People v. Hobbs

• Decision Date: 17 May 1948
• Docket Number: No. 30471.,30471.
• Citation: 79 N.E.2d 202,400 Ill. 143
• Parties: PEOPLE v. HOBBS et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

400 Ill. 143

79 N.E.2d 202

PEOPLE

v.HOBBS et al.

No. 30471.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

March 18, 1948.

Rehearing Denied May 17, 1948.

Error to Criminal Court, Cook County; Daniel A. Roberts, judge.

Oscar Hobbs and Mark Dungee pleaded guilty, and Alcover Brown was convicted, of robbery while armed, and defendant Brown brings error.

Affirmed.

Euclid Louis Taylor, of Chicago (William Scott Stewart, of Chicago, of counsel), for plaintiff in error.

George F. Barrett, Atty. Gen., and William J. Tuohy, State's Atty., of Chicago (John T. Gallagher, Melvin S. Rembe and W. S. Miroslawski, all of Chicago, of counsel), for the People.

SIMPSON, Justice.

On February 21, 1947, plaintiff in error, Alcover Brown, having waived trial by jury, was found guilty by the Criminal Court of Cook County of robbery while armed and was sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than two years nor more than five years. He was indicted for the offense jointly with Oscar Hobbs and Mark Dungee. Brown stood trial after his codefendants pleaded guilty. He has sued out a writ of error in this court to reverse the judgment against him.

After Hobbs and Dungee entered pleas of guilty, they moved to set those pleas aside. Their motions were denied but the court reserved sentence until after all the evidence was in. The same counsel who represented Brown also represented Hobbs and Dungee.

The People contend that Brown was proved to be an accessory before the fact, while he argues that the evidence fails to connect him in any way with the robbery. He admits that he drove Hobbs and Dungee to within one block of the Palmer House in Chicago where the robbery was committed but claims he had no knowledge whatever that a robbery was intended. It will be necessary to consider the facts in detail in arriving at our decision. Many of the facts are uncontradicted.

Brown was 27 years of age, married, and employed as post-office clerk. Early on the evening of the robbery Dungee was at the home of Brown when the latter arrived from work. While taking a bath Brown heard Dungee talking to someone on the phone. After eating the evening meal Brown drove Dungee to a friend's house on Thirty-third Street in Chicago where Dungee went upstairs while Brown sat in the car. In about fifteen minutes Dungee returned to the car and requested Brown to pick him up at his house at 11 o'clock to drive him downtown. Brown then went to his cousin's and stayed for a while and then went and picked Dungee up at about 11:30 P.M. and again took him to Thirty-third Street where the horn was blown and Oscar Hobbs came down and got in the car. Hobbs directed Brown to drive to the Palmer House where he had worked saying that he was going to get some money. Near the Palmer House Hobbs and Dungee left the car, telling Brown to drive around the block and then pick them up. On the first trip around they had not come out of the hotel and Brown circled the block again. On the second round he met them and they got into the car and one said, ‘Go on, man. Pull out of here.’ Brown waited for a red street light to change and then went straight to Michigan Avenue. After getting into the car Dungee said to Hobbs, ‘Did you get the money, man?’ Hobbs replied, ‘I got some of it, but I could not get all of it.’ They left Michigan Avenue and went to the outer drive. Dungee said to Brown, ‘Now, you don't have to worry. I will let you have the money to pay for your car.’ They drove south to Thirty-first Street and then west on Forty-third Street to a tavern where they ordered a drink and Hobbs and Dungee went into the men's bathroom. After coming out they all had a drink and then the three went to the bathroom where Dungee gave Brown about $260 of $270 and said, ‘This will take care of the car now.’ Brown took the money and said, ‘O.K. man.’ They then got in the car and drove to the Forty-second Street block on South Park where Hobbs got out. They then came back on South Park to Forty-sixth where Dungee got out and Brown went home. The above facts appear from a statement signed by Alcover Brown at the police station at 11:50 A.M., December 20, 1946.

By stipulation it appears that the robbery occurred at about 12:45 A.M., December 19, 1946; that $898.49 was taken from the care and custody of the cashier in the main cafe in the Palmer House and was the property of the Hilton Hotels Corporation, a corporation; that at the time of the robbery the doors were locked and four customers were still in the place; that Hobbs and Dungee entered the cafe from the basement stairway, covered the customers and directed them all into the washroom; that the bartender saw Dungee with a gun in his hand and saw Hobbs near the cashier's cage and saw him pick up the bundle of bills.

On the same day Brown gave his statement Hobbs also made a statement at 1 P.M. in the police station. Brown was present and heard what Hobbs said. He remained silent during the entire statement. Brown was then asked if everything Hobbs stated was true. He answered, ‘No, I did not know anything about the robbery in the beginning. I was doing Mark (Dungee) a favor.’ Brown was then asked, ‘After you (Alcover Brown) read this statement and find it the truth with the corrections made, will you sign it?’ He answered, ‘Yes,’ and then signed the statement. In this statement Hobbs said that when Dungee called for him at about 12 o'clock he got in the automobile and Cove (indicating Alcover Brown) and Dungee were both in the auto; that he told Cove to go north to the loop; that while they were driving they were planning the robbery and Cove said, ‘There was not going to be any gun play,’ and that was agreed. Hobbs and Dungee got out of the car before the robbery, went into the hotel where the cashier and four customers were, herded them into the washroom and took the money from the cashier's drawer, went out and waited a second or two when Brown drove up in the auto and they got in. While they were driving away it was said they would find someplace to divide the money and they drove to a tavern on Forty-third Street and all went to the washroom and divided the money, Hobbs receiving about $284 for his share. Two guns were used in the robbery, a blue steel automatic and a Luger-type pistol. The automatic was handed to Hobbs in the back seat by Dungee while they were driving downtown. The statement shows Hobbs was asked, ‘Did you talk to Alcover Brown about this robbery before you got to the Palmer House?’ His answer was ‘Yes.’ He then said, ‘We talked about how we were going about the robbery, and this man here (indicating Mark Dungee) gave me the automatic and he said he would use the other pistol.’ Both guns were in the automobile when Hobbs got in.

The Luger pistol was found in Brown's dresser drawer the day following the robbery. Dungee states he put it there after the robbery without Brown's knowledge and that it belonged to him. He was a friend of the Browns and had been for more than a year. He frequently visited in their home and the day after the robbery spent more than an hour with Mrs. Brown in their home in Brown's absence. During that period he was in all rooms of the house and it was during that time he claims to have slipped the gun in Brown's drawer.

Brown, Hobbs and Dungee all testified at the hearing and each stated that there had been no conversation of any kind with Brown with respect to a robbery. Hobbs testified that when he first got in the car before the robbery Dungee told Brown that he was to take Hobbs to the Palmer House to meet some girls; some girls they were to meet after 11:30. Hobbs also said that he had no gun in his hand while in the car before the robbery. He also testified that he and Dungee divided the money in the washroom. He denied giving Brown any money at all, the proceeds of the robbery, and stated that none was given Brown in his presence. While Hobbs' testimony contradicted in some particulars his written statement, he nevertheless testified that he gave the police...