People v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 02 April 1973
• Docket Number: No. 44983,44983
• Citation: People v. Jackson, 54 Ill.2d 143, 295 N.E.2d 462 (Ill. 1973)
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Eddie JACKSON, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 462

295 N.E.2d 462

54 Ill.2d 143

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Eddie JACKSON, Appellant.

No. 44983.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

April 2, 1973.

Bruce Stratton, Defender Project, Ottawa (John L. Barton, Ottawa, of counsel), for appellant.

William J. Scott, Atty. Gen., Chicago (James B. Zagel, and Thomas E. Holum, Asst. Attys. Gen., of counsel), for the People.

UNDERWOOD, Chief Justice:

Eddie Jackson was found guilty of armed robbery after a bench trial in Will County and was sentenced to five to ten years imprisonment. The Appellate Court for the Third District affirmed his conviction (People v. Jackson (1972), 3 Ill.App.3d 574, 277 N.E.2d 900, one justice dissenting), and we granted leave to appeal.

Defendant Jackson contends that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, complaining particularly of the procedures which resulted in his identification by the robbery victim.

On February 13, 1968, at approximately 11:00 P.M., Lloyd Downs was preparing to close the Wareco service station in Joliet, where he was a part-time employee. He had been working about twelve hours that day: eight hours at the Illinois State Penitentiary, where he was a guard, and since 7:00 P.M. at the service station. He was mopping the floor and saw three Negro men come through the door toward him. As Downs turned and asked if he could help them, the first man grabbed and pulled him forward, striking him across the jaw with a night stick. Downs fell backwards and the three man hauled him into a restroom, where he lay face down on the floor. One of the three placed a foot on Downs' neck and a voice told him to keep looking down or they would blow his head off. Downs had seen no firearms, but had noticed that the second man through the door was carrying an object that could have been a pipe or a gun. After removing his money changer, keys, wallet, and a roll of currency in his pocket, two of the robbers proceeded to empty the cash register, while the third remained in the restroom guarding Downs. The men left after three to five minutes and Downs immediately telephoned the police to report the robbery.

The next evening Downs went to the Joliet Police Department, where he was interviewed by Detective William Loscheider and was shown a number of mug books. Detective Loscheider testified that Downs described his assailant as a male Negro with a light complexion in his late teens or early twenties. He was approximately five feet ten inches in height, had a slim build, and his hair was long, greasy-looking and straightened, and was covered, for the most part, by a black bandana. The man used his left hand in striking Downs and the club he used was a black, military-type night stick with which Downs was familiar from his own Air Force service. Downs was shown between 1,200 and 1,500 photographs and made no identification of the robbers. Defendant's picture was among those he viewed, but that photograph was then approximately two and one-half years old and depicted defendant with short, kinky hair, rather than the long, straightened hair style he wore at the time of the events in question. During the interview, Downs described individual facial features of the first robber, as he and Detective Loscheider constructed a composite picture of the man.

About ten days later Detective Loscheider brought a black night stick, which he had obtained during a consent search of the defendant's apartment, to the service station and showed it to the complaining witness. Downs stated that it was similar to the one used during the robbery. Detective Loscheider then left and returned shortly thereafter with four black and white photographs of young Negro males: two mug shots of unnamed individuals and two snapshots which he had taken that night of defendant Jackson and Roy Milton Curry. Curry was described by a number of defense witnesses as bearing a strong resemblance to the defendant. These four photographs were exhibited to Downs, who stated that the photograph of the defendant 'looked like the man' who robbed him. Because Downs could not be positive from the black and white picture, Detective Loscheider left again and returned one-half hour later with a single color snapshot of the defendant. Upon viewing this photograph Downs informed Detective Loscheider that 'that was the man,' but that he would like to view him in person. During these photographic procedures the defendant was in police custody.

Five days later the police conducted a lineup for Downs at the Will County jail, consisting of five Negro subjects, among whom were defendant and Curry. Downs positively identified defendant Jackson as the man who struck and robbed him, and he repeated his identification at trial.

The defendant testified in his own behalf that he was at the home of his mother and step-father between the hours of 8:00 P.M. and 1:30 A.M. on the night in question, and this testimony was supported by that of his wife, mother and a friend of his step-father. Their testimony was substantially unimpeached under cross-examination. The State stipulated that his stepfather, who was then in the hospital, would also so testify.

Defendant argues that the photographic procedures used were so suggestive as to lead to an irreparable misidentification, and he cites People v. Holiday (1970), 47 Ill.2d 330, 265 N.E.2d 634, as support for this...