People v. Robinson

• Decision Date: 12 June 1974
• Docket Number: No. 56343,56343
• Citation: 314 N.E.2d 585,20 Ill.App.3d 777
• Parties: PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lonell ROBINSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 585

314 N.E.2d 585

20 Ill.App.3d 777

PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Lonell ROBINSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 56343.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, Fourth Division.

June 12, 1974.

Paul Bradley, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Margaret Maxwell, Chicago, for defendant-appellant.

Bernard Carey, State's Atty. of Cook County, for plaintiff-appellee; Patrick T. Driscoll, Jr., Jerald A. Kessler, Chicago, of counsel.

ADESKO, Presiding Justice.

The defendant, Lonell Robinson, was tried in a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County for the offenses of rape and two counts of armed robbery. He was found guilty of all charges and was sentenced to concurrent terms of not less than five nor more than ten years for each count of armed robbery and a consecutive sentence of not less than twenty years nor more than forty years for rape. Defendant appeals claiming that:

(1) He was denied his right to a fair trial by the State's use of certain hearsay evidence;

(2) The identification of defendant was the result of illegal detention and/or suggestive identification procedure;

(3) He was denied equal protection of the law due to his sex, since Illinois law provides that no male under 17 years of age may be prosecuted under the criminal laws, but fixes the age for females at 18;

(4) He was not proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; and

(5) The sentences imposed were excessive.

The facts are as follows:

At about 5:15 p.m. on the afternoon of November 26, 1970, Mr. and Mrs. Earl H. Regnier were in their room at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago. The couple was in Chicago with their daughter for a 4--H Club Congress. Mrs. Regnier was sitting in a chair next to the door, her husband was in the bathroom, and her daughter was in the room next to theirs. Mrs. Regnier testified that at this time a young man walked into the room with a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. The man told her that it was a 'stickup' and not to cause him any trouble. She described his voice as low and soft. The man walked to the bathroom and kicked in the door. After Mr. Regnier dressed, he and his wife were told to lie face down on the bed. The man then closed the curtains, bound the wrists and feet of the Regniers, gagged them, and removed Mr. Regnier's watch. The man ransacked the entire room.

When he had finished, the man rolled Mr. Regnier off the bed, turned Mrs. Regnier over on her back, got up on the bed and untied her legs. Mrs. Regnier kicked at him, so he put the knife to her throat, cutting her slightly, and told her to 'co-operate'. He then raped Mrs. Regnier, washed himself, went through Mr. Regnier's brief case, re-tied Mrs. Regnier's feet and left the room. Mrs. Regnier stated that the man had been in the room for between half and three quarters of an hour. The lights were on in the room.

Shortly after the incident, the police arrived to take Mrs. Regnier's statement. The description given of her attacker was that of a black man, about twenty years old, six feet tall, 150 to 160 pounds, with 'mod' dress and haircut. Mr. and Mrs. Regnier described the man to a police artist so that a sketch of the man could be prepared. They were given a number of photos to look through, from which Mrs. Regnier was able to make an identification. A lineup was held later and Mrs. Regnier identified Lonell Robinson as her attacker. (Robinson's picture had been in the group shown to Mrs. Regnier.) In making the identification, Mrs. Regnier said that she also recognized defendant's voice and the particular manner in which he moved his mouth when he spoke.

Mr. Regnier testified next, giving essentially the same testimony as his wife. He identified the defendant as the man who attacked his wife and ransacked their room at the hotel. He had viewed the photographs and had made an identification at a lineup, though not the same lineup viewed by his wife.

Officer Daniel O'Connor, Chicago Police Department, arrested defendant for a curfew violation at about 4:00 a.m. on the morning of November 29, 1970. Officer O'Connor, with his partner Officer Wojnar, had responded to a call that somebody was breaking into vending machines at the Wilson Avenue platform of the C.T.A. When they arrived, the ticket agent told them to go up the stairs to the train level. The officers went up and found two men on the platform, one of whom was the defendant. Though both men denied breaking the glass on the vending machine the officers took them to the police station for investigation. Defendant, who was 17 years old at the time, was charged with a curfew violation. Officer O'Connor contacted detectives at Area 1, Homicide regarding defendant since he noticed that he fit the physical and clothing description of a person sought in connection with a crime committed at the Conrad Hilton Hotel. He informed defendant that he had done so and advised him further that the detectives would hold him for a lineup. He did not recall if he had or had not informed defendant that he could post a $25.00 bond for the curfew charge, but stated that this was normally the duty of the desk sergeant or the lockup keeper. He asked defendant if his family would be concerned if he didn't contact them. Defendant said that they would not be worried.

The next witness for the State was Matthew Landers, a police officer working part-time as a security officer at the hotel. He described the condition in which he found the Regniers and their room at the hotel when he and the assistant manager entered. Mrs. Regnier gave him a description of her attacker, following which Officer Landers summoned the police to the scene. He was relieved by the Chief of Hotel Security shortly afterwards.

Otis M. Rathel, a police officer and police artist, testified that he had drawn a sketch of the man described by the Regniers and that they indicated that the sketch was similar to the man in question.

Dennis Wojnar, Officer O'Connor's partner the night of defendant's arrest, testified that when he asked defendant if he had cut his hair recently or always wore it the way it was at the time of the arrest, defendant said: 'No, I'm wearing my hair down now.' Officer Wojnar described how defendant produced a comb from his back pocket and combed his hair forward so it looked much higher than it had before. This incident was not put into the arrest report, but Officer Wojnar said that every detail is not normally put into this report.

The State next presented the testimony of Officer William Donnelly, assigned to Area 1 Homicide-Sex Unit during the time of the incident. Officer Donnelly had been in charge of staging the lineup for the Regniers. He described the procedure used and the participants. He stated that both Mr. and Mrs. Regnier, brought in separately, had identified the defendant Lonell Robinson at the lineup. The State closed its case with testimony as to various pieces of evidence found at the scene and the results of certain medical tests.

The defense presented the alibi testimony of various members of defendant's family to the effect that he had been at home on the day of the incident at the Conrad Hilton until 5:00 or 7:00 p.m. Defendant testified in his own behalf. On November 26, 1970, he was at home until 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. He claimed that at this time he left to meet Thomas Reeves at his home and from there, the two of them went to the Huffs' home at 8506 S. Carpenter, in Chicago. They arrived there at about 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. He denied saying anything to the officers about being able to alter his hair style with a comb. The defendant, his mother, and Thomas Reeves described defendant's dress on November 26, 1970, as blue jeans, an Army shirt without sleeves with a sweatshirt over that, and a pair of Army combat boots.

In rebuttal, Officer Donnelly stated that defendant had told him that he was at 85th and Carpenter almost the entire day of November 26, 1970. Officer Donnelly further stated that Mrs. Huff told him that she saw defendant at her home at about 5:00 p.m. on November 26, 1970. Officer Banahan testified regarding defendant's statement to him and Officer Donnelly above. The State last called Ingabor Gignac who stated that defendant was the man who entered her hotel room November 27, 1970, with a gun which she identified at trial.

In surrebuttal the defense called Mrs. Juanita Huff and Thomas Reeves. Mrs. Huff testified that she had not in fact seen the defendant until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. on the night of the incident. She admitted telling the police that she had seen him at about 5:00 p.m. The State objected to this testimony and after a conference outside the presence of the jury, the testimony of Mrs. Huff was stricken and the jury was instructed to disregard it. Thomas Reeves testified that defendant had arrived at his house that day at 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. and the two of them went to the Huffs a while later. He said he did not know where the defendant had been between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. that day.

Defendant first claims that he was denied a fair trial by the use of certain evidence by the State at trial. Defendant urges that the testimony of Officer Donnelly as to statements made to him by Thomas Reeves and Juanita Huff was hearsay and should have been excluded. It is also claimed that the testimony of Officer Odnnelly and Officer Banahan regarding the Regnier's actions at the lineup and testimony relating to the sketch drawn by the police artist were hearsay and inadmissible.

We note, however, that no objection was raised at trial to most of this testimony or the objection, if made, was not to the hearsay nature of the evidence but rather was directed at the scope of the questioning. The alleged error in admitting the testimony would therefore be waived on appeal. As Mr. Justice Goldberg stated in People v. Henderson, 2 Ill.App.3d 401, 276 N.E.2d 372:

'It is fundamental and basic that this court can review only errors committed at...