People v. Scales
| Decision Date | 03 October 2018 |
| Docket Number | NO. 5-14-0329,5-14-0329 |
| Citation | 2018 IL App (5th) 140329 -U |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. SHAMAR SCALES, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
NOTICE
Decision filed 10/03/18. The text of this decision may be changed or corrected prior to the filing of a Petition for Rehearing or the disposition of the same.
NOTICE
This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Jackson County.
¶ 1 Held: The evidence was sufficient to prove the defendant guilty of criminal sexual assault. The victim's testimony was not inherently implausible or against the laws of nature, and there was sufficient evidence to prove that the defendant was aware that the victim was unable to give consent because she was asleep. The court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing the defendant.
¶ 2 The defendant, Shamar Scales, was convicted of one count of criminal sexual assault (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20(a)(2) (West 2012)). According to the victim, she awoke to find the defendant in her bed having sexual intercourse with her. According to the defendant, the victim looked at him and he removed her pajama bottoms with some assistance from her before having intercourse. On appeal, the defendant argues that (1) the evidence was not sufficient to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt because the victim's testimony was inherently implausible; (2) the evidence was not sufficient to prove that he had criminal intent because he believed that the victim was awake; and (3) the trial court failed to take into account mitigating evidence in sentencing him and impermissibly increased his sentence because he maintained his innocence. We affirm.
¶ 3 The defendant and his sister, Shiranette Scales, were close friends with the victim, S.M., and her brother, Isaiah M. They grew up together near Chicago. As young adults, all four moved to Carbondale to attend college. On the evening of April 11, 2013, another childhood friend visited Carbondale to spend the weekend celebrating his birthday with friends, including the defendant, Shiranette, S.M., and Isaiah. The group spent some time drinking at another friend's apartment, and then went to a bar to continue the celebration. The events at issue took place in S.M.'s apartment during the early morning hours of April 12, after the group left the bar. There is no dispute that the defendant had sexual intercourse with S.M. The only question is whether he knew that S.M. was asleep and unable to give consent.
¶ 4 At the defendant's trial, S.M. testified about the events at issue and about the nature of her relationship with the defendant prior to the assault. She testified that she had known the defendant since she was 10 years old. She considered the defendant and his sister, Shiranette, to be "like family." When S.M. moved to Carbondale for college, Shiranette was already living there. S.M. testified that Shiranette took her "under her wing," and the two became much closer. She testified that when the defendant subsequently moved to Carbondale, both she and Shiranette tried to help him out bybuying him food and allowing him to stay with them. At that point, S.M. shared an apartment with Shiranette and a few other people. S.M. testified that although the defendant did not live with them, he stayed there often. She testified that the defendant typically slept on the sofa, but on rare occasions he fell asleep in either her bed or Shiranette's bed while watching a movie.
¶ 5 In April 2013, when the events at issue occurred, S.M. shared an apartment with her brother, Isaiah, and a male friend, LaNeal Nance. She testified that on the afternoon of April 11, her childhood friend, Deon Reed, arrived in Carbondale to spend the weekend celebrating his birthday with friends. Deon arrived at approximately 2:00 in the afternoon. S.M. had just finished classes for the day and was getting ready to go to work. Her job involved cleaning the engineering building. S.M. testified that she and Deon drank tequila shots at her apartment before she went to work. She estimated that she drank five or six shots, but stated that she did not feel tipsy. S.M. worked from about 4 or 5 p.m. until 8:30 or 9 p.m. One of her coworkers brought a small bottle of champagne to work. During a break at approximately 6 p.m., S.M. and her coworkers shared the champagne. S.M. thought she drank half a glass of champagne.
¶ 6 After work, S.M. went to an apartment in University Village where Deon was staying. There, she drank a bottle of wine, but she did not know how many glasses of wine were in the bottle because she drank directly from the bottle. The group then went to a bar called Callahan's to dance. They arrived sometime after 10 p.m. Asked if she was intoxicated, S.M. stated that she was "tipsy" at first, but she explained that she sobered up as the evening went on because she had to "take care of some people who were just reallybelligerent and drunk." Among the people she had to "take care of" were Deon, the defendant, her brother, and her roommate. S.M. testified that she did not have anything more to drink at Callahan's.
¶ 7 S.M. estimated that she left Callahan's at approximately 1:45 in the morning. She stopped at the apartment where Deon was staying before walking home to her apartment. She testified that when she arrived, she saw a car parked in front of her apartment building with the defendant, her roommate, and one other individual sitting inside. She did not consider this to be unusual or alarming. She testified that when she got into the apartment, she found her brother home alone. He had passed out on the floor of his bedroom. S.M. attempted to get Isaiah into bed, but was unable to do so. After that, she ate some food, changed into her pajamas, turned on the television, and went to sleep. S.M. testified that she always closed the door to her bedroom when she slept, and she was certain that she did so that night. She estimated that it was between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m. when she went to bed.
¶ 8 S.M. testified that she was awakened by the sensation of a penis penetrating her vagina. She noted that her pajama bottoms were down around her knees, which is not where they were when she went to bed. S.M. testified that initially, she thought she was dreaming. The person having intercourse with her was behind her, under the covers. S.M. testified that she pretended to be asleep, turned over to face the individual, opened her eyes, and saw that it was the defendant. At this point, she moved away from him, got out of bed, and angrily told him to get out. She noted that she did not specifically tell the defendant to stop having sex with her. She explained that it was unnecessary to do sobecause her act of pulling away from him ended the sex. She emphasized that the defendant did not wake her up to ask if she wanted to have sex, and she never told him that it was okay.
¶ 9 S.M. testified that the defendant left, as she told him to do. But before leaving, the defendant made a few comments to her. According to S.M., he said, He also told her, "I don't know what you talking about."
¶ 10 On cross-examination, S.M. was asked about how long the intercourse lasted. She replied, "I would say about one to two minutes." Asked how she knew this, she replied, She acknowledged, however, that she did not know exactly how long it went on before she woke up and realized she was not dreaming.
¶ 11 S.M. was also asked on cross-examination whether she was sober when she left Callahan's. She explained that she "came down" and that she did not feel impaired in any way. Asked if that meant she was sober, S.M. replied, "I wouldn't say I was sober 'cause many people feel sober when they take a sobriety test and they are over." She went on to note, however, that she thought she was sober by the time she went to bed.
¶ 12 Much of the defendant's testimony about the sequence of events leading up to the intercourse was similar to S.M's account. He testified that he moved to Carbondale in 2009 to attend college. At the time of trial, in November 2013, he was still a freshman at John A. Logan, a community college. He testified that during his first two years in Carbondale, he lived with his sister and S.M., but in April 2013, when the events at issue occurred, he lived with friends.
¶ 13 The defendant testified that before going to Callahan's on the night of April 11, 2013, he drank shots with S.M., Deon Reed, and some other people. He testified that neither he nor S.M. had a lot to drink. He noted that he had one or two shots, and although he did not know how much S.M. had to drink, he thought that she did not have "that many." The defendant testified that the group arrived at Callahan's at around 11:30 p.m., and they left when the bar closed at 2 a.m. He testified that when the bar closed, they could not find Isaiah. S.M. left Callahan's with other friends, and the defendant got into a car with LaNeal Nance and someone named Damon, and they went to look for Isaiah.
¶ 14 The defendant testified that he, LaNeal, and Damon left Callahan's, they looked for Isaiah in a few places, and then decided to go to the apartment LaNeal shared with S.M. and Isaiah. He estimated that they arrived at 2:45 a.m. Damon dropped off the defendant and LaNeal and then drove away. The defendant testified that he and LaNeal found Isaiah passed out on the bathroom floor. They carried Isaiah to his bed. The defendant then went into S.M.'s bedroom to sleep in her bed with her. The defendant explained that he shared a bed with S.M. frequently and "it wasn't a...
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