car and accelerated forward while Abra stood in front of the car to stop him. Abra testified that when she reached into defendant's vehicle for his car phone to dial 911 again, defendant pulled the phone away from her reach.
Both Roseanne and defendant testified about their sons, Jason and Jonathon, who both suffer from mental disabilities. Jason was diagnosed as autistic and mentally disabled at age 3 or 4 and has lived since age 11 at St. Colletta's, a residential facility in Wisconsin. Their younger son, Jonathon, was hospitalized for several weeks in 1999 while attending college in Pennsylvania and was diagnosed as psychotic and suicidal.
Defendant testified that although he made a good living in his family's furniture business and other jobs, Roseanne spent money excessively during their marriage and that their arguments about money affected their relationship "in a bad way." Defendant said Roseanne was embarrassed by Jason's condition and that she had called their son "a lost cause." After their divorce, defendant paid Roseanne $9,000 a month in maintenance.
The defense raised an insanity theory, arguing that defendant did not appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct. Defendant testified that he "started to hear voices" in January 2001; about three times a day, he heard a male voice call him a "failure" and "loser" and make similar denigrating comments. Defendant would walk in a circle to try to "quiet" the voices. However, he did not seek medical treatment or tell anyone about the voices because he "didn't want to be institutionalized" and he "thought [he] could handle it himself." Defendant said he attempted suicide twice in the spring of 2001 by turning on his car's engine with the garage door closed. Defendant testified that in July 2001, the voices became louder and more frequent, and on one occasion, he yelled at Abra and Jonathon while at dinner.
Regarding the day of the incident, defendant said he heard voices as he drove to Roseanne's house. Defendant said he was not angry with Roseanne that day and did not intend to harm her. After Roseanne signed the insurance form, defendant put the car in reverse, intending to back out of the driveway. Defendant next recalled seeing Roseanne on the ground and did not remember striking her with the car or telling her it was an "accident." Defendant remembered going inside the house and dialing 911, and he said he saw Abra at the top of the stairs. Defendant said he went back outside but does not remember arguing or struggling with his daughter. Defendant said he continued to hear voices while Glencoe police handcuffed him.
On cross-examination, defendant admitted that he never told his longtime personal physician that he needed psychiatric help and that he did not seek such help until after he was charged in the instant case. (He later stated he saw a psychiatrist in 2000.) Defendant said that aside from the incident involving Roseanne, he had experienced no other memory loss. Defendant acknowledged that he had a bad temper and that he was hurt and angry when he discovered his wife's infidelity.
Because defendant contends on appeal that the evidence was sufficient to prove him guilty but mentally ill, we review the testimony that pertained to defendant's mental state. Four doctors testified on defendant's behalf, with several of them stating that defendant's premature birth affected his mental and physical development. Dr. Richard Abrams treated defendant 20 or 30 times beginning in August 2001, about two weeks after the incident. The trial court found that in addition to being defendant's treating psychiatrist, Dr. Abrams was qualified to testify as an expert in psychiatry. Defendant told Dr. Abrams that Roseanne treated him as a "meal ticket" and told defendant she would divorce him if he did not give her enough money and provide certain items such as an in-ground swimming pool at their home. Dr. Abrams testified that Roseanne's demands reinforced in defendant feelings of inadequacy that were rooted in his childhood, and defendant's discovery of her infidelity compounded those thoughts. In early 2001, defendant began to have feelings of self-doubt and depression, specifically that he was worthless and no one loved him or cared about him.
As to defendant's mental status at the time of the incident, Dr. Abrams testified that defendant likely had an "acute psychotic episode," during which a person is "on the edge" due to alcohol or drug use or mental status. The doctor stated that defendant was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol in July 2001; his actions were triggered by childhood experiences and other stressors. Dr. Abrams testified that defendant had a mental illness — a "major depression" — and was "borderline psychotic" at the time of the incident such that he could not appreciate the criminality of his conduct. The doctor based his opinion on defendant's "inability to relate" throughout his life, his lack of friends and his inability to express his feelings.
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