People v. Runge

• Decision Date: 21 May 2009
• Docket Number: No. 103529.,103529.
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Paul RUNGE, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

917 N.E.2d 940

234 Ill.2d 68

334 Ill.Dec. 865

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Paul RUNGE, Appellant.

No. 103529.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

May 21, 2009.

Modified on Denial of Rehearing September 28, 2009.

Michael J. Pelletier, State Appellate Defender, Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, and Steven Clark, Assistant Appellate Defender, of Office of the State Appellate Defender, Chicago, for appellant.

Lisa Madigan, Attorney General, Springfield, Richard A. Devine, State's Attorney, Chicago (James E. Fitzgerald, Alan J. Spellberg and Jon J. Walters, Assistant State's Attorneys, of counsel), for the People.

OPINION

Justice KARMEIER delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

Defendant, Paul Runge, was indicted in the circuit court of Cook County for the first degree murders of Yolanda Gutierrez and Jessica Muniz. See 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a) (West 1996). The State filed notice of intent to seek the death penalty. A jury subsequently convicted defendant of both murders. Thereafter, the jury found defendant eligible for the death penalty on eight statutory grounds. After considering evidence in aggravation and mitigation, the jury concluded that death was the appropriate sentence. See 720 ILCS 5/9-1(g) (West 1996). The circuit court sentenced defendant to death. Because defendant was sentenced to death, his appeal was brought directly to this court. Ill. Const. 1970, art. VI, § 4(b); 134 Ill.2d R. 603.

On appeal, defendant contends that (1) a biased juror served on his jury, denying him an impartial jury, and the trial court's failure to question other jurors about that juror's activities denied defendant due process; (2) the trial court erred in excluding, as irrelevant, the sexually violent person petition filed against the defendant, as the petition constituted a party admission, and was the basis for a defense argument of judicial estoppel; (3) denying depositions of the prosecution's experts, while allowing depositions of the defense experts, was an unbalanced, unauthorized, and excessive sanction, when defendant, on the advice of counsel from another county, invoked his right to remain silent when examined by the prosecution's expert on the murder charges in this case; (4) the prosecution's closing argument inaccurately denigrated the testimony of two defense experts, based upon misstatements of testimony; (5) the prosecutor improperly asked irrelevant questions concerning victim impact evidence pertinent only to other crimes; (6) the prosecutor's closing sentencing argument improperly relied on irrelevant, extraneous assertions and specious reasoning to defeat mitigation based on the death of defendant's mother; (7) "death is cruel and unusual punishment for crimes committed under the influence of a neuropsychological disorder that may have biological causes, that distorts reality, diminishes impulse control and memory, and for which state legislatures provide for civil commitment and medical treatment"; and (8) the Illinois death penalty statute violates due process under Apprendi v. New Jersey because the State is not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that, after weighing the factors in aggravation and mitigation, death is the appropriate sentence.

We begin our discussion with a summary of the principal evidence adduced at trial. Facts pertaining to procedural issues will be provided separately in the context of our analyses of those issues.

BACKGROUND

On the morning of February 3, 1997, a neighbor discovered flames coming from the Chicago apartment occupied by Yolanda Gutierrez and her 10-year-old daughter, Jessica Muniz. When firefighters arrived, they found the bodies of Yolanda and Jessica on a burned bed. John Escamilla, a cause and origin investigator with the Chicago fire department, noted pour patterns, indicating the use of an accelerant on the rug around the bed. He also observed what appeared to be a restraint on Jessica's wrist. In his opinion, the fire resulted from the deliberate act of pouring a liquid accelerant onto the bed and the victims and igniting the accelerant.

Dr. Scott Denton performed autopsies on Yolanda's and Jessica's bodies. Yolanda's body was clad in burned and fragmented clothing, and she had a gaping sharp-force wound to the neck that cut her carotid artery and jugular vein. The wound went deep through the front muscles of the neck, through the large side muscle of the neck, and involved the back of the throat. About half her body had extensive burning and charring. Her vaginal opening was gaping open, which was consistent with a sexual assault. Denton testified that Yolanda died from an incise wound to her neck.

Jessica, like her mother, wore fragmented, burned clothing. She had a gaping sharp-force wound across her neck and was nearly decapitated. Approximately 75 % of her body was burned. In addition, on her shoulder Denton noted a stab wound two inches by one inch and one inch deep. During the examination, a tampon, with the plastic applicator still on it, fell from her vagina. Two areas of tearing of her vaginal opening were evident, consistent with sexual assault. In addition, there was redness in the upper and lower parts of her anus, again consistent with sexual assault. At the back of Jessica's throat, Denton noted an area of purple hemorrhage that could have been consistent with the insertion of an adult penis to the back of her throat. He found pulmonary foam from the lung in her airway and observed that her brain was swollen. The swelling indicated loss of oxygen to the brain, which would take perhaps two minutes to begin swelling. At the time Jessica's throat was slashed her brain was deprived of oxygen. Denton believed it would take approximately three to five minutes of oxygen deprivation for her to die from her injuries or suffer irreversible brain damage.

Solveig Sullivan worked as a forensic scientist for the Illinois State Police (ISP). In February of 1997, he received blood standards and vaginal, oral, and rectal swabs from the bodies of Jessica and Yolanda. Sullivan found no semen on Yolanda's swabs, but a preliminary test indicated blood on her vaginal swab. Blood was indicated on all three of Jessica's swabs and semen was identified on her rectal and oral swabs.

Karla Cluck, a forensic scientist for the ISP, obtained a male DNA profile from Jessica's oral swab and Jessica's DNA profile. Karen Abbinanti, another forensic scientist for the ISP, obtained a DNA profile from a standard taken from defendant and compared it to the male DNA profile from Jessica's oral swab. Abbinanti determined that defendant could not be excluded as the source of the male DNA from Jessica's oral swab. In fact, that DNA profile would be expected to occur in only 1 in 32 trillion Caucasians. Abbinanti concluded that the semen from the oral swab was consistent with having originated from defendant.

Chicago police department Detective Frank Cappitelli received a report from the ISP in September 2000 and met with defendant on June 7, 2001, at the Will County jail. Defendant initially denied any knowledge of the murders; however, when Cappitelli confronted defendant with the ISP crime labs reports, defendant looked at them for a period of time, then said, "You know I did it, you got me." Subsequently, Assistant State's Attorney Bob Milan met with defendant and went over the lab report with him. Milan stated that the semen in Jessica's mouth was defendant's, and defendant agreed. Defendant agreed to make a videotaped statement.

In the statement, defendant admitted that, on January 31, 1997, he contacted Yolanda Gutierrez about a Hooked on Phonics program she was advertising for sale. He went to her apartment and discussed the program with her, then said he would discuss it with his wife, and he left. Defendant said he and his wife, Charlene, went to Yolanda's apartment on February 3 to view the program. According to defendant, Charlene argued with Yolanda and grabbed her. Defendant claimed that Yolanda grabbed a knife and told Charlene to leave. He said he grabbed the knife from Yolanda and pushed her to the floor. Defendant stated that he asked Charlene for something to tie up Yolanda, and Charlene brought him duct tape which he used to tie Yolanda's and Jessica's hands. Defendant then put Yolanda and Jessica on the bed. Defendant said he attempted to calm Charlene, then had sex with her on the bed between Yolanda and Jessica. Defendant stated he then pulled down Yolanda's shorts and had vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse with her. Thereafter, he pulled down Jessica's sweatpants and had vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse with her as well. He pulled both their pants up afterward, and proceeded to cut Yolanda's throat with a knife and cut Jessica's neck as well. According to defendant, Charlene came to him with a can of turpentine-like fluid. He ignited the bed with a match, and he and Charlene left.

On June 10, 2001, Cappitelli interviewed defendant's ex-wife, Charlene, regarding her involvement in the murders. Subsequently, Milan and Cappitelli spoke to defendant and advised him of what Charlene had said. Eventually, defendant admitted that he had lied about Charlene's participation; he admitted she was not present when he committed the crimes.

Defendant then gave a second statement wherein he admitted he went to the Gutierrez apartment alone on February 3, having been there previously on January 31, at which time he discussed the Hooked on Phonics program and observed both Yolanda and Jessica. On the latter date, defendant entered the apartment intending to rape Yolanda, and he had duct tape and a knife in his coat pocket in furtherance of that objective. Once inside the apartment, defendant closed the door, pulled out the knife, and grabbed Yolanda around the front, placing the knife to her throat. Defendant told Yolanda to be quiet and come to the bed and to direct her daughter to do so. Once he had both Yolanda and...