People v. Jones

• Decision Date: 29 February 1988
• Docket Number: 85-2063,Nos. 85-1765,s. 85-1765
• Parties: , 120 Ill.Dec. 563 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael JONES and James Nowden, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 593

524 N.E.2d 593

169 Ill.App.3d 883, 120 Ill.Dec. 563

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Michael JONES and James Nowden, Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 85-1765, 85-2063.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, First Division.

Feb. 29, 1988.

Rehearing Denied June 7, 1988.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing

June 13, 1988.

Richard M. Daley, State's Atty., Cook County, Chicago (Thomas V. Gainer, Jr., David J. Herring, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Randolph Stone, Cook County Public Defender, Chicago (Andrea Monsees, of counsel), for Michael Jones.

Michael J. Pelletier, Deputy Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago (Alan D. Goldberg, Karen Daniel, of counsel), for James Nowden.

Justice QUINLAN delivered the modified opinion of the court upon the denial of the petition for rehearing:

In this case, the State alleged that defendants Michael Jones and James Nowden were the perpetrators in an incident which resulted in the beating death of Linda Cain. Michael Jones and James Nowden were found guilty in a joint trial before a jury of murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape, and robbery. The defendants now appeal their convictions and sentences and also appeal the denial of their pre-trial motions to quash and suppress and to sever their trials.

Michael Jones was arrested in his home by Chicago police detective Thomas Sherry and four or five other Chicago police officers on April 13, 1984. Jones' arrest was based on information that Sherry had received regarding the identity of the defendants from Jerry Lloyd, Lawrence Walker, Barbara Henderson, Annie Lloyd, and Maurice Hughes. On April 11, 1984, Lawrence Walker had called detective Sherry and reported his observation of two men walking with a woman, who one of the men had in a headlock, at about 2 a.m. on March 31, 1984. Sherry then met with Walker on April 12, 1984 and Walker told him that he had seen this same man, who had the woman in a headlock, at a local liquor store earlier that evening. In the early morning hours of April 13, Sherry talked to the security guard at the liquor store, Maurice Hughes, concerning the identity of the man Walker had described. Hughes identified the man as "Big Mike," a regular customer who had told Hughes that the police were looking for him in connection with the beating of a woman found behind his building on Hamlin Street between Lake and Madison.

After receiving the information from Walker and Hughes, Sherry went to the apartment building at 260 Hamlin and spoke with Mrs. Lloyd and Barbara Henderson. Annie Lloyd told Sherry that "Big Mike" was staying with her son Jerry in an apartment at the 256 Hamlin Street entrance. Sherry and the other police officers then went to the apartment and Jerry Lloyd admitted them and identified the man sleeping on his couch as "Big Mike." Jones was awakened by the officers, given his rights, arrested, and taken to the station for questioning.

James Nowden was also arrested on April 13, 1984 by detective Thomas Sherry and other Chicago police officers. Walker had told police he observed two men walking with a woman, who was held in a headlock by one of the men, on the evening of March 30, 1984. Detective Sherry's conversation with Jerry Lloyd at the time of Jones' arrest led to the identification of Nowden as the second man involved in the abduction and assault of Linda Cain. Lloyd had told Sherry that on March 31, 1984 he overheard Big Mike, or Michael Jones, and James Nowden talking about having beaten and raped a woman and leaving her in the building stairwell. Lloyd also told detective Sherry that James Nowden lived with Lloyd's sister, Barbara Henderson, at 260 Hamlin. Sherry returned to the apartment where he had earlier spoken with Ms. Henderson to ask if Nowden was there. The door was answered by Mrs. Lloyd, who admitted Sherry to the apartment, and James Nowden, who was sleeping in a bedroom of that apartment, was arrested, advised of his Miranda rights, and also taken to the station for questioning. Jerry Lloyd, Lawrence Walker, Barbara Henderson, Annie Lloyd, and Maurice Hughes all later testified at the defendants' motions to quash their arrests and suppress their statements and at the trial.

After their arrests in the early morning hours of April 13, 1984, Michael Jones and James Nowden gave separate statements to the police. In his first statement, defendant Nowden told police that he had been with his girlfriend, Barbara Henderson, from 6 p.m. on March 30, 1984 until 7 a.m. on March 31, 1984. Barbara Henderson, who was also at the station that morning, told police that Nowden had left her apartment at about 12:30 a.m. on March 31 and that she did not see him again until 9 a.m. that morning at Jerry Lloyd's apartment. Nowden was granted permission to see Henderson for about five minutes and then Nowden was interviewed a second time by police.

The answers which Nowden gave in this second interview and also those which he gave later in a third interview were recorded by officer Antonacci in his progress notes. In the second interview, according to the non-verbatim progress notes, Nowden admitted being present but denied any participation in the rape and assault of Linda Cain, claiming instead that he had told Jones to stop beating the woman. The exculpatory content of these notes was admitted into trial through the testimony of officer Antonacci. The trial court, however, denied Nowden's motions to send an enlarged copy of the progress notes back to the jury room and to display the enlarged copy during closing arguments because of their unverified and unauthenticated hearsay nature.

Nowden's fourth version of the events of March 30, 1984 was recorded by assistant State's Attorney Epach. In this statement, which he read and signed and which was admitted at trial, Nowden told assistant State's Attorney Epach and Chicago police officer Rinchiuso that he had been with Henderson until 12:30 a.m. when he left to visit his father's house from 1 to 2 a.m. On his way back to Henderson's apartment at about 2 a.m., Nowden stated that he had met a friend, Michael Jones, who was with a woman at Lake and Avers streets. Nowden identified this woman as Linda Cain from a picture which police officers showed to him. Nowden told Epach that Jones had wanted to take the woman back to his apartment and that when she resisted Jones put his arm around her neck and dragged her into the alley. Nowden said Jones handed him the woman's coat to carry as the three walked to 254 Hamlin and that he went along because Jones had asked him to be his lookout while he raped the woman. Nowden told Epach and Rinchiuso that the woman attempted to back away and Jones punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground. Nowden stated that while Jones was raping the woman and hitting her with his fists, that he stayed just outside the stairwell as a lookout and went through the woman's coat pockets and purse before he dropped the coat on the ground and threw the purse into the next yard. Nowden stated that he then went upstairs, and while he was waiting for Lloyd to answer the door, he heard a noise that sounded like a body hitting a wall. Nowden returned to the basement area and saw that Jones was still punching the woman, who was now naked. Thereafter, Nowden stated that he and Jones then went upstairs together to Lloyd's apartment and had a conversation about what had happened. Further, James Nowden said that he had read this statement which assistant State's Attorney Epach had put into writing. Nowden signed his name at the end of the statement.

Detective Antonacci also questioned Michael Jones at the police station as to his whereabouts on the evening of March 30, 1984. Jones stated that he had left work at 11 p.m. and then went to a liquor store and three lounges until 4 a.m. when he went to Lloyd's apartment to sleep. Jones stated that he first knew that a woman had been beaten and left behind his building at about 9 a.m. when Barbara Henderson came to Lloyd's apartment and told them.

Lawrence Walker was brought to the police station to view a lineup which included Jones and Nowden. Walker picked out Jones but not Nowden; later explaining that he had recognized Nowden as one of the men but that he feared him too much to identify him at that time. Walker identified both men at trial. Jones was informed that he had been identified in the lineup and Jones then gave a second statement to detectives Antonacci and Rinchiuso, in which he admitted meeting a woman in the alley on his way to Lloyd's apartment on the morning of March 31, 1984. In this statement, Jones denied participation in the assault on Linda Cain and claimed that after he had passed her in the alley and had gone to Lloyd's apartment, that Nowden appeared at the door and told Jones he needed money to relocate because the woman he had just raped and burned had seen his face.

After hearing his second version of the events on March 31, 1984, the detectives told Jones that he had been seen holding the victim in a headlock and Jones then gave police a third statement in which he admitted being with Nowden when they decided to rob someone. He said that when they saw a woman carrying a long tan coat walk past them on Lake Street at Avers, they split up to run after her, and that Nowden approached her from one side and Jones from the other. Jones stated that Nowden announced it was a stickup and grabbed the woman's coat and went through the pockets. Jones said that the woman then walked up to him and put her arm around his waist and that he put his arm around her shoulder, and that the three of them then walked to 254 Hamlin with Nowden carrying her coat. Jones stated that the woman resisted when they reached the back of the building and Nowden punched the woman in the face and knocked her to the ground. Jones said that Nowden picked her up and began ripping off her clothes. Jones told...