People v. Johnson, 82-1370

• Decision Date: 13 March 1984
• Docket Number: No. 82-1370,82-1370
• Citation: 461 N.E.2d 585,78 Ill.Dec. 1,122 Ill.App.3d 532
• Parties: , 78 Ill.Dec. 1 PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Issac JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 585

461 N.E.2d 585 122 Ill.App.3d 532, 78 Ill.Dec. 1 PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
Issac JOHNSON, Defendant-Appellant. No. 82-1370. Appellate Court of Illinois,
First District, Second Division. March 13, 1984.
Rehearing Denied April 10, 1984.

[122 Ill.App.3d 533]

Page 586

[78 Ill.Dec. 2] Steven Clark, Deputy State Appellate Defender and Gordon H. Berry, Asst. State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for defendant-appellant.

Richard M. Daley, State's Atty., Chicago (Michael E. Shabat and Kevin Sweeney, Asst. State's Attys., Chicago, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

PERLIN, Justice:

Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Cook County, Issac Johnson, defendant, was found guilty of unlawful restraint (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 38, par. 10-3) and murder (Ill.Rev.Stat.1981, ch. 38, par. 9-1). He was sentenced to an extended six-year term for unlawful restraint and an extended eighty-year term for murder, the sentences to run concurrently.

Defendant appeals, presenting the following issues for review: (1) whether the trial court erred in ordering defendant to remain present during jury selection; (2) whether the prosecutor's comments to the jury during closing argument were improper; and (3) whether a proper foundation was laid for the admission of tape recordings of conversations made between defendant and police.

For the reasons hereinafter set forth, we affirm.

On the first day of trial, prior to the selection of a jury, defense counsel advised the trial court that defendant wished not to be present at voir dire because he considered himself to be improperly attired. The State argued that the defendant could not waive his right to be present. The trial court upheld the position of the State and ordered defendant to remain while the jury selection process proceeded. On all five subsequent days of trial the defendant wore appropriate clothing.

At trial, Dr. Stein, Chief Medical Examiner of Cook County, testified that his autopsy of the deceased showed the cause of death to be asphyxiation due to manual strangulation.

Luis Ortiz, who resides in the front building at 3338 North Southport, in Chicago (the murder occurred in the rear building at 3338 North Southport), testified: on July 15, 1981, the day of the murder, the defendant knocked on Ortiz' door to inquire whether the Jackson family (defendant's "wife" ¹ and "children") resided there. He [122 Ill.App.3d 534] told defendant that the Jackson family did not live there. At a lineup held on July 18, 1981, Ortiz identified defendant as the man who came to his door.

Officer Prunicki, a dispatcher for the Communications Center of the Chicago Police Department, testified: on July 17, 1981, at approximately 6:28 p.m., he received a "911" call from a male caller who identified himself as Frank Coban and told him to send "a police over to 3338 North Southport" because "a girl had been murdered over there, they got her down in the basement."

Police officer Nelson, also a dispatcher for the Communications Center, testified: on July 17, 1981, at approximately 10:28

Page 587

[78 Ill.Dec. 3] p.m., he received a "911" call from an unidentified male caller who told him to "send a police car to 3338 North Southport. The back, rear. This girl named Juanita Jackson murdered a white girl there."

Officers Prunicki and Nelson took no action in response to these calls.

Sergeant O'Connor testified: on July 18, 1981, at approximately 7:45 a.m., while on duty at Area 6 Police Headquarters, he received a call from a male caller who identified himself as Willie Lee. The caller stated "he was wanting to inform the police department of a dead body at 3338 North Southport." Sergeant O'Connor and other officers proceeded to the rear building at 3338 North Southport where Juanita Jackson (defendant's "wife") and Renaldo Rounds resided. They were cooperative in permitting the officers to search the apartment. The police found the body of 15-year-old Christine Jordan in a large box in the basement.

Wesley Calhoun, a friend of the deceased, testified: on July 15, 1981, while visiting a friend at 3316 North Southport, several doors from the Jackson apartment, he saw defendant talking with Christine Jordan on the street. At the lineup held on July 18, 1981, he identified the defendant as the man he saw talking with Christine Jordan.

Juanita Jackson testified: she knew defendant for two--three years, at one time had lived with defendant and had a child as a result of that relationship. ² She notified the police that while cleaning her attic on July 27, 1981, 12 days after the murder, she found books and papers belonging to Christine Jordan. She listened to the "911" tape containing the calls received by officers Prunicki and Nelson and identified the voice of the male caller on the "911" tape as that of defendant.

[122 Ill.App.3d 535] Officer Patterson, a latent print examiner who examined the books and papers found in Juanita Jackson's attic, testified that one of the fingerprints taken off the books matched that of the defendant.

The State introduced...