People v. Ford

• Decision Date: 28 March 1968
• Docket Number: No. 39865,39865
• Citation: 235 N.E.2d 576,39 Ill.2d 318
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Marlene FORD, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 576

235 N.E.2d 576

39 Ill.2d 318

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Marlene FORD, Appellant.

No. 39865.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 28, 1968.

Royal E. Spurlark, Jr., and Richard L. Clayter, Chicago, appointed by the court, for appellant.

William G. Clark, Atty. Gen., Springfield, and John J. Stamos, State's Atty., Chicago (Fred G. Leach, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Elmer C. Kissane and John M. Goldberg, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel, for appellee.

HOUSE, Justice.

Marlene Ford was found guilty of the murder of her husband, Robert Ford, by a jury in the circuit court of Cook County and was sentenced to the Women's Reformatory at Dwight for a term of 14 to 17 years. A constitutional question gives us jurisdiction.

On May 25, 1962, the body of defendant's husband was found lying on the floor of the bedroom in their apartment. A pathologist's report revealed that the cause of death was excessive bleeding resulting from a stab wound in the chest. Investigating officers testified that defendant told them that while her husband was in bed she had stabbed him with a large bread knife, which they found in the kitchen sink.

Defendant entered a plea of not guilty, and in July, 1962, her attorney asked for a hearing to determine her ability to stand trial. On September 21, 1962, a jury determined that she was not competent and she was committed to the Kankakee State Hospital. About a year later in October, 1963, defendant was returned to the court for further proceedings and in December, 1963, she was determined capable of standing trial. Defendant then filed a petition seeking a pretrial hearing to determine her responsibility at the time of the charged offense, under section 6--2(a) of the Criminal Code of 1961. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1961, chap. 38, par. 6--2(a).) Her petition was denied, and in May, 1965, the case was brought to trial.

Defendant first contends that section 6--2(a) of the Criminal Code is unconstitutional and violative of the fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments to the constitution of the United States, and sections 2, 9, and 10 of article II of the Illinois constitution, S.H.A. Specifically, she argues that she should have been granted a separate pretrial hearing to determine her mental condition at the time of the alleged offense.

The defense of insanity at the time of the crime, like any other defense, must be raised at the time of trial and submitted to the jury who are hearing the case, and no special jury is called or pretrial hearing conducted to determine this question. (Brown v. People, 8 Ill.2d 540, 134 N.E.2d 760.) The question of defendant's mental condition at the time of the crime is a question of fact to be determined by the trier of fact. People v. Myers, 35 Ill.2d 311, 220 N.E.2d 297; People v. Muniz, 31 Ill.2d 130, 198 N.E.2d 855.

Defendant argues that she has been denied, in effect, her right not to be a witness against herself in that by raising the issue of insanity she has, by implication, admitted commission of the offense. She contends denial of commission of the offense and a plea of insanity are necessarily inconsistent and that both positions cannot be advanced in the same trial. The situation is somewhat analogous to the area of confessions where we have held that a defendant has the right to deny that he made incriminating statements and also raise the question of the voluntariness of the statements. (People v. Norfleet, 29 Ill.2d 287, 194 N.E.2d 220; People v. Williams, 36 Ill.2d 194, 222 N.E.2d 321.) Those are obviously inconsistent positions while the alternatives here are not. There is no reason why defendant may not deny commission of the crime and also raise the affirmative defense of insanity. Section 6--2(a) does not, in our opinion, deprive defendant of any constitutionally guaranteed right.

Secondly, defendant argues that the jury's verdict of guilty was manifestly against the weight of the evidence with respect to the issue of insanity at the time of the offense. As noted earlier, the question of insanity is one for the jury to decide (Brown v. People, 8 Ill.2d 540, 134 N.E.2d 760; People v. Muniz, 31 Ill.2d 130, 198 N.E.2d 855), and we will not disturb the jury's finding unless it is so manifestly against the weight of the evidence as to indicate the verdict was based on passion or prejudice. People v. Thomas, 409 Ill. 473, 100 N.E.2d 588.

The evidence on the issue of insanity shows that defendant was a patient at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute from October to December, 1961, and that she was released without psychosis. In July, 1962, she was examined by Dr. William Haines, Director of the Behavior Clinic of Cook County, with reference to her capacity to stand trial. Dr. Haines testified that he formed no opinion as to her mental condition at the time of the offense, that as of August 1, 1962, she was competent to stand trial, and that sometime thereafter she became incapable of standing trial. After a jury found her incompetent to stand trial in September, 1962, defendant was a patient at the Kankakee State Hospital for just over a year.

Two doctors who treated or consulted with the defendant while she was at the Kankakee State Hospital testified that at the time they examined her she was psychotic and had a schizoid personality. They expressed no opinion as to the length of time the condition existed. Dr. Kermit T. Mehlinger, senior psychiatrist of the Municipal Court Psychiatric Institute in Chicago, testified that he examined and treated defendant from February 10, 1964, to the time of trial, that he diagnosed her as an ambulatory, schizophrenic, that in his opinion she had been psychotic for 6 or 7 years prior to her trial in 1965, and that there were times when she lacked the substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of her conduct or to conform her conduct to the requirements of law. Two neighbors and defendant's brother testified that they thought defendant was mentally disturbed on or about May 25, 1962, and although it is apparent from the record that the neighbors did not fully understand the questions concerning defendant's capacity to appreciate the criminality of her conduct, they testified that they believed she did not have such capacity.

In rebuttal the State introduced four police officers who investigated the murder and saw and talked with defendant shortly after the incident occurred. They all testified that defendant was coherent, logical, and in touch with reality, and that in their opinion, she was able to substantially appreciate the criminality of her conduct and was able to conform her conduct to the requirements of law.

There is sufficient evidence in the record from which a jury could find that defendant was responsible within the meaning of section 6--2(a) of the Code at the time of the offense.

Defendant next contends the court should have...