People v. Ramey

• Citation: 178 Ill.Dec. 19,604 N.E.2d 275,152 Ill.2d 41
• Decision Date: 24 September 1992
• Docket Number: No. 69889,69889
• Parties: , 178 Ill.Dec. 19 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Irving RAMEY, Appellant.
• Court: Supreme Court of Illinois

Page 275

604 N.E.2d 275

152 Ill.2d 41, 178 Ill.Dec. 19

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Irving RAMEY, Appellant.

No. 69889.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Sept. 24, 1992.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 30, 1992.

Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, and Peter L. Rotskoff and John Anthony Palombi, Asst. Defenders, of the Office of the State App. Defender, of Springfield, for appellant.

Roland W. Burris, Atty. Gen., of Springfield, and Jack O'Malley, State's Atty. of Chicago (Terence M. Madsen, Asst. Atty. Gen., of Chicago, and Renee Goldfarb and Kathleen F. Howlett, Asst. State's Attys., of counsel), for the People.

Justice FREEMAN delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Irving Ramey, was charged, by indictment, with three counts of murder, one count of robbery and one count of armed violence in connection with the stabbing death of Albert Oliver which occurred on August 22, 1986. After a bench trial in the circuit court of Cook County, defendant was convicted of armed violence, which conviction the trial court later vacated, and one count of murder in that he stabbed Albert Oliver knowing that such stabbing created a strong probability of death or great bodily harm. Defendant was acquitted of the remaining charges. After defendant waived a jury for sentencing, the trial court sentenced him to death for the murder of Oliver. Defendant's death sentence has been stayed (134 Ill.2d R. 609(a)) and the case is now before us for direct review (Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 4(b); 134 Ill.2d R. 603).

BACKGROUND

The State's evidence revealed the following. In the early morning hours of August 22, 1986, Chicago police officers Slakis and Rimkus were informed that there was a male individual, later identified as Albert Oliver, bleeding on lower Wacker Drive. Upon arriving at the scene, the officers found Oliver's body lying in a concrete planter which was filled with soil. About 10 feet away from the planter there was a pool of blood through which there were drag marks that ended at the body laying in the planter. Oliver was lying on his back and his face was covered with dirt and blood. Oliver's mouth and nostrils were packed with dirt. Oliver had multiple stab wounds in his back. While Oliver had clean white socks on his feet, he had on no shoes.

After Officers Slakis and Rimkus had been at the scene a short time, Officer Slakis noticed defendant in the area and asked him whether he had seen anything. He also asked defendant his name, address and phone number. Defendant responded that all he had seen was the body "laying there" and gave the officer the requested information.

On August 24, Chicago police detectives Griffin and Flynn, who were investigating Oliver's death, went to the address defendant had given Officer Slakis. There, the detectives first encountered defendant's uncle, who told them defendant lived in the basement apartment. After defendant's uncle called him on the telephone and told him the detectives wanted to speak to him, defendant opened his door and the detectives entered his apartment. While defendant was dressing, the detectives noticed an "expensive-looking" and blood-stained pair of white athletic shoes next to defendant's bed. When asked if the shoes belonged to him, defendant stated that they belonged to Brendon Hutchinson, who lived in the second-floor apartment of the same building.

Upon being told that the detectives wanted to speak with Hutchinson, defendant called him on the telephone. The detectives then left defendant's apartment to meet Hutchinson and, upon doing so, asked Hutchinson if he had lent a pair of white athletic shoes to defendant. Hutchinson denied knowledge of any shoes. Immediately thereafter, defendant ran toward his basement apartment. Detective Griffin chased and caught defendant by the wrists at the door of his apartment. Defendant slammed the door on Detective Griffin's wrists and struggled to get through the door. Ultimately, the detectives subdued defendant, placed him under arrest and advised him of his Miranda rights.

After transporting defendant to the police station, the detectives showed the white athletic shoes to a friend of the victim. The victim's friend identified the shoes as belonging to Oliver. The detectives returned to the police station, where they again advised defendant of his Miranda rights. Defendant stated he understood. The officers questioned him concerning what he had seen on August 22 on lower Wacker Drive. Defendant responded that, upon leaving a nearby club at about 5 a.m., someone approached him and told him there was a dead body over by the Chicago river. Defendant walked over to the area indicated, found the body and took the shoes. Defendant also stated that he attempted to take some rings, but that he could not get them off of the fingers. When asked to explain the discrepancies between his present statement and a previous statement he had given Officers Slakis and Rimkus, wherein he stated that he had not touched the body, he admitted that he had lied when questioned at the scene and stated he was now going to tell the truth. The officers summoned an assistant State's Attorney who questioned defendant further.

Subsequently, pursuant to defendant's consent, the detectives searched his apartment. They recovered a black gym bag and a wallet containing some papers bearing Oliver's name. After being advised by him of his Miranda rights, defendant, when questioned by Assistant State's Attorney William Frost, gave the following oral account.

Shortly after leaving the nearby club on the morning in question, he struck up a conversation with and borrowed a cigarette from an individual whom he met on the street level of Wacker Drive. (While defendant never named this individual, there is no dispute that he was Albert Oliver. Therefore, we hereinafter use Oliver's name for the sake of clarity.) They then went down to lower Wacker Drive and were at a bench, talking, when defendant borrowed another cigarette from Oliver. At that time, Oliver jumped up, grabbed defendant by the throat and pulled a knife. The two began struggling, defendant got hold of the knife and stabbed Oliver several times in the back. Oliver went down, got up suddenly and again grabbed defendant around the throat. During the struggle, defendant and Oliver fell into a planter with defendant on top. As Oliver attempted to choke defendant, defendant grabbed dirt and gravel from inside the planter and shoved it into Oliver's face about the nose and mouth. When the struggle ended, defendant took some personal property from Oliver, including a bag, shoes, money, a wallet with miscellaneous identification cards, and the knife. Upon exiting the elevated train he took home, he discarded the identification cards and knife.

Frost further testified as follows. He never observed any cuts or abrasions on or injuries to defendant. After his oral statement, defendant refused to give a second statement.

Dr. Barry Lifshultz, a forensic pathologist with the Cook County medical examiner's office, performed an autopsy on the victim's body. The autopsy revealed that the victim died as the result of seven stab wounds to the back, four of which penetrated the body cavity. The victim also suffered five incised wounds to the face, four abrasions on the back of his right hand and an abrasion to his lower, middle back. The hand injuries could have been defensive in nature or, along with the back injury, the result of the victim's being dragged along a concrete surface. Additionally, there was no foreign matter, including soil or dust, in the victim's air passages. Dirt could only have entered the victim's airways or lungs if he had inhaled it while still alive. However, another possible explanation was that, although dirt might have been thrown in his face while he was alive, he did not inhale.

Finally, according to Christine Anderson, a Chicago police department serologist, the blood found on the victim's gym shoes was Type B human blood, the same as the blood sample taken from the victim.

Defendant's trial counsel cross-examined seven of the State's eight witnesses. After the State rested its case in chief, defendant rested without presenting any witnesses on his behalf.

In his closing argument, defendant's trial counsel asserted that defendant had killed the victim in self-defense. The trial court found defendant guilty of murder in that he stabbed Albert Oliver, without lawful justification, knowing that his acts were likely to result in death or great bodily harm. Thereafter, defendant was informed that the State would seek the death penalty. After defendant waived a jury for sentencing, the trial court, first, found him eligible for the death penalty and, then, after hearing evidence in aggravation and mitigation, imposed that penalty.

APPOINTMENT OF NEW COUNSEL TO ARGUE PRO SE MOTION ALLEGING

INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL

Defendant first argues that the trial court erred in failing to appoint new counsel to argue his pro se post-trial motion alleging ineffective assistance of counsel and that, based on People v. Krankel (1984), 102 Ill.2d 181, 80 Ill.Dec. 62, 464 N.E.2d 1045, this cause should be remanded for an evidentiary hearing. We disagree.

In so arguing in reliance upon Krankel, defendant ignores this court's holding in People v. Nitz (1991), 143 Ill.2d 82, 157 Ill.Dec. 431, 572 N.E.2d 895. In Nitz, this court held that Krankel requires a trial court to conduct a preliminary investigation into a defendant's pro se allegations of ineffective assistance of counsel. If the trial court finds the allegations to be spurious or pertaining only to trial tactics, new counsel to represent the defendant should not be appointed. Only if the defendant's allegations indicate that trial counsel neglected the defendant's case, should the court appoint new counsel to represent the defendant. Nitz, 143 Ill.2d at 134-35, 157 Ill.Dec. 431, 572 N.E.2d 895.

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