People v. Furby
| Decision Date | 26 September 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 68714,68714 |
| Citation | 150 Ill.Dec. 534,138 Ill.2d 434,563 N.E.2d 421 |
| Parties | , 150 Ill.Dec. 534 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellant, v. James FURBY et al., Appellees. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Neil F. Hartigan, Atty. Gen., Springfield, and James E. Ryan, State's Atty., Wheaton , for the People.
M. Jacqueline Walther, of Kielian and Walther, and George P. Lynch, Chicago, for appellees.
Following a joint trial in the circuit court of Du Page County, the defendants, James and Thomas Furby, were convicted by a jury of the theft of property exceeding $300 in value, a felony. The defendants were sentenced to 24 months' probation, ordered to perform 50 hours of public service employment, and required to pay about $1,200 in restitution. A divided appellate court reversed the defendants' convictions. (181 Ill.App.3d 872, 130 Ill.Dec. 804, 537 N.E.2d 1133.) We allowed the State's petition for leave to appeal (107 Ill.2d R. 315(a)).
The defendants, who are brothers, were charged by information with the theft of more than $300 in cash from the restaurant where they were both employed. The defendants gave investigating officers confessions in which they admitted their participation in the offense. Those statements were introduced into evidence at trial, and the jury found the defendants guilty of the charges. The appellate court reversed the convictions. Relying on the doctrine that a criminal conviction may not rest entirely on an extrajudicial confession (see, e.g., People v. Willingham (1982), 89 Ill.2d 352, 59 Ill.Dec. 917, 432 N.E.2d 861), the appellate court ruled that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence of guilt independent of the defendants' own out-of-court statements.
The following evidence was presented at the defendants' trial. The complaining witness was James Lawson, who, together with a business partner, owned a restaurant in Downers Grove; the defendants were employed by the restaurant as delivery drivers. Lawson testified that on the day of the theft, November 7, 1985, he left the restaurant between 2 and 3 p.m. to attend to a family matter. He later called the restaurant to say that he would not return until the following morning. The restaurant's manager, Michael Phillips, was to remove the day's receipts from the cash register and lock the money in the upper right-hand drawer of the desk in Lawson's office, together with certain other funds that were normally kept there overnight.
Lawson explained that he generally took the day's cash receipts with him when he closed the restaurant at the end of the day. Usually, the only money left on the premises overnight would be an amount of petty cash and a bank of currency and rolled coins. Lawson said that he would lock the money in the upper right-hand drawer of the desk in his office, which was situated in the rear of the restaurant. The business checkbook and payroll disbursement book were also stored in a drawer on the right-hand side of the desk. No money was kept in the drawers on the left side of the desk or in the file cabinets located in the office. According to Lawson, the restaurant employees were aware that money was kept in the office desk.
Lawson arrived at the restaurant at 8 a.m. on November 8 and found the office in disarray. Papers were scattered on the floor, the padlock securing the upper right-hand desk drawer was broken, and the drawers on the right-hand side of the desk were empty. The drawers on the left side of the desk and the office file cabinets had not been disturbed, however. There were pry marks on the back door of the building, and the door was cracked. Lawson reported the matter to the Downers Grove police department. At trial, an investigating officer, Michael Riddle, corroborated Lawson's description of the crime scene.
Lawson testified that the cash register tape showed that the restaurant's receipts for November 7 had amounted to $658. In response to the trial judge's inquiry, Lawson stated that when he left the restaurant during the afternoon of November 7, his desk drawer contained "just under $200" in petty cash and an additional $200 in a bank of rolled coins and currency. Lawson thus believed that some $1,058 in cash should have been in his office desk when the restaurant closed on November 7. The money was never recovered, but the missing payroll book was later found in a dumpster behind the building.
Lawson acknowledged at trial that although he signed a criminal complaint charging the defendants with theft on February 3, 1986, he continued to employ them both. Lawson stated that defendant James Furby quit soon after the warrant for his arrest was issued and that defendant Thomas Furby continued to work at the restaurant until August 1986, when he left to attend school.
The defendants gave the Downers Grove police oral confessions concerning their involvement in the present offense, and the statements were introduced into evidence at trial. Sergeant Raymond Byrne testified that he questioned defendant James Furby about the theft on December 18, 1985; Detective Reinhart was also present during the interview, but he was not called as a witness at trial. James Furby told the officers that on the night of November 7, 1985, he, his brother, Thomas Furby, and the restaurant manager, Michael Phillips, devised a plan to stage a burglary at the restaurant and take the day's receipts. James obtained a crowbar and put pry marks on the back door so that the door would appear to have been forced open. Michael then used the crowbar to pry open the desk drawer where the cash was kept. While Michael was removing the money, James scattered some papers on the floor and threw a book of business checks into a dumpster in the alley so that investigators would believe that a burglary had occurred. James, Thomas, and Michael then went to Michael's apartment in Woodridge, Illinois, where they divided the money equally. According to Sergeant Byrne, James stated that he had received no more than $175 or $180 from the theft and asked about the possibility of making restitution to the restaurant.
Sergeant Byrne questioned defendant Thomas Furby on December 27, 1985. Sergeant Kirk Schwabe, who was present during the interrogation, also testified at trial, corroborating Sergeant Byrne's account of the interview. Thomas Furby told the officers that he was at the restaurant around 11 p.m. on November 7, 1985, with James Furby and Michael Phillips. Thomas said that he left shortly after that time but returned around midnight with his brother. Thomas was aware that James Furby and Michael Phillips planned to take the day's receipts from the restaurant office. Thomas said that after the brothers arrived at the restaurant, he stood in an alley behind the building while James and Michael went inside. About 5 or 10 minutes later, James and Michael emerged from the building, one exiting through the front door and the other through the rear door. All three then went to Michael's apartment and divided the money. At first, Thomas said only that each of them received less than $200 from the theft; when questioned further, Thomas agreed with Byrne that they received about $175 or $180 apiece. According to Sergeant Byrne, Thomas stated that he was given a share of the proceeds so that he would remain silent about the matter. In response to Byrne's inquiry, Thomas said that he would be willing to pay restitution.
Both defendants testified in their own behalf at trial. They denied making the inculpatory statements attributed to them by the police and denied having any part in the commission of the theft. James Furby testified that he began working at the restaurant as a delivery driver in July or August 1985. James said that he was charged with the present offense in February 1986 but that he did not leave his job at the restaurant until June or July 1986, when he lost his driver's license. James explained that he would be given between $20 and $150 in cash at the start of each workday. He would pay the restaurant cashier for the orders he was to deliver and then collect the money from the customers when the deliveries were made. At the end of the day the cashier would count the money he turned in to verify that the amount was correct. James testified that the same procedures were followed after he was charged with the theft. He also said that he was aware that money was kept in Lawson's office desk.
James testified that sometime after the November 7 theft, in response to Sergeant Byrne's request, he appeared at the Downers Grove police station to answer questions about the occurrence. According to James, Sergeant Byrne said that the police had evidence of James' guilt of the offense. When James stated that he knew nothing about the matter, Byrne repeated the accusation. James said that he was eventually allowed to go home. At trial, he denied making the statements attributed to him by the police.
James explained that although he was not scheduled to work on November 7, he was at the restaurant from around 9:15 to 10 p.m. to get something to eat and to wait for his brother to finish working, because they had planned to go out together. James believed that Michael Phillips was also working at the restaurant that evening. James denied that he was involved in the theft and said that he learned of the crime when he arrived for work on November 8.
Defendant Thomas Furby also testified in his own behalf at trial. Thomas stated that he was employed by the restaurant as a delivery driver from August 1985 until August 1986 and that his job duties did not change following his arrest for the present offense in February 1986....
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Winfield v. Dorethy
...at 964. It encompasses both the existence of an injury and the fact that the injury had a criminal cause. People v. Furby , 138 Ill.2d 434, 150 Ill.Dec. 534, 563 N.E.2d 421, 425 (1990) ; 1 Kenneth S. Broun et al., McCormick on Evidence § 146 (8th ed. 2020). Under some formulations of the co......
-
People v. Vasser
...control over the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of its benefits. People v. Furby, 138 Ill.2d 434, 447, 150 Ill.Dec. 534, 563 N.E.2d 421 (1990); 720 ILCS 5/16-1(a) (West 1998). If the value of the property taken exceeds $300, the offense is elevated fro......
-
People v. Cloutier
... ... Willingham (1982), 89 Ill.2d 352, 358-59, 59 Ill.Dec. 917, 432 N.E.2d 861.) Such evidence need not rise to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but must only tend to confirm a defendant's confession. (Howard, 147 Ill.2d at 128, 167 Ill.Dec. 914, 588 N.E.2d 1044; People v. Furby (1990), 138 Ill.2d 434, 450, 452, 150 Ill.Dec. 534, 563 N.E.2d 421; Lambert, 104 Ill.2d at 378, 84 Ill.Dec. 467, 472 N.E.2d 427.) The particular circumstances must be considered, and every detail need not correspond. (Furby, 138 Ill.2d at 450-51, 150 Ill.Dec. 534, 563 N.E.2d 421.) In this ... ...
-
People v. Lara
...not correspond.” (Emphasis added.) Cloutier, 156 Ill.2d at 503, 190 Ill.Dec. 744, 622 N.E.2d 774 (citing People v. Furby, 138 Ill.2d 434, 450–51, 150 Ill.Dec. 534, 563 N.E.2d 421 (1990)). We then considered the circumstantial evidence and testimony from other women defendant had threatened ......