People v. Manley, 1-89-0499

• Decision Date: 13 December 1991
• Docket Number: No. 1-89-0499,1-89-0499
• Citation: People v. Manley, 584 N.E.2d 477, 222 Ill.App.3d 896, 165 Ill.Dec. 298 (Ill. App. 1991)
• Parties: , 165 Ill.Dec. 298 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Timothy MANLEY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 477

584 N.E.2d 477

222 Ill.App.3d 896, 165 Ill.Dec. 298

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.Timothy MANLEY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 1-89-0499.

Appellate Court of Illinois First District, Sixth Division.

Dec. 13, 1991.

Randolph N. Stone, Public Defender of Cook County, Chicago (Lester Finkle, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Jack O'Malley, State's Atty. of Cook County, Chicago (Renee Goldfarb, Carl L. Gaines, Pamela Paziotopoulous, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

Justice LaPORTAdelivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Timothy Manley, was charged by indictment with two counts of murder and with one count of armed violence.(Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, pars. 9-1(a)(1), 9-1(a)(2), 33A-2.)Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of one count of murder, and was sentenced to a term of 40 years.On appeal, defendant contends that (1)he was deprived of the right to due process by the the prosecutor's improper reference to defendant's post-arrest silence; (2)he was deprived of the right to a fair trial by improper comments made by the prosecutor during opening statements and closing argument; (3)the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that an attorney has the right to interview a witness; (4)he was not proven guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt; and (5)the statute under which he was convicted is violative of the Illinois and the United States constitutions.

The evidence presented to the jury established that on September 27, 1987, defendant and the victim, James Conwell, engaged in a physical altercation which ultimately resulted in Conwell's death caused by multiple stab wounds to various parts of his body.

At trial, Dennis Ware testified that he lived at 6110 South Eberhart in Chicago, Illinois.Ware stated that this was a three-flat building and that he and his wife, Ann, lived on the second floor.The apartment on the third floor was occupied by Ware's sister, Lottie Conwell, and her husband, James Conwell, the victim.Lottie and James Conwell had been married for 17 years in 1987 and both worked for the Wilfred Beauty Academy.In September 1987, Lottie Conwell was transferred by her employer from Chicago to Houston, Texas.Prior to the 27th of September, Lottie moved to Houston, and Conwell was to follow her shortly.

Ware testified that he was at home during the evening of September 26, 1987, and at 8 p.m., he saw Conwell who was on his way to church.Ware and his wife hosted a jewelry demonstration in their home that night, and they went to sleep sometime after their guests left at 12 midnight.At approximately 3:15 a.m. on the 27th, Ware was awakened by a loud rumbling noise coming from the apartment upstairs.The noise became increasingly louder, and Ware went upstairs to Conwell's apartment after he told his wife to call the police.As he stood outside the door to Conwell's apartment, Ware heard Conwell holler, "Dennis, Dennis, help me, help me."Ware knocked and told Conwell to open the door.Conwell continued to call out for help.Ware then heard another male voice say, "okay, motherfucker, okay motherfucker."Ware was unable to enter the apartment because the door was locked.After two to three minutes, Conwell stopped hollering, and Ware went downstairs to find a key to Conwell's apartment.

Ware and his stepson then went up the rear staircase to the back door of Conwell's apartment.Upon looking through the back door window into the apartment, Ware saw Conwell's legs draped across a stereo cabinet.Ware and his stepson were unable to enter the apartment through the back door because it was locked.They then went around to the front of the building and used a key to enter Conwell's apartment through the front door.Inside the apartment, Ware observed that the apartment was in disarray with furniture overturned and strewn about.Ware also saw Conwell's body lying across the stereo cabinet.Police officers and paramedics arrived shortly afterward, and Ware led them to Conwell's apartment.The following day, Ware observed bloodstains and a finger mark on a window pane in Conwell's apartment.

Ware testified that he had known Conwell for 17 years and had suspected that Conwell was either homosexual or bisexual.Ware stated further that he had not known Conwell to be a violent person.

Ann Ware's testimony corroborated that of her husband as to the events occurring on September 26th and 27th.

Chicago police officer Keith Calloway testified that at approximately 3:35 a.m. on September 27, 1987, he and his partner responded to a radio transmission reporting a domestic disturbance at 6110 South Eberhart.Upon entering the third-floor apartment at that address, Calloway observed a male body lying on its back over a stereo cabinet.Calloway secured the scene and called his supervisors.Shortly thereafter, the detectives and paramedics arrived.After checking for vital signs, the paramedics pronounced Conwell dead.

Calloway saw blood stains throughout the apartment.He also observed that there were no signs of forced entry and that nothing appeared to be stolen.Although Calloway searched the entire apartment, he was unable to locate the murder weapon.

Chicago police detective Dennis Dwyer testified that he arrived at the scene shortly after 4 a.m. on September 27, 1987.Upon examining Conwell's body, Dwyer noticed that both arms were outstretched and that there was a gas bill in Conwell's left hand and a telephone in his right hand.Dwyer observed that the apartment was in disarray and that there was a lot of blood in the dining room and in the television room.The south wall of the apartment contained three windows, one of which was open.Dwyer observed blood on the frame and sill of the open window.He also saw bloody footprints in the gangway below the window.The footprints led out of the gangway and then north along the sidewalk.

Officer Frank De Marco testified that he was a lab technician and that he went to the scene at about 4:10 a.m. on September 27, 1987.De Marco observed a body in the dining room, but he was unable to find a murder weapon.De Marco testified further that he observed a fingerprint in blood on a window frame in the dining room.De Marco photographed the apartment, including the window sill and frame, and focused upon the fingerprint impression left on the window frame.De Marco affixed an identification tag onto the window frame and took the frame to the crime lab.

Officer William Kovacs testified that he was a latent fingerprint examiner for the Chicago police department.Kovacs explained the basic elements and factors in fingerprint identification.Kovacs also described the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which is a computerized data base with 800,000 fingerprints stored in its memory.On October 13, 1987, Kovacs processed through AFIS an image of the fingerprint found at Conwell's apartment.AFIS identified a print of defendant, numbered 635212, as a potential or likely match to the print found at Conwell's apartment.After personally comparing the two prints, Kovacs found 23 points of similarity, found no unexplained dissimilarities, and concluded that both prints belonged to the same person.Kovacs stated that these points of similarity are conclusive as to the identification of a latent print and the defendant's print on the AFIS card matched the print found at the scene.

Detective Gerald Liberty testified that sometime after October 13, 1987, he retrieved through AFIS the defendant's name and the address of 4728 South Ingleside.When Liberty went to defendant's apartment, he discovered that the apartment had been abandoned.Liberty subsequently spoke with defendant's brother, Tony Manley, who indicated that defendant was in Mariana, Arkansas with their mother.

Liberty testified further that he procured a warrant for defendant's arrest for first degree murder, and on November 5, 1987, he and Detective Dwyer travelled to Mariana, Arkansas to arrest defendant.The officers picked defendant up from the jail house in Mariana and brought him back to Chicago.Defendant had casts on both of his legs and was in a wheelchair.

Liberty also stated that prior to the retrieval of Manley's name through AFIS, the police investigation focused on possible male lovers of Conwell because some witnesses initially suggested that Conwell was homosexual.

Dr. Tom Reinsel testified that on September 29, 1987, he was working at Cook county Hospital and treated a patient identified as "Tim P. Baffield," who had sustained fractures in his left leg and in his right heel and had been brought in from the University of Chicago hospital.The patient gave his address as 4728 South Ingleside and stated that his social security number was 336-51-5898.

Reinsel stated that the patient had surgery on his left leg and casts were put on both legs.Aside from the injuries to his legs, the patient suffered from no other injuries and had no other complaints.He had no cuts, lacerations, stab wounds, or bruises.The patient told the hospital staff that he sustained his injuries in a fall down a flight of stairs.Reinsel testified that the patient's injuries were not consistent with those to be expected from a fall down stairs.Reinsel testified that the patient's injuries were consistent with those to be expected from a fall from a third-floor window, landing feet first on a concrete sidewalk.The patient stayed in the hospital until October 7, 1987.

Paul Razor testified that he was a supervisor at Cermak Health Services and that he processed defendant when he was brought to the Cook County Jail on November 7, 1987.Defendant gave his address as 4728 South Ingleside and stated that his social security number was 336-51-5898.Razor specifically recalled processing the defendant because he had casts on both of his legs.

Robert Kuhlmann, supervisor of the Emergency Medical Technician Department...