People v. Mackey
| Decision Date | 22 January 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 37838,37838 |
| Citation | 195 N.E.2d 636,30 Ill.2d 190 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Defendant in Error, v. Chester MACKEY, Plaintiff in Error. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Charles T. Booher, Jr., Chicago, for plaintiff in error.
The defendant, Chester Mackey, was tried by a jury in the criminal court of Cook County, and on January 23, 1962, was found guilty of rape. He was sentenced by the court to 20 to 60 years in the penitentiary. Defendant prosecutes this writ of error to review his conviction.
The prosecuting witness, Lorraine Spencer, worked as a clerk in a cleaning establishment in Chicago on August 25, 1961. About 4:45 P.M. two men entered the store. She testified that the defendant drew a gun and forced her to the back of the store where he raped her. On September 28, 1961, she identified the defendant in a police line-up and again positively identified him at the trial.
Charles Williams testified that he was with Mackey when they entered the store to rob it, and corroborated Lorraine Spencer's testimony that the defendant took her to the back of the store, and further testified that defendant admitted the rape.
The defendant and one Evans testified that Williams had implicated the defendant bacause of police beatings and to obtain probation on a charge of robbery. The defendant denied the rape of Mrs. Spencer.
The defendant argues that he was not sufficiently identified as a participant in the robbery and rape; that the court erred in refusing to allow Mrs. Spencer's original description of defendant given to the police to be read into evidence; that the court erred in not permitting the jury to fix the punishment; and that the State's Attorney was guilty of inflammatory remarks in final argument.
We think there is no merit to the argument of inadequate identification. The prosecuting witness positively identified the defendant in a police line-up and at the trial. Her natural nervousness after the attack in no way vitiates her testimony. When coupled with the testimony of the accomplice Williams, the identification of the defendant was clear beyond a reasonable doubt.
The prosecuting witness had given the police a description of her attacker, which was apparently reduced to writing, shortly after the rape. During the cross-examination of the prosecuting witness a demand was made to produce the statement, but no use was made of it at that time. She was again cross-examined after her rebuttal testimony and stated that she described one of the robbers as being between 21 and 22 years of age, about five feet eight inches in height. She said she described the other as 24 to 25 years of age and about five feet one. After both sides had rested, counsel for defendant asked to read into the record the description given to the police. The request was refused, and we think properly so. The content of the statement is not disclosed by the record, and no attempt was made to identify it or introduce it into evidence during the trial. After both sides had rested,...
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...is improper to characterize a defendant as an "animal," even where that characterization is based on the evidence. (People v. Mackey (1964), 30 Ill.2d 190, 195 N.E.2d 636; People v. Elder (1962), 25 Ill.2d 612, 186 N.E.2d 27. Accord, Darden v. Wainwright (1986), 477 U.S. 187, 106 S.Ct. 2464......
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People v. Nicholls
...had the comments been unsaid. People v. Armstrong, Ill., 243 N.E.2d 825; People v. Kirk, 36 Ill.2d 292, 222 N.E.2d 498; People v. Mackey, 30 Ill.2d 190, 195 N.E.2d 636; People v. Naujokas, 25 Ill.2d 32, 182 N.E.2d 700; People v. Berry, 18 Ill.2d 453, 165 N.E.2d 257; and People v. Stephens, ......
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People v. Mackins, 57828
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