People v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 27 September 1963
• Docket Number: No. 37129,37129
• Citation: 192 N.E.2d 873,28 Ill.2d 566
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Defendant in Error, v. Robert JACKSON, Plaintiff in Error.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 873

192 N.E.2d 873

28 Ill.2d 566

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Defendant in Error, v. Robert JACKSON, Plaintiff in Error.

No. 37129.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 27, 1963.

Harvey Melinger, Chicago, for plaintiff in error.

William G. Clark, Atty. Gen., Springfield, and Daniel P. Ward, State's Atty., Chicago (Fred G. Leach and E. Michael O'Brien, Asst. Attys. Gen. and Edward J. Hladis and Ronald Butler, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for defendant in error.

KLINGBIEL, Chief Justice.

Robert Jackson referred to herein as the defendant, together with one A. C. Harvey and one Johnnie Sinclair, were tried in the criminal court of Cook County by the court without a jury and convicted of the crime of rape. The defendant was sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of 40 years and a writ of error has been issued to review his conviction.

The principal argument is that the evidence was insufficient to establish the defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The victim of the assault, Hazel Morrison, testified that on August 11, 1957, at about 2:30 A.M., she and Albert Strong and Amos Flagg were walking through Jackson Park toward the lake to go fishing. There were lights along the street and also some light from boats in the harbor. As they approached a bench which was about 18 to 25 feet from the street, they saw 3 men sitting on a bench and another man standing nearby. One of the men, identified by Mrs. Morrison as Harvey, stepped in front of them with a gun in his hand and slapped Strong. Flagg struck Harvey with a flashlight and ran away but was caught by Sinclair. Sinclair then told Flagg and Strong to sit on the bench and he and the defendant and Harvey led Mrs. Morrison away. A short distance from the bench the men forced Mrs. Morrison to lie down and Sinclair forced her to submit to an act of intercourse, during which Harvey and the defendant urged Sinclair to hurry up. After the first act of intercourse was completed the defendant had intercourse with Mrs. Morrison and after he had finished, Harvey had intercourse with her. They then told Mrs. Morrison that she could go and she went to the police and reported the crime. On August 13, Mrs. Morrison went to the police station where she identified the defendant out of a line-up of 7 or 8 other men. Strong and Flagg were with her at that time and also identified the defendant. The next morning Mrs. Morrison went to the State's Attorney's office and at that time the defendant denied any knowledge of the crime and said that he had never seen Mrs. Morrison before. On August 14, Mrs. Morrison went to another police line-up and at that time she identified the defendant, Sinclair and Harvey. Strong and Flagg were then brought into the room and they likewise identified the 3 men. On August 15, Mrs. Morrison, Strong and Flagg went to the State's Attorney's office. Mrs. Morrison testified on cross-examination that she had told the police that the defendant had peculiar ears and when she was asked by defense counsel to look at the defendant and tell counsel what was so peculiar about the defendant's ears, she replied that they just looked peculiar to her. It was also brought out on cross-examination that at the second line-up, Flagg told Mrs. Morrison that he didn't believe Jackson was one of the men because Jackson stuttered and none of the men involved in the assault had stuttered. Mrs. Morrison testified that the defendant did stutter at the time he was questioned in the State's Attorney's office but she said that the defendant didn't talk much at the time of the attack so that she didn't know how well he talked then. In further cross- examination she testified that the defendant denied being in Jackson Park. Defense counsel asked Mrs. Morrison what Jackson had meant when he told the State's Attorney that he was there. An objection to this question was sustained but the court permitted Mrs. Morrison to give further details about the conversation. She testified that the State's Attorney asked the defendant where he was at the time in question and that the defendant had told the State's Attorney that he had first gone to see his girl friend and then went to see another lady that his mother knew and that he stayed there all night. Counsel then asked Mrs. Morrison if it was not true that when the defendant said he was there, he was not referring to Jackson Park and Mrs. Morrison replied that she couldn't say as to that.

Strong identified the defendant, Sinclair and Harvey as the parties involved in the assault. He testified that he saw the defendant and the other men on the ground with Mrs. Morrison and heard them laughing and talking. Strong also testified as to the police line-ups where he had identified the defendant and Harvey and Sinclair. He testified that the defendant had admitted being present in the park but had stated that he took no part in the rape. On cross-examination he testified that he noticed nothing unusual about the speech of any of the men in the park, but did notice that the defendant stuttered at the time he was questioned by the State's Attorney. He testified that he thought the defendant was able to talk and wes 'putting on' his stuttering.

Flagg also identified the defendant, Harvey and Sinclair as the parties involved in the assault and also testified that he had identified them in the line-ups. He was asked on cross-examination whether he had heard the defendant talking in the park and he testified that he heard Harvey and Sinclair talking but didn't hear the defendant speak. He also testified on cross-examination that he had told the State's Attorney that the defendant did not rob him but that he was with the other men in the park.

Officer Thomas O'Shea testified that Mrs. Morrison, Flagg and Strong had all identified the defendant at the line-ups. He testified on cross-examination that the defendant had always denied any knowledge of the occurrence and that he never heard the defendant admit that he was in the park.

For the defense, the defendant testified that he was arrested on August 12 and questioned about another offense. He was then taken to the line-up where he was identified by Mrs. Morrison, Flagg and Strong. When he was brought before the State's Attorney he discovered for the first time that he was being held for the rape of Mrs. Morrison. He denied any knowledge of the occurrence and told the State's Attorney that he had been with a friend of his mother's until about 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning on the morning in question. After he left the State's Attorney's office he was returned to the central police quarters where he stayed for about 2 hours and was then taken to another jail in a police wagon. Defendant testified that Harvey and Sinclair were in the wagon with him. Prior to that time he had never seen Sinclair before and did not know Harvey's name. He told Harvey and Sinclair that he was accused of rape and robbery and that he knew nothing about the crime. Harvey asked the defendant what Mrs. Morrison looked like and after the defendant had described her, Harvey said he knew who had committed the crime. Following this conversation the defendant, Harvey and Sinclair, were identified in the second line-up. After this line-up the defendant asked Harvey who had committed the crime and Harvey told him that it was 3 boys named Rochelle, Roy and Obie. He asked Harvey whether he was going to tell the police who had committed...