People v. Harrison

• Decision Date: 11 November 1943
• Docket Number: No. 27171.,27171.
• Citation: 51 N.E.2d 172,384 Ill. 201
• Parties: PEOPLE v. HARRISON et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

384 Ill. 201

51 N.E.2d 172

PEOPLE

v.HARRISON et al.

No. 27171.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 21, 1943.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing Nov. 11, 1943.

Error to First Division Appellate Court, First District, in Writ of Error to Criminal Court, Cook County; John F. Bolton, Judge.

Jesse Harrison, Paul McCoy, Frank Tornabene, Steve Radaha, Sam Monforti, and Sam Marsala were convicted of conspiracy to violate the election laws, and to review a judgment of the Appellate Court, 317 Ill.App. 460, 46 N.E.2d 103, affirming the judgments on the verdicts as to all defendants except Tornabene, the remaining defendants bring error.

Affirmed.Mayer Goldberg, of Chicago, for plaintiffs in error.

George F. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and Thomas J. Courtney, State's Atty., of Chicago (Edward E. Wilson, John T. Gallagher, Melvin S. Rembe, Richard B. Austin, and Clement D. Cody, all of Chicago, of counsel), for defendant in error.

GUNN, Justice.

Plaintiffs in error, Jesse Harrison, Paul McCoy, Frank Tornabene, Steve Radaha, Sam Monforti and Sam Marsala, were indicted in the criminal court of Cook county for conspiracy to violate the election laws. They were all tried before a jury and convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary. On writ of error to the Appellate Court the judgment of the criminal court of Cook county was affirmed as to all of the defendants except Frank Tornabene, and as to him the cause was remanded. The remaining defendants prosecute a writ of error to this court.

The indictment is in one count for conspiracy at common law. It charged all of the defendants mentioned, and one Thomas H. Caradine, with a conspiracy to violate the election laws in the following manner: (a) to make a false canvass of the votes in an election conducted in the 15th precinct of the 42nd ward of the city of Chicago in a mayoralty election held in Chicago April 4, 1939; (b) to deliver a false return of said election; (c) to make a false statement as to the result of said election; (d) to make a false certificate certifying the correctness of said statement of result. The indictment sets out the particular acts of the accused in the alleged conspiracy. There was no motion made to quash the indictment.

There was a preliminary motion in which it was contended that the indictment charged several conspiracies, and that the State be required to elect upon which one the defendants would be tried. This motion was overruled. Some of the defendants were election officials and some of them were watchers, and it is claimed only the election officials could be guilty of making a false canvass or a false return, and since those who were not election officials could be guilty only of inducing the election officials to violate the law, there were necessarily two classes of offenses charged. The conspiracy charged in the indictment grew out of one distinct transaction, viz., what took place after the polls were closed in the said 15th precinct. The charge was the conspiracy to violate the election laws, and if one not an election official advised, or assisted, or abetted an election official to violate the law he would be guilty as principal. People v. Van Bever, 248 Ill. 136, 93 N.E. 725;Lionetti v. People, 183 Ill. 253, 55 N.E. 668. The matters charged in the indictment were, if true, all a part of one general scheme to conduct a fraudulent election, and the several acts charged were all parts of one general conspiracy, and in such cases the People are not required to elect. People v. Curran, 286 Ill. 302, 121 N.E. 637;People v. Pulliam, 352 Ill. 318, 185 N.E. 599.

The evidence in the case, established by several eyewitnesses, shows that after the polls were closed, and while defendants were all present around the table counting ballots, Radaha commenced marking the ballots with a short pencil, and when Caradine protested defendant Monforti pulled him away from the table, and as a result, before the ballots were turned in, defendants made enough changes so that one candidate received 58 votes more than he was entitled to, and the opposing candidate 7 less than he was entitled to. There were also substantial changes in the result as to other candidates at said election. These false results were canvassed and certified as correct.

The facts, as testified to by eyewitnesses, establish beyond a reasonable doubt the ballots in said precinct, when placed upon the table, were tampered with so as to product a different result than would have been shown by the ballots themselves. The handwriting expert examined the ballots of this precinct and found 77 ballots which bore cross marks made by different persons. It is unnecessary to go into the details of the evidence other than to say not only were the ballots changed, but a false canvass and false returns, based upon the changes, were certified by the election officials, and certificates signed certifying the returns made, after the tampering with the ballots, were correct.

It is claimed error was committed in admitting the ballots in evidence. The evidence shows the voting took place in more than three thousand Chicago precincts, and that there were 65 precincts in the 42nd ward; that the election commissioners keep a permanent record of the whereabouts of the ballot boxes brought in after elections are held under their supervision, and that this record is kept in the regular course of business. The entries are made under the supervision of the chief clerk of the election commissioners. When the ballots...