People v. Steidl

• Decision Date: 24 January 1991
• Docket Number: 70320,Nos. 65714,s. 65714
• Citation: 142 Ill.2d 204,568 N.E.2d 837,154 Ill.Dec. 616
• Parties: , 154 Ill.Dec. 616 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Gordon "Randy" STEIDL, Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Page 837

568 N.E.2d 837

142 Ill.2d 204, 154 Ill.Dec. 616

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Gordon "Randy" STEIDL, Appellant.

Nos. 65714, 70320.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

Jan. 24, 1991.

Rehearing Denied April 1, 1991.

Charles M. Schiedel and Daniel D. Yuhas, Deputy Defenders, and Peter L. Rotskoff, Lawrence J. Essig and John J. Hanlon, Asst. Defenders, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, Springfield, and Amy Ratterree, law student, for appellant.

Neil F. Hartigan, Atty. Gen., Springfield (Robert J. Ruiz, Sol. Gen., and Terence M. Madsen and Nathan P. Maddox, Asst. Attys. Gen., of counsel), for the People.

Justice THOMAS J. MORAN delivered the opinion of the court:

The defendant, Gordon "Randy" Steidl (Steidl), and codefendant Herbert Whitlock (Whitlock) were indicted for the murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads, by an Edgar While the original conviction was awaiting review in this court, defendant filed a post-judgment petition (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 110, par. 2-1401 et seq.) in the circuit court, attacking his conviction of the murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads and his sentence of death. The circuit court denied the petition. By order of this court, the appeal of the post-judgment petition (No. 70320) was consolidated with the pending direct appeal of defendant's conviction for murder and sentence of death (No. 65714).

                [154 Ill.Dec. 621] County grand jury.  Defendant's motion for a change of venue was allowed and thereafter the court granted defendant's motion to sever his case from that of Whitlock.  The venue for the trial was moved to Vermilion County and Whitlock, who was tried first, was found guilty only of the murder of Karen Rhoads (see People v. Whitlock (1988), 174 Ill.App.3d 749, 124 Ill.Dec. 263, 528 N.E.2d 1371).   After trial, a jury found defendant guilty of murder of both Dyke and Karen Rhoads.  The State requested a hearing to determine if the death penalty should be imposed.  (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 9-1(d).)   The same jury that convicted defendant found that he was eligible for the death penalty and further found that there were no mitigating factors sufficient to preclude a sentence of death.  A sentence of death was imposed, and the sentence was stayed (107 Ill.2d R. 609(a)) pending direct review by this court (Ill.  Const.1970, art.  VI, § 4(b);  107 Ill.2d R. 603)
                

The defendant raises the following issues pertaining to the guilt phase of his trial: (1) whether the State proved him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) whether he was denied a fair trial because of the prosecutor's late disclosure of statements made by his ex-wife; (3) whether the evidence as to drug transactions was sufficiently prejudicial to warrant a new trial; (4) whether he was denied his right to be present at every stage of the trial when the trial judge had an off-the-record conversation with the jury; (5) whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the jury's request to review testimonial transcripts; (6) whether he was denied a fair trial by admission of hearsay statements made by his co-defendant; (7) whether the trial court's restrictions on his examination of witnesses denied him his right to a fair trial and due process; (8) whether he was denied his rights to a fair trial when testimony of a police officer which recounted a witness' statement was admitted; (9) whether he was denied a fair trial as a result of the prosecutor's remarks in closing argument; (10) whether he was denied a fair trial and due process as a result of the trial court's refusal to instruct the jury that testimony of a drug addict should be viewed cautiously; and (11) whether he was denied effective assistance of counsel.

The defendant also raises the following issues pertaining to the sentencing phase of his trial. He claims that he was denied: (1) a fair sentencing hearing when prospective juror Mary Dalide was excused for cause; (2) a fair sentencing hearing by the trial court's failure to give his tendered instruction that he would receive a natural life sentence if death were not imposed; (3) a fair sentencing hearing because the evidence against him lacks the degree of certainty required for the imposition of the penalty of death; (4) a fair sentencing hearing as the death penalty is excessive and disproportionate when compared to co-defendant Whitlock's sentence of life imprisonment; (5) a fair sentencing hearing when the jury was instructed that sympathy was an improper consideration, but was not instructed that mercy could be considered; and (6) effective assistance of counsel at his sentencing hearing.

The defendant raises the following arguments pertaining to his petition for post-judgment relief: (1) whether under section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure a new trial should be ordered since there was no physical evidence and the occurrence witnesses made sworn, post-trial statements that either exculpate or exonerate the defendant; and (2) whether a new trial or new death penalty hearing should be had to determine the extent that a witness' testimony was based on pre-hypnotic recall. The defendant also challenges the constitutionality of the death penalty.

At the guilt phase of the trial, the following evidence was adduced. At 4:39 a.m. on July 6, 1986, firemen responded to a telephone report of a fire at a home in Paris, Illinois. Fire investigator Donald Tankersley testified that the fire was of an incendiary nature and set in two separate locations. Firemen found the bodies of Dyke and Karen Rhoads in an upstairs bedroom. Dyke Rhoads' naked body was found lying on his left side on the floor with his head near the opening of the bedroom door. Karen Rhoads' naked body was found on the floor near the foot of the bed, with a pillow covering her face.

Pathologist Dr. John Murphy testified as follows: that both of the victims died from stab wounds prior to the fire; that Dyke was stabbed 28 times, and all the wounds except for one were minor or superficial; and that the fatal wound on Dyke was approximately six inches below the armpit on the left side of the body. He also testified that Karen Rhoads was stabbed 26 times and that most of her wounds were minor or superficial except for two: one wound was like Dyke's, approximately six inches below the right armpit and six inches deep; the other wound extended through the windpipe and into the upper lobe of the left lung.

Dr. Murphy also testified that after an examination of a knife, which according to the testimony of Deborah Rienbolt (to be discussed later) was the knife used for the murders, he found it was compatible with all 28 wounds on Dyke's body and all 26 wounds on Karen's body. No physical evidence was found at the Rhoads house which connected either the defendant or Whitlock to the crime scene. State police forensic scientist Phillip Salles examined various bloodstains but was unable to make a conclusive determination regarding blood types. David Metzger, another forensic scientist with the State police, testified that some 40 hairs found at the scene were compatible with both Dyke and Karen Rhoads, and that no unaccounted-for hairs were present. There was no fingerprint evidence and State police serologist Debra Helton testified that there was no evidence of sexual assault to either body.

Gary Knight, a crime-scene technician for the Illinois State Police, testified that the heat and soot associated with the fire, as well as the water used to fight the fire, adversely affected efforts to determine what happened immediately before, during, and after the crime. The elements of the fire were particularly detrimental to the discovery of latent fingerprints, bloodstains, and blood splatterings.

Deborah Rienbolt (Rienbolt) said that she took part, along with Whitlock and the defendant, in the killings, and she testified for the State as to events prior to and subsequent to the killings. She entered a plea agreement to concealment of a homicidal death, a Class 2 felony, was sentenced to five years in prison, and agreed to testify against both defendant and Whitlock. In her plea agreement, Rienbolt said that she altered the knife allegedly used to kill Dyke and Karen Rhoads by washing the knife clean of blood and picking the residual blood out of the cracks in the knife.

At trial, Rienbolt admitted to various criminal convictions, as well as to the fact that she was an alcoholic and had various drug dependencies. However, she stated that she had not taken any illegal drugs since being released from a drug treatment center, approximately two months prior to defendant's trial.

In response to a question, Rienbolt said that she knew both the defendant and Whitlock and that defendant and Whitlock ran around together, and did drug deals together. She also said that approximately one month before the murders, she heard Whitlock talk about drug transactions involving Dyke Rhoads and that she accompanied Whitlock to the Rhoads house a couple of times prior to July 1986. Although she did not go into the house with Whitlock, she said Whitlock's purpose was to talk to Dyke about drugs.

Rienbolt further testified that on July 4, 1986, she was with Whitlock at Jeanne's Place and that he asked her for her knife, and told her that Dyke Rhoads wanted "out of the drug deals." The following morning, she saw Whitlock and Dyke Rienbolt also stated that she went to the Tap Room bar in Paris around 8:30 p.m. on July 5, after having smoked some marijuana. She said that Whitlock, defendant, and Darrell Herrington were in the bar. She also testified that Whitlock said that there would be a fire set out in the country to cover up another fire. While they were in the Tap Room, Whitlock was given a letter which he then burned with the red Bic lighter that he borrowed from her and never returned. A similar red Bic lighter was later found by police a few blocks from the Rhoads' house, and firemen believe that it may have...