People v. Sambo, s. 2-89-0192

• Decision Date: 03 May 1990
• Docket Number: Nos. 2-89-0192,s. 2-89-0192
• Citation: 144 Ill.Dec. 41,554 N.E.2d 1080,197 Ill.App.3d 574
• Parties: , 144 Ill.Dec. 41 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Victoria A. SAMBO, et al., Defendants-Appellants. & 2-89-0193.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1080

554 N.E.2d 1080

197 Ill.App.3d 574, 144 Ill.Dec. 41

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Victoria A. SAMBO, et al., Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 2-89-0192 & 2-89-0193.

Appellate Court of Illinois Second District.

May 3, 1990.

DiNatale & Montemurro, Joseph N. DiNatale, River Forest, for Victoria A. Sambo, Raymundo R. Sambo.

James E. Ryan, DuPage County State's Atty., Wheaton, William L. Browers, Deputy Director, State's Attys. Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, for people.

Justice INGLIS delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendants, Victoria and Raymundo Sambo, were charged by complaint with battery (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-3(a)(1)). Following a jury trial, defendants were found guilty and were sentenced to one year's probation, counseling, and costs in the amount of $418 each. On appeal, defendants contend that: (1) they were not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) the jury instructions were improper; (3) they were denied a fair trial by the cumulative effect of errors during trial, including improper opening and closing arguments, hearsay evidence and opinion testimony; (4) the trial court improperly appointed counsel to represent their minor daughter's interests; and (5) public policy, based on the right to privacy, militates against the guilty verdicts. In addition, defendant Victoria Sambo also alleges that she was denied the effective assistance of counsel because her attorney was burdened with a conflict of interest at trial. We affirm.

The following facts were adduced at trial. The State's first witness, Leon Schomer, testified that he was a neighbor of defendants and saw defendant Raymundo Sambo on May 14, 1988, at approximately 9 p.m. Schomer stated that Mr. Sambo rang the doorbell and asked him where Ellaine Sambo, defendant's daughter, and Schomer's daughter were. Schomer did not know where Ellaine was. Schomer noticed that Mr. Sambo was very nervous, was smoking cigarettes, and had alcohol on his breath. Mr. Sambo told Schomer that he would kill Ellaine's boyfriend if he touched Ellaine and that he would "take care of Ellaine."

Mr. Sambo left the Schomer residence and returned approximately 15 to 20 minutes later. Schomer stated that Sambo's demeanor was the same and that he was concerned about "teen-agers and sex" and that he wanted to straighten out his daughter. Sambo left shortly thereafter and returned again to the Schomer residence at approximately 10 p.m. However, he left after he was told that his daughter was not at the Schomer residence.

The alleged victim, Ellaine Sambo, testified that she was the 16-year-old daughter of defendants. Ellaine stated that she left her house at 8 p.m. on May 14, 1988, without her parents' permission, to visit a local dance club with her boyfriend. She stated that she returned home at approximately 11 p.m. and told her mother that she had been at Doc Weed's. Both Ellaine and her mother sat down on the sofa and began to discuss what had occurred that evening. Shortly thereafter, Ellaine heard her father in the garage and tried to run out of the house. Ellaine stated that she fell down on the stairs, got up and then fell into the front door, hitting her head on the doorknob. After a struggle with her parents, Ellaine eventually calmed down. She stated that neither of her parents had struck or kicked her during the incident.

Ellaine further testified that she went to school the following Monday morning (May 16, 1988) and spoke with the school counselor, Kara Egger. Ellaine stated that she told Egger that both of her parents hit her repeatedly on the night in question, finally stopping at approximately 5 a.m. In addition, she also told Egger that her father had dragged her down the stairs.

Ellaine also stated that she told substantially the same story to the school nurse, Judith Bush, as she did to the counselor. She also told Nurse Bush that her parents hit her with a plastic baseball bat that night.

Furthermore, Ellaine testified that she may have told Officer Michael Campo of the Darien police department that her parents repeatedly hit her in the face, back, hip, and buttocks with a plastic baseball bat on the night in question.

Ellaine also testified that she met with Waverle Grinden, a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) worker, on May 16, 1988, and recited a similar story concerning the beating. Furthermore, Ellaine told Officer Edward Vaughan of the Darien police department that she was unable to tolerate the verbal abuse and wanted to be taken out of her home and placed with a relative.

On cross-examination, Ellaine stated that she lied to the police and school officials about the alleged beating because she was mad at her parents. Ellaine also stated that she did not receive any medical treatment for her injuries.

Kara Egger, a counselor at Downers Grove South High School, testified that she saw Ellaine at approximately 7:50 a.m. on May 16, 1988. Egger stated that Ellaine was crying and was "upset, very distraught." Egger testified, over defense counsel's hearsay objections, that Ellaine told her that both defendants took turns hitting Ellaine with a plastic baseball bat and a belt and that both had kicked her. In addition, Ellaine stated that her father tried to pull out her teeth, threw liquor in her eyes, and told her that he was going to visit her at school on Monday and, if she was with Jim (her boyfriend), he would "kill the both of them by knocking their heads together and taking out their intestines or stomach." Egger stated that she took Ellaine to see the school nurse and then waited for the police to arrive.

Egger further testified that she saw Ellaine "almost every single day until the end of school." Ellaine would continuously ask Egger for assistance in getting her out of her parents' house. Ellaine also agreed to allow Egger to make an audio tape recording of one of the conversations. The tape was played to the jury. On the tape, Ellaine stated that her parents tried to get her to change her story, but that everything she told the police, social workers, and Egger was true. Ellaine told Egger that her parents beat her with a plastic bat, a belt, and their hands and that they threatened to kill her if she ever spoke to her boyfriend again. Ellaine also stated that she was making the tape of her own free will.

Judith Bush, the nurse at Downers Grove South High School, testified that she examined Ellaine on May 16, 1988, and observed bruises on her neck, face, upper arm, leg, and buttock. In addition, Nurse Bush noted that Ellaine's left eye was swollen, along with one of her fingers. Ellaine told Nurse Bush that the injuries were the result of being hit with a plastic baseball bat and a belt. It was Nurse Bush's opinion that the injuries received were consistent with what Ellaine told her had occurred.

Sergeant Brian Pabst of the Downers Grove police department testified that he observed Ellaine at approximately 10 a.m. on May 16, 1988, and noted that she was "extremely emotional" and "very upset." He also noticed several bruises and swelling on her body. Ellaine told Sergeant Pabst that the injuries were the result of a beating by her parents. Sergeant Pabst stated that he then notified the Darien police department because the alleged crime had occurred in Darien.

Officer Michael Campo of the Darien police department testified that he went to Downers Grove High School on May 16, 1988, to pick up Ellaine and transport her to the Darien police station. Officer Campo stated that he interviewed Ellaine and was told that her parents had struck her with a plastic baseball bat and fists for approximately 5 1/2 hours on May 14, 1988. Ellaine stated that her parents "weren't going to talk, they were going to hit." Ellaine repeated the same story to Officer Campo a total of four times during the interview.

Officer Edward Vaugahn of the Darien police department testified that he received a phone call from Ellaine on May 27, 1988, in which Ellaine told him that "[d]uring that time since her father had been arrested, her father and mother, she had been locked in her room, yelled at constantly, was prohibited from seeing or speaking to any of her friends, was kept apart from her sister and basically just locked up any time other than her being at school."

Detective David Skala of the Darien police department testified that he met with Ellaine on June 19, 1988, and was told that Ellaine was "experiencing harassment at home." In addition, her father told her to tell everyone that she lied about the events which occurred on May 14, 1988.

Following Detective Skala's testimony, the State rested, and defendants called Ellaine to testify again. Ellaine testified that she was suffering from a rash on her body on May 14, 1988, and was being treated with Benadryl. Ellaine stated that the rash itched and she would scratch it, with the scratch marks being noticeable on May 16, 1988.

After Ellaine testified, defendants rested. Following closing arguments, defendants made an oral motion for a directed verdict, which was denied. The jury returned a verdict of guilty for both defendants on the offense of battery. The court entered judgment on the verdicts, and subsequently sentenced defendants to one year's probation. Defendants' motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial, was denied, and this appeal followed.

On appeal, defendants first contend that the evidence presented at trial did not prove them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendants argue that Ellaine was not struck on May 14, 1988, but instead received her injuries as the result of a fall. Defendants also argue that, assuming arguendo that Ellaine was struck, the striking was justified as being within reasonable limits of parental discipline.

Defendants primarily rely on People v. Perry (1975), 27 Ill.App.3d 230, 327 N.E.2d 167, and People v. Ball (1974), 58...