People v. Hattery

Decision Date19 May 1989
Docket NumberNo. 87-1252,87-1252
Citation183 Ill.App.3d 785,539 N.E.2d 368,132 Ill.Dec. 58
Parties, 132 Ill.Dec. 58 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Charles F. HATTERY, Defendant-Appellant.
CourtUnited States Appellate Court of Illinois

Sidney I. Schenkier, Richard P. Steinken, Chicago (Jenner & Block, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Cecil A. Partee, State's Atty., Cook County (Inge Fryklund, Paula Carstensen, Nancy Nolan Colleti, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice COCCIA delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant Charles Hattery appeals from his conviction for three counts of murder in a 1987 bench trial. He also asks this court to vacate the three consecutive life sentences imposed upon him by the trial judge after a jury, following a separate hearing, declined to impose the death penalty.

In January 1983, the defendant was indicted for murder and armed violence in connection with the killings of Trenette Anderson and her two small children, Albert Anderson, Jr., and Reshonda Anderson, in their Chicago home. A jury found him guilty on both charges and sentenced him to death. On appeal, the Illinois Supreme Court reversed his convictions and vacated the death sentence, finding that he had received inadequate assistance of counsel. The matter was remanded for a new trial. People v. Hattery (1985), 109 Ill.2d 449, 94 Ill.Dec. 514, 488 N.E.2d 513.

On remand, the case was initially assigned to circuit court Judge James M. Bailey, who had presided over the first trial. Defendant then filed a substitution of judge motion (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 38, par. 114-5(a)), which was denied. However, acting upon defendant's petition, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a supervisory order directing the trial court to grant the motion. The case was then assigned to circuit court Judge Robert V. Boharic. Acting presiding Judge James M. Bailey denied a subsequent motion by defendant for transfer of the case "by random computer assignment" to a judge other than Judge Boharic and those judges already substituted out of the case by defendant's 114-5(a) motion. He also denied defendant's request for an evidentiary hearing on the "computer assignment" motion. Petitioning the Illinois Supreme Court for a supervisory order relative to this motion, defendant argued that because it appeared that he had not been assigned a trial judge by computer, according to routine court practice, but had instead been assigned a judge by order of the court, he had been deprived of his constitutional rights of due process and equal protection of the laws. His petition was denied, and proceedings continued.

Prior to trial, defendant moved to suppress his written statements to police, contending that they not only were involuntary, but also were the product of a pretextual and illegal arrest. He further claimed that the statements had been obtained as a result of denying him an opportunity to consult with a family member.

Following a hearing, all of defendant's pretrial motions were denied. His written confession was admitted into evidence and the court found him guilty on the three murder counts. Judge Boharic then pronounced a sentence of natural life imprisonment for each of the murders, pursuant to two relevant provisions of section 8-1 of the Unified Code of Corrections, one relating to defendants found guilty of murdering more than one person (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 38, par. 1005-8-1(a)(1)(c)), and the other relating to murders accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty (Ill.Rev.Stat.1985, ch. 38, par. 1005-8-1(a)(1)(b)).

On appeal, defendant raises issues pertaining to both his convictions and the sentences imposed. He contends that his convictions for the murders should be reversed for the following reasons: (1) the assignment of Judge Boharic to the case, outside of the random computer assignment system, violated his rights to due process and equal protection and therefore, his motion to transfer the case to another judge by computer assignment was improperly denied; and (2) the trial court erred in refusing to suppress his statements to police because (a) the statements were inadmissible as the product of an illegal pretextual arrest, (b) there was no probable cause to arrest him for aggravated battery, the charge upon which he was taken into custody for questioning about the murders, and (c) the statements were the product of the coercive use of a polygraph examination and the denial of parental consultation. Defendant further maintains that, should this court uphold his convictions, his three consecutive life sentences must nonetheless be vacated. He argues that the sentences were improper for any of three reasons: (1) the killings, however tragic, were not characterized by the "exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty" required under the relevant statutory provision; (2) the statutory provision relating to sentencing for multiple murders does not require a natural life sentence; and (3) the trial judge exceeded his statutory authority in imposing the three life sentences to run consecutively, rather than concurrently.

As disclosed in the record, the facts surrounding the deaths of the three victims are not complex. In December 1982, Albert Anderson lived with his wife, Trenette, their twenty-two-month-old son, Albert, Jr., and their seven-month-old daughter, Reshonda, in a third-floor apartment at 919 West Sunnyside in Chicago. At about 1 a.m. on December 4, Albert left the apartment and walked to a nearby store to purchase a package of cigarettes for his wife. On his way home, he heard his name called by Rufus Mister, also known as "Smooth." Mister was standing with the defendant about one-half block away. As Anderson approached the two men, Mister began arguing with him about drugs, claiming that Anderson owed him money for some drugs that Mister had purchased for him and that it was Anderson's turn to reciprocate. Rather than continue the argument on the street, Anderson invited Mister and the defendant into his apartment. Once inside, Mister continued his demands, loudly insisting that he wanted some drugs, not just the money Anderson owed him. As soon as Anderson managed to calm Mister down, the two men decided to go out together to look for drugs. Before they left, Anderson overheard part of a conversation between Mister and the defendant. He recalled Mister telling the defendant that if he was not "back in five," he (Hattery) knew "what to do." Then Mister and Anderson set out, leaving Trenette, the two children, and the defendant alone in the apartment.

The men's initial effort to find drugs was unsuccessful, but Mister insisted that they continue the search. Eventually, Mister was able to make a purchase with some money supplied by Anderson. They returned to the apartment about 6 a.m., accompanied by Mister's girl friend, Kathy Robinson, and two other women. Having forgotten his keys, Anderson knocked repeatedly at the back door. There was no response. He also suspected that something was wrong because a light had been left on. Mister kicked the door in, and they entered the apartment. Passing through the kitchen into the living room, which was in disarray, Anderson noticed some blood on the floor next to the bedroom door. Trenette's body lay across the foot of the bed. She was clothed only in a pajama top, which had been pulled up over her breasts. Next to her on the bed was Albert, Jr. When Anderson picked up his son, he realized that he, too, was dead. Reshonda was in her crib in the same room. Anderson assumed that she was asleep until one of the women picked her up and said, "Oh, my God, not the baby, too." Turning to Mister, Anderson asked him if he had anything to do with it. He seized a small steak knife which was lying on the floor and started toward Mister with the knife. The women stood in his way and urged him to call the police. Anderson ran downstairs and tried unsuccessfully to find a telephone, first at the building's security office, which was locked, then at a nearby service station. Then he returned home.

John Salyers, a Chicago police sergeant, testified that upon arriving at Anderson's apartment building about 6:30 a.m., he was directed to the rear by a man, later identified as Rufus Mister, who was standing on the sidewalk with two patrol officers. The back door of the apartment appeared to have been forced open. Entering the residence with the other officers, he observed Albert Anderson standing in the bedroom, holding a knife in his hands and making stabbing motions toward his own chest. He ordered Anderson to drop the knife, then led him into the kitchen and handcuffed him. Returning to the bedroom, he discovered the bodies of a woman and two small children on the bed. The woman's body was partially nude, and he observed lacerations on both of her wrists, a small mark on her neck, and an injury to her breast area. There were also injuries to the children's necks. Traces of blood were visible on the living room floor. Salyers then ordered one of the officers to handcuff Rufus Mister, who had followed them into the apartment. After calling for a mobile crime lab to be brought to the scene, he arranged for Mister and Anderson to be transported to a police station for questioning.

Dr. Robert Stein, chief medical examiner of Cook County, testified that he performed autopsies on the three victims on December 6, 1982. His examination of Trenette revealed contusions and abrasions of the head and neck, a superficial incised wound on the left breast, and a number of other cuts to the right arm. Dr. Stein described some of the cuts to Trenette's arm as compatible with defense wounds, or wounds inflicted against a person who is trying to defend himself. His conclusion as to the cause of her death was manual strangulation. Autopsies of Albert, Jr. and Reshonda revealed...

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