People v. Grever

• Decision Date: 04 November 2004
• Docket Number: No. 2-03-0073.,2-03-0073.
• Citation: 289 Ill.Dec. 94,353 Ill. App.3d 736,819 N.E.2d 6
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert GREVER, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

819 N.E.2d 6

353 Ill. App.3d 736

289 Ill.Dec. 94

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Robert GREVER, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-03-0073.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

November 4, 2004.

Rehearing Denied December 16, 2004.

Robert P. Will Jr., Ralph A. Strathmann, Robert P. Will Jr. & Associates, Waukegan, Gregory E. Pelini, (argued) Law Office of Gregory E. Pelini, Champaign, for Robert Grever.

Michael J. Waller, Lake County State's Attorney, Waukegan, Martin P. Moltz, Deputy Director, Joan M. Kripke (argued), State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, for the People.

Justice KAPALA delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Robert Grever, a former township supervisor of Ela Township, Lake County, appeals from his eight convictions of official misconduct (720 ILCS 5/33-3(a), (c) (West 1998)) in connection with a delinquent debt owed to the township for his mother-in-law's care at the county nursing home. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant was charged by indictment with 12 counts of official misconduct. The first six counts, each pertaining to a different year from 1993 through 1998, charged that defendant:

"committed the offense of OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT, in that the said defendant, a public officer, the Ela Township Supervisor, while acting in his official capacity, intentionally failed to perform a mandatory act, in that he failed to inform the Ela Township Board of [the] [i]ndebtedness of Mae Chvojka and Ruth Grever to Ela Township for healthcare services provided by the Winchester House [and] paid for by Ela Township, within 30 days of the annual township meeting as required by 60 Illinois Compiled Statutes 1/70-15(c)(v), in violation of 720 ILCS 5/33-3(a) * * *."

The next three counts of the indictment, each pertaining to a different person who benefited from defendant's actions, charged that defendant:

"On or about 1992 through 1996, * * * committed the offense of OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT, in that the said defendant, a public officer, the Ela Township Supervisor, while acting in his official capacity, with the intent to obtain a personal benefit for [Mae Chvojka (Count VII), Ruth Grever (Count VIII), Robert Grever (Count IX)], performed acts in excess of his lawful authority, in a series of acts designed to promote a single intent, he submitted bills to the Ela Township Board for payment by the township for the stay of Mae Chvojka at the Winchester House despite the fact that neither Mae Chvojka nor any representative on her behalf [was] reimbursing the township as required by Ela Township, in violation of 720 ILCS 5/33-3(c) * * *."

The last three counts of the indictment, each pertaining to a different person who benefited from defendant's actions, charged that defendant:

"On or about 1992 through 1998, * * * committed the offense of OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT, in that the said defendant, a public officer, the Ela Township Supervisor, while acting in his official capacity, with the intent to obtain a person benefit to [Mae Chvojka (count X), Ruth Grever (count XI), Robert Grever (count XII)], performed acts in excess of his official authority in a series of acts designated to promote a single intent, in that he concealed the existence of a debt owed by his wife, Ruth Grever, and her mother, Mae Chvojka, to Ela Township and withheld collection action regarding said debt, in violation of 720 ILCS 5/33-(c) * * *."

Prior to trial, the court heard and denied defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that the charges were barred by the statute of limitations. Defendant waived his right to a trial by jury and the matter proceeded to bench trial.

At trial, the State called the administrator of Winchester House, Steven Nussbaum. He explained that the Winchester House is a nursing home owned by Lake County that has been in operation for more than 150 years. Nussbaum became the administrator in 1997. Nussbaum identified the Lake County ordinance enacted in 1978 that authorized agreements between the County of Lake and the various townships of Lake County regarding Winchester House. That ordinance provided that the township supervisor of each township shall be responsible to pay the bills that township residents incurred at Winchester House. Nussbaum related that, pursuant to the ordinance, the various townships and Lake County had entered into agreements under which each township was assigned a number of beds at Winchester House proportionate to its population. Each township was thereby permitted to use Winchester House for its citizens. According to Nussbaum, when a bed of a particular township became available, Winchester House would notify that township's supervisor's secretary and ask that the next application be forwarded.

Nussbaum identified the amended agreement between the County of Lake and a former supervisor of Ela Township dated April 19, 1978. According to this agreement, the township supervisor of Ela Township agreed to be responsible for payment of all charges for patients admitted to Winchester House from Ela Township. Nussbaum testified that this agreement was terminated in December 1999 and a different procedure went into effect. However, the agreement was in force in 1991, and was still in effect in 1997 when he became administrator. Nussbaum explained that, under the agreement, Winchester House would send to each township supervisor a monthly bill indicating a total for that township's residents and an itemized bill for each private-pay resident. Each township, in turn, would send one monthly check to Winchester House.

According to Nussbaum, Mae Chvojka was an Ela Township citizen who became a resident at Winchester House on September 19, 1991. She remained at Winchester House until she died on December 12, 1996. Nussbaum identified a document authorizing Mae Chvojka's admission to Winchester House that was signed by defendant as Ela Township supervisor. That same document indicated that Ela Township would assume financial responsibility for Mae Chvojka's charges in accordance with the existing agreement between Ela Township and the County of Lake. The document also indicated that Winchester House could submit the monthly bill for her care to the township supervisor. Other Winchester House records identified by Nussbaum indicate that Mae Chvojka was a private-pay patient, that Ruth Grever was responsible for her bills, that private-pay patients were billed for their care by the township supervisor's office, and that Ruth Grever's address was the billing address for Mae Chvojka's charges.

Nussbaum went on to identify a group exhibit consisting of the bills that were submitted to Ela Township regarding Mae Chvojka's care at Winchester House. The bills were admitted into evidence. Nussbaum testified further that if a township wanted someone removed from Winchester House because of nonpayment, the township supervisor would contact Winchester House. The only way Winchester House would know if a private-pay resident's bill was not being paid was through the township supervisor.

The State also called Margaret L. Staples, who testified that she served as defendant's secretary at Ela Township from 1985 to 2001. Staples said that she was familiar with the arrangement between Ela Township and Winchester House concerning Ela Township residents. Staples said that the policy of Ela Township was that the township would pay the bills for each township resident staying at Winchester House and that the township would then seek reimbursement. Staples opened the mail that came into the township supervisor's office. Winchester House would send Ela Township a monthly bill for private-pay Ela Township residents who were in Winchester House. Staples explained that the bill had a top sheet with the total charges for that month. In addition, there were three copies of each private-pay resident's bill that included the name and address of the party responsible for paying the bill. Staples would forward a copy of the bill to the responsible party and would place a copy of the total bill, as well as a copy of each individual bill, on defendant's desk. A copy of the total bill went to the township board meeting to be approved for payment. Staples testified that the board received only the total bill for all the Ela Township residents staying in Winchester House, not the individual residents' bills.

Staples testified further that after the Board approved the Winchester House bill, a check was drawn on the general assistance fund of the Ela Township treasury and sent to Winchester House. When payment came in from the responsible party, Staples would record the amount of the check and the check number, and make out a deposit slip for depositing the funds into the bank. Staples said that she had created a file for each private-pay Ela Township resident in Winchester House, and that the files were kept in a locked file cabinet. Staples recorded how much was paid on a form that was kept in each resident's file. The form was available to Staples and defendant. Staples believed that these files were not available to the general public without a Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1 et seq. (West 2000)) request.

Staples related that in August 1991, defendant's wife, Ruth Grever, took out an application to admit her mother, Mae Chvojka, to Winchester House. Staples processed the application and made a file for Chvojka. Chvojka went into Winchester House as a private-pay resident and was subject to the same terms and agreements as everyone else in Ela Township. Staples said that the record sheet she kept showed that Ruth Grever paid for Chvojka's first four months of care at Winchester House but that no payments were made after January 1992. Staples said that she processed the bills for Chvojka's care just like the rest of the bills and that the township board approved and paid her bill, along with the rest, each month. Staples...