People v. Kozicz
| Decision Date | 26 September 2014 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-13-2445,1-13-2445 |
| Citation | 2014 IL App (1st) 132445 -U |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. YOLANDA KOZICZ, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The Honorable James M. Obbish, Judge Presiding.
¶ 1 Held: Defendant forfeited her claim that the State failed to bring charges against her within the statute of limitations and the State proved that the relevant acts occurred within the statute of limitations. Defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence was without merit where the circumstantial evidence was sufficient to prove the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant was not denied a fair trial where the trial court's alleged improper comments did not indicate bias against defendant or that the court prejudged the case. The judgment of the circuit court of Cook County was affirmed.
¶ 2 Following a bench trial, defendant Yolanda Kozicz was found guilty of theft of an amount greater than $10,000 and was sentenced to a term of three years' imprisonment. On appeal, defendant contends that the State failed to prove her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and that she was denied a fair trial because the trial judge was biased against her. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
¶ 3 Defendant was arrested and charged in a two-count indictment with theft of an amount greater than $10,000 from St. Pascal School, a Catholic school in Chicago, Illinois. At all relevant times, defendant was in charge of St. Pascal's Tuition Reduction Incentive Program (TRIP) and during that time defendant allegedly obtained unauthorized control over checks and gift cards associated with the TRIP program. The case proceeded to bench trial, where the following evidence was presented.
¶ 4 Susan Simmons testified that she was a former board member at St. Pascal and that she ran the TRIP program from 1997 until approximately July or August of 2002. Simmons explained that through the TRIP program, St. Pascal purchased gift certificates from vendors at a discounted price and then sold them to families at full price. A portion of that profit would go to the purchasing family as a tuition rebate, and the rest would go to the school to apportion to families in need. Simmons testified that the TRIP program never lost money while she was the program's administrator. Simmons used a large envelope that had the gift certificates listed on it. Purchasers wrote the number and type of gift certificate they wanted to purchase on the outside of the envelope and then placed payment, either cash or a check, inside the envelope. Simmons picked up the envelopes from school and filled the orders. She then deposited the money in the TRIP checking account and made an entry into a computer program used to track purchases and maintain an inventory of which cards were in the school's possession and which certificates were purchased by which families. Simmons did not keep an inventory by certificate number. Simmons testified that she was assisted by others when she administered the TRIP program. For example, the school tried to offer the certificates to families who did not have children in the school and other school board members helped by selling to parishioners after Sunday mass.
¶ 5 Simmons further testified that as the administrator of the TRIP program, she was responsible for purchasing the gift certificates. She contacted the school's gift certificate supplier, a company named Scrip, to purchase certificates from various vendors. Theprogram paid for these certificates up front with money from the TRIP account. Families also paid for the certificates up front and received them immediately upon payment. While Simmons was the TRIP administrator, the program would issue profit checks to St. Pascal. During Simmons's tenure as administrator, the average value of the inventoried gift certificates was between $20,000 and $25,000 and the average value the TRIP checking account was between $20,000 and $25,000. Simmons also regularly gave profit reports to the school board indicating the value of the gift certificates on hand and the value of the TRIP bank account. She would also take questions from board members about the TRIP program's finances.
¶ 6 Simmons relied upon school board minutes and e-mails to testify to the values of the gift certificate inventory and the TRIP checking account. In May 2001, the gift certificate inventory was $25,339 and the checking account value was $21,230.21. In September 2001, the certificate value was $25,849 and the checking account value was $21,470.27. On January 29, 2002, the gift certificate inventory was $21,604 and the checking account value was $26,353.20. Simmons testified that when she left the TRIP program in July or August of 2002, the value of the gift certificates and the checking account were each between $20,000 and $25,000.
¶ 7 Simmons acknowledged that she had no independent recollection of the value of the gift certificates or checking account at any given time. She did not keep an inventory by certificate number and neither did the computer program. Simmons kept the TRIP account check book at her home and she was authorized to purchase the gift certificates from the suppliers. A second signature was not required to purchase certificates and she never had to obtain a second signature when writing checks on the TRIP account. For some suppliers, payment was taken automatically from the TRIP account via an automatic-debit system. Although she stopped running the program in June or July, Simmons' signature was still required on checks through at least November 4, 2002.
¶ 8 Denise Akana testified that she has been the principal at St. Pascal school since 2002. Akana also began attending school board meetings in August of 2002, when defendant became president of the school board and began running the TRIP program. At school board meetings, defendant did not provide detailed reports about the TRIP program but instead gave only "very general" information, such as the number of families using the program.
Defendant did not provide reports disclosing the specific amount of money in the program. At a 2004 school board meeting, Joanne Powrezek, the school board's bookkeeper, asked defendant why there were no financial reports about the TRIP program given to the board. Defendant responded that she would provide a report "at a later date" or at the next meeting. Defendant had a subsequent conversation with Akana in which defendant said that she no longer wanted Powrezek at the school board meetings because she "asked too many questions," or that Powrezek could attend the meetings but could not ask questions. In 2005, the inventory for the TRIP program was being held at defendant's home and Powrezek spoke to the pastor and business manager at the parish because she wanted the inventory to be held in the rectory or the school office. However, this change was not made. In 2007, defendant made a change to the TRIP program by requiring families to pay for gift certificates up front but then requiring them to wait for up to three weeks for the certificates. Previously, families received the certificates immediately upon payment.
¶ 9 Akana testified that she spoke to defendant about the TRIP program in 2007. Akana told defendant the school needed to make more money from the program, so the gift certificates needed to be held in the school office so that they could be purchased throughout the day. Defendant responded that she would keep the certificates herself until after the Christmas season because the holiday season was approaching and no one in the office besides defendant knew how to order the certificates or manage the inventory. Akana agreed to this although she did not like the arrangement. Defendant had not returned the gift certificates as of January 2008 so Akana told Scrip that defendant was no longer authorized to purchase gift certificates for the TRIP program. Akana also called the bank and had defendant removed from the checking account in January of 2008. Akana and the church pastor remained as signatories on the account. Defendant became upset by these developments and brought the TRIP box containing the gift certificates back to the school. The box contained only three certificates with a face value of $30 to $40. Defendant also returned a computer disk with a program used to keep track of the TRIP program, but Akana was unable read any information on that disc. Akana also explained that she could not determine the profit from the TRIP program between 2003 and 2008 because the school never received any profit reports and that in fact the program did not receive any profits during that time period.
¶ 10 On cross-examination, Akana testified that between 2001 and 2007, the school's enrollment dropped "greatly" by about 60 students and that this affected enrollment in the TRIP program. After families stopped getting their gift certificates immediately upon payment, Simmons received two or three complaints from families about having to wait for their certificates. Akana did not remember if she ever received a complaint that a check had been cashed and no gift certificate had been received. Akana also testified that from 2001 to 2008, she never saw defendant write a check to herself and take the money and she never saw a check that was made payable to defendant. Akana also never saw defendant take and use any of the gift certificates for herself.
¶ 11 Joanne Powrezek testified that she had been St. Pascal school's bookkeeper since March 1999. Powrezek began attending the monthly school board meetings...
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