People v. Muraida
| Decision Date | 10 February 2021 |
| Docket Number | NO. 4-18-0650,4-18-0650 |
| Citation | 2021 IL App (4th) 180650 -U |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ELOY MURAIDA JR., Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
NOTICE
This Order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and is not precedent except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Livingston County
Honorable Jennifer H. Bauknecht, Judge Presiding.
¶ 1 Held: The appellate court affirmed, holding (1) the State proved defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, (2) the trial court's Rule 431(b) admonishments were sufficient, (3) the prosecutor's closing argument did not constitute misconduct, and (4) the trial court's consideration of the emotional harm to the victim was not a double enhancement.
¶ 2 Defendant, Eloy Muraida Jr., was charged by information in December 2016 with one count of criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20(a)(3) (West 2016)), a Class 1 felony, and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (720 ILCS 5/11-1.60(c)(1)(i) (West 2016)), both Class 2 felonies. He was later charged in January 2018, by way of a supplemental information, with three additional counts alleging predatory criminal sexual assault of a child (720 ILCS 5/11-1.40(b)(1) (West 2016)), all Class X felonies with a sentencing range of 6 to 60 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (DOC). Defendant proceeded to trial in May 2018, but immediately before the trial began, the State moved to dismiss counts I-III and elected to proceed only on counts IV-VI, the predatory criminal sexual assault counts. Defendant was found guilty of all three counts and sentenced to three 40-year terms of incarceration to be served consecutively, along with a mandatory supervised release period of 3 years to life on each count. In August 2018, defendant filed a timely "Motion for New Trial and Other Post-Trial Relief" along with a "Motion for Reconsideration of Sentence." Both were heard in September 2018 and denied. Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.
¶ 4 Defendant was charged with criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony (count I) and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, Class 2 felonies, (counts II and III) in December 2016. The offenses were alleged to have occurred in 2011 and 2013-2014. The victim was A.A., his stepdaughter. Count I alleged defendant was a family member and the victim was under 18 at the time "defendant placed his fingers in the vagina of A.A." Counts II and III alleged defendant was at least 17 years of age and the victim was under 13 years of age when defendant "knowingly placed his hands inside the pants of A.A. and touched the vagina of A.A." and "knowingly placed mouth [sic] on the vagina of A.A." In January 2018, the State filed a supplemental information charging defendant with three additional counts of predatory criminal sexual assault, all Class X felonies (counts IV-VI) alleging sexual penetration of defendant's penis in the vagina (count IV), anus (count V), and mouth (count VI) of A.A. These offenses were alleged to have occurred from 2010 to July 2014, when the victim was under 13 years of age. Defendant went to trial in May 2018, at which time the State dismissed counts I-III, proceeding, without objection, only on the three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault.
¶ 5 Prior to the beginning of a two-day trial in May 2018, the trial court discussed the penalties applicable to the three Class X felony counts with defendant as well as any previousplea negotiations with the State. Defendant and counsel acknowledged the State's offer of 20 years to be served at 85% was rejected.
¶ 7 During questioning of the first 18 prospective jurors, the trial court said the following:
The court repeated these admonishments verbatim to the next panel of 16 prospective jurors and received the same responses. Neither the State nor defendant objected to the court's method of questioning and no claim of error was raised in defendant's posttrial motions.
¶ 9 A.A., the victim in this case, was 16 at the time she testified as the State's only witness. She said she had been sexually assaulted by defendant, who was her mother's boyfriend at the time, beginning when she was about 10 years old and in fifth grade. She described how the first sexual encounters took place in her room at the address in Pontiac where she, her mother, and her sister moved when they began living with defendant. She said she shared bunk beds with her sister and defendant would come into the room at night, kneeling next to her bed, and he "slid his hand down my pants and just placed it on my vagina." A.A. testified after the first incident, sometime in November or December of her fifth-grade year, this happened again a "few months" later. A.A. also testified that approaching the end of her fifth-grade year, the nature of defendant's touching changed, and he began touching her vagina in what she described as a "hard" circular, rubbing motion.
¶ 10 She testified that sometime around the start of sixth grade, when she was 11, on one occasion, defendant licked her vagina, and it was not until "a year or two" later that he began touching her with his penis. By this time, she said, they were living at the address they moved to when she was in sixth or seventh grade.
¶ 11 When asked how old she was when defendant "first started using his penis" on her, A.A. testified she was 12 years old. She described the first occasion being when he asked her to "cuddle" with him while he had his penis exposed. She said acts of anal penetration preceded those of vaginal penetration and occurred at both houses. She also testified defendant engaged in repeated acts of vaginal intercourse as well as more frequently forcing her to perform oral sex on him, telling her that if she told her mother, "he would tell her that I was a whore, and no one would believe me." A.A. testified the incidents of forced oral sex occurred both in the bathroom and bedroom. A.A. said defendant engaged in acts of anal penetration as well, beginning when they still lived at the first house. However, A.A. said the acts of vaginal or anal penetration did not occur with the same frequency as acts of oral sex or digital manipulation.
¶ 12 A.A. acknowledged she never told her mother what defendant was doing to her because, "I never thought I could because I was scared."
¶ 13 On cross-examination, A.A. repeated she and her family began living with defendant when she was in fifth grade. She indicated they moved to the second house "a few years after" and when asked to clarify, A.A. said she moved to the second house when she was "11. 12 or 13." and moved again to some apartments when she was "14 and 15." She acknowledged having given statements to various people over the course of the investigation leading to these charges and agreed she gave her first statement in October 2016. A.A. also acknowledged some of the incidents where defendant put his hand down her pants and touchedher vagina, beginning when she was in fifth grade, were when her mother or sister were in close proximity or the same room. Despite their presence, she acknowledged she did not cry out. She also admitted never telling any person at her school until she told a school counselor in "2015. '16."
¶ 14 A.A. agreed she was "12 or 13" and in sixth grade when the family moved to the second house and defendant began putting his penis in her mouth. When asked to estimate the number of times this happened in the bathroom, she said "more than ten." A.A. also acknowledged the first time defendant did this was also the first time he threatened her about telling—telling her she was a whore and no one would believe that she did not want to do it. When asked about the incidents of vaginal intercourse, A.A. said she was "12 or 13", and that it hurt but she did not cry out, even though her sister was in the same room some of the time. A.A. affirmed she first told police about the incidents of "oral and vaginal and anal intercourse" sometime after two previous statements and after she had spoken with Michael L. in October or November 2017. Michael L. was the man with whom her mother began a relationship after splitting with defendant. She also acknowledged giving the more detailed statements to the police after Michael L. made comments about how she might have to go to "Streamwood," a mental hospital.
¶ 15 A.A. also agreed there were times she and defendant went on motorcycle rides...
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