People v. Rolon

• Decision Date: 30 April 1979
• Docket Number: No. 61873,61873
• Citation: People v. Rolon, 390 N.E.2d 107, 71 Ill.App.3d 746, 28 Ill.Dec. 125 (Ill. App. 1979)
• Parties: , 28 Ill.Dec. 125 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Richard ROLON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 107

390 N.E.2d 107

71 Ill.App.3d 746, 28 Ill.Dec. 125

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v.Richard ROLON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 61873.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, First Division.

April 30, 1979.

James J. Doherty, Public Defender, Cook County, Chicago (Joseph I. Cronin, Asst. Public Defender, Chicago, of counsel), for defendant-appellant.

Bernard Carey, State's Atty., Cook County, Chicago (Lee T. Hettinger, James S. Veldman and Paula M. Daleo, Asst. State's Attys., Chicago, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

O'CONNOR, Justice:

Defendant, Richard Rolon, was convicted by a jury of aggravated battery.He appeals, contending that he was denied a fair trial because the trial judge did not allow him to rely on certain photographs in cross-examining two of the State's witnesses and that he was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.We disagree and affirm.

The complainant, Michael Senkow, testified that during the evening of August 24, 1972, he and four or five friends went to the 1800 block of Thomas Street, in Chicago, where they met a person Senkow knew named George Calderon.Calderon shouted something, which caused Senkow to approach Calderon and ask him to repeat what he had just said.Calderon did repeat his statement, whereupon Senkow hit Calderon with his fist, knocking him down.Senkow and Calderon then began to wrestle with each other, until Calderon's mother came along and broke up the fight.

About thirty minutes later, at around 11 p. m., Senkow and his friends were close to the corner of Honore and Thomas Streets when they saw a group of approximately ten Puerto Ricans gathered nearby.Senkow and his friends turned and began walking west along the 1800 block of Thomas.When they were about halfway down the block, a shot was fired from the group of Puerto Ricans, who had been running down Thomas Street towards them.Because the man running in front had a gun, Senkow took cover behind a truck parked along the south side of Thomas, where a large street light extended overhead.

The man with the gun approached the truck on the street side and fired a second shot at Senkow, who was hiding near the rear.This second shot was fired while the gunman and Senkow were nearly opposite each other, about fifteen feet apart.Senkow was not hit by this second shot, and he crept from the rear of the truck to the front.He then raised himself up and a third shot was fired by the gunman, who again was standing opposite Senkow, about fifteen feet away.This third shot hit Senkow in the right chest and he fell between the curb and the truck.While Senkow was lying there, face down "playing dead," a fourth shot was fired, which hit him in the left forearm.After this Senkow heard the man with the gun run down the street shouting obscenities and firing more shots.

Senkow also testified that as he was lying on the ground wounded, another person came up to him, sad, "this is one of them," and began hitting him in the back with a board.Senkow further testified that he recognized the voice of the person who hit him with the board as that of George Calderon.

After the shooting, Senkow was taken to the hospital, where he was treated for gunshot wounds in his chest and left forearm.He remained in the hospital for approximately a week and a half.

Sylvia Lopez testified for the State that on the night of the shooting she lived in a five-room first floor apartment at 1838 West Thomas Street.At about 11 p. m., she was either in the kitchen or watching T.V. when she heard a shot.She immediately went to one of her apartment's two front windows, which overlooked Thomas Street.Her husband, Juan Lopez, went to the other window.From her window, she saw a man fire three more shots while running back and forth on Thomas Street.She pointed in court to the defendant, Richard Rolon, as the man she had seen fire the shots.She also stated that during the shooting she saw a gun in defendant's hand, and that it was similar to the gun which the State introduced as an exhibit.She further testified that after seeing Senkow fall to the ground wounded, she went outside on her front porch, where she witnessed George Calderon hitting Senkow with "a long stick."She lost sight of defendant at this time.She later went to the police station, where she viewed a lineup.She testified that she identified George Calderon and defendant, Richard Rolon, at this lineup.

Juan Lopez was also a witness for the State, and his testimony was similar to that of his wife, Sylvia.He stated that on the night in question he was watching television when he heard a shot.He went to one of his apartment's two front windows and saw a man running back and forth fire four more shots.Juan Lopez pointed in court to defendant, Richard Rolon, as the man he saw fire the shots.After witnessing defendant fire the shots, he saw defendant run to the corner, reload his gun, put the gun in his pocket and run away.Juan Lopez said he did not see Michael Senkow until after Senkow had been shot and had fallen down.Juan Lopez also testified that he identified defendant as the gunman in a police lineup he viewed after the shooting.

John Dugan, the police officer who arrested defendant, testified that after the shooting he went to defendant's apartment where he informed defendanthe was under arrest.At this time he also arrested defendant's brother, Jose Rolon, in connection with the shooting.While in the apartment, Dugan searched for the weapon used in the crime and found a revolver, which he identified in court as a State exhibit.He also testified that, after he discovered the gun, he asked defendant if the gun was his, and if he was involved in the shooting.Defendant, Dugan said, answered that the gun was his and that he did do the shooting.In addition, Dugan testified that after he took defendant to the police station, defendant seemed very concerned about his brother and said that he himself, not his brother, did the shooting and that his brother should be released.Dugan further stated that he had informed Officer Acosta of defendant's admissions, but Dugan also admitted that he never reduced defendant's admissions to writing.

Officer Jesse Acosta, of the Chicago Police Department, was called as a witness by defendant.Acosta testified that he interviewed Sylvia and Juan Lopez after the shooting for about ten minutes each, and that for three or four minutes of each interview he took notes on what they told him.Acosta said that in his interview with Sylvia Lopez, she informed him she had not seen a gun during the shooting.Acosta further stated that prior to testifying he had refreshed his recollection of his interview with her by reading the police report he had prepared.He wrote this police report primarily from the notes he had taken during his interview of the Lopezes.After he had prepared the report, he destroyed his notes.Acosta admitted the notes were not a formal statement by the Lopezes of what they had seen.The notes were simply a summary, not a verbatim account, of what they had told him.Acosta further stated that they did not have an opportunity to read over the notes, or to sign them, or to read or to amend and correct the police report, or to sign it.

Acosta also stated that he was at the lineup where Sylvia Lopez said she identified both defendant, Richard Rolon, and George Calderon.However, he testified that she had identified only one person in the lineup, George Calderon, and that he had noted this in his police report.Acosta further stated that a lineup supplemental report is a detailed account of what occurs at a particular lineup, and admitted that no such report was made concerning the lineup where Sylvia Lopez testified she identified defendant.Acosta testified that no one told him that defendant had admitted owning a gun or doing the shooting.

At trial, defendant wished to cross-examine Sylvia and Juan Lopez from photographs taken of the scene of the shooting.When defendant attempted to introduce these photographs into evidence, a hearing was held outside the presence of the jury concerning their admissibility.The trial judge held that the photographs should be excluded because they did not show the view which the Lopezes had of the shooting from their apartment windows, and therefore would give the jury an inaccurate impression of the Lopezes' ability to see what had happened.Defendant argues on appeal that in excluding the photographs the trial judge abused his discretion and denied defendant his right to confront witnesses.We disagree and hold that the trial court's decision to exclude the photographs was proper.

The admission of photographs and the scope of cross-examination of witnesses in a criminal case are largely within the discretion of the trial judge, and his decision will not be overturned unless there has been an abuse of discretion which has prejudiced a defendant.(People v. Dillard(1979), 68 Ill.App.3d 897, 25 Ill.Dec. 145, 386 N.E.2d 416;People v. Pickett(1975), 34 Ill.App.3d 590, 598-599, 340 N.E.2d 259, 265-266.)Furthermore, "a criminal defendant has a constitutional right to confront and examine witnesses * * *.(Citation.)However the right of confrontation is not absolute and may in appropriate cases bow to accommodate other legitimate interests in the criminal trial process."(Greenfield v. Robinson(W.D.Va., 1976), 413 F.Supp. 1113, 1119.)It has therefore been held that even though the confrontation clause creates a "presumption in favor of free cross-examination," it remains "within the sound discretion of the trial court" to place restrictions on its scope.(United States v. Onori(5th Cir., 1976), 535 F.2d 938, 945.)Consequently, when a defendant in a criminal case seeks to introduce evidence on cross-examination which would only confuse or mislead the jury, the trial judge in his discretion may exclude the evidence without...