People v. Stiff
| Decision Date | 23 March 2009 |
| Docket Number | No. 5-07-0189.,5-07-0189. |
| Citation | 904 N.E.2d 1174 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Benjamin STIFF and Joey Ragusa, Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
William A. Mudge, State's Attorney, Edwardsville, IL, Norbert J. Goetten, Director, Stephen E. Norris, Deputy Director, Kendra S. Peterson, Staff Attorney, Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Mt. Vernon, IL, Attorneys for Appellant.
Rita K. Peterson, Deputy Defender, Michelle A. Zalisko, Assistant Defender, Office of the State Appellate Defender, Mt. Vernon, IL, (counsel for Benjamin Stiff); Steven D. Griffin, East Alton, IL, (counsel for Joey Ragusa), for Appellees.
The defendants, Benjamin Stiff and Joey Ragusa, were charged separately with attempted murder (720 ILCS 5/8-4(a) (West 2004)), but the charges were upgraded to first-degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(1) (West 2004)) after the victim, James Garrison, died of his injuries. James was doused with gasoline, was set on fire, and died approximately seven weeks later. The State appeals from pretrial orders of the circuit court of Madison County which found that the statements James had made to his partner, John Duich, and to the police, by which the defendants were implicated, failed to qualify under the excited-utterance/spontaneous-declaration or dying-declaration exceptions to the rule against hearsay. We affirm the orders to the extent that neither of James's statements qualified as a dying declaration. However, we reverse the finding that the statements did not qualify as excited utterances/spontaneous declarations, and we remand for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
Just after 2 a.m. on October 10, 2004, John Duich was awakened by James Garrison, whom Duich testified to be his "life partner." Although James lived approximately three houses away from Duich, they saw each other every day. When Duich awoke, he discovered that James was severely burned, lying across Duich's bed, and saying, "Johnny, help me, help me." Duich asked James what happened, and James responded that "they" threw gasoline on him and set him on fire. Duich asked who "they" were. According to Duich, James responded that it was Joey Ragusa and a large black man.
Duich explained that James had a drug problem and would sell items and use the money to purchase drugs. James would often forget that he had made the sale and later complain that his property had been stolen. Duich had seen James earlier in the evening, and they both had used crack cocaine. James broke out a basement window to gain entry to Duich's home. Duich testified that he is a heavy sleeper and did not hear James enter.
Duich called 9-1-1 at 2:22 a.m. to report the incident and request help. Duich testified that the 9-1-1 operator instructed him to ask James who had done this to him. Duich again asked and James again replied that it was Joey Ragusa and a big black man. A Wood River police officer arrived within five minutes.
Detective Darren Redden was the first to respond, and an ambulance arrived shortly thereafter. Upon his arrival, Redden found James on the bed. James was severely burned. Redden had been present at other burn scenes, but he had never seen a victim so badly burned while still alive. Redden said James was screaming and moaning in agony, saying, "God help me." James's hair was singed. His skin was still bubbling in some places and completely missing in others. Despite James's condition, Redden tried to gather information before the ambulance arrived.
Redden was adamant that no names of potential suspects were mentioned by James or Duich. Redden testified that James was responsive despite his obvious agony and that he "answered every question directly after [Redden] asked the question, and the answers that he gave were substantiated by the interviews that followed." Redden specifically asked James who had done this to him, and according to Redden, James responded, "A white guy and a black guy that I met at Lisa Marshall's house." James explained, "They poured gasoline on me and caught me on fire." James said the white man was the one who had set him on fire and that "the white guy was driving a dark blue car, like a Corolla, that he parked right in front of Lisa's house." Because the State does not appeal that portion of the circuit court's order finding the victim's statement to Redden to be inadmissible, we do not consider its admissibility.
Redden went to Lisa Marshall's house after the ambulance arrived. Ragusa was taken into custody at 8 a.m. on October 10, 2004, and Stiff was taken into custody four days later. Redden returned to Duich's house and interviewed him a second time. According to Redden, Duich failed to give any specific names during the interview. It was not until approximately two months before the hearing that Redden became aware of Duich's claim that James had named Ragusa as the perpetrator. Redden was certain that Duich had not provided any names during the initial interviews.
James was taken to Alton Memorial Hospital and was subsequently airlifted to the burn unit at St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis (St.John's). Duich testified that a nurse at Alton Memorial Hospital told him to prepare for the worst and that James had only 72 hours to live. Duich did not relay that information to James. Duich testified that he maintained hope that James would live, until 5 ½ weeks after the incident, when Duich realized that James's injuries would prove fatal.
Dr. Peter Rumbolo, associate director of the burn unit at St. John's, testified that James had third-degree burns over 77% of his body, resulting in less than a 10% chance of survival. Neither Dr. Rumbolo nor his staff informed James about his prognosis, but Duich and his sister, Marla Shively, were made aware of it.
Dr. Rumbolo described James's treatment. Upon his arrival at the hospital, James was given medications for pain and anxiety, including morphine, Versed, and vecuronium, which was used to paralyze James's muscles, to promote the proper and efficient use of a ventilator. Dr. Rumbolo explained that paralytic medication is used to manage a patient's pain by allowing only minimal movement. Dr. Rumbolo further explained that the day after James arrived at the hospital, the pain medication was changed to fentanyl because of James's tolerance to medications. Drug testing was performed when James arrived at the hospital. The tests revealed that James had cocaine in his system and was legally intoxicated with a .085 blood-alcohol level.
On October 11, 2004, Duich and his sister, Marla, visited James, who was unable to speak because tubes were down his nose and throat. James was still receiving numerous drugs, including the paralytic, vecuronium. Nevertheless, Duich and Marla said James responded to them by squeezing their hands. Marla described herself as a religious person. She and Duich prayed over James. Marla told James to go to God so he would be out of pain.
On the morning of October 12, 2004, the vecuronium was discontinued so the police could attempt to question James. Detective Chris Johnson went to the hospital in the evening to conduct the interview, while another officer videotaped it. A nurse remained in the room to monitor James during the interview. The nurse said that James could respond to questions by nodding or shaking his head and appeared to be capable of answering reliably via this method. Dr. Rumbolo reviewed the videotape and testified that James appeared to be alert, his movements appeared to be purposeful, and he could respond to questions by shaking or nodding his head.
By the time the interview occurred at the hospital, Ragusa had already been arrested. When Detective Johnson asked James if Ragusa was the person who had set him on fire, James immediately nodded his head affirmatively. James shook his head no when asked if he knew the identity of the black man who had been with Ragusa. Detective Johnson testified that he did not ask James to identify the defendants from a photographic lineup because he did not think James was able to see.
James died on December 1, 2004, due to complications arising from the injuries he had sustained seven weeks earlier. The charges were then upgraded to first-degree murder. The defendants filed a motion in limine to exclude James's statements to Duich and Detective Johnson. A hearing was conducted on the defendants' motions and testimony was given over the course of several days. After hearing all the evidence, the circuit court ruled that James's statements to Duich and Detective Johnson identifying defendant Ragusa and a large black man as the perpetrators were not admissible as exceptions to the hearsay rule as either excited utterances/spontaneous declarations or dying declarations.
The circuit court found that the spontaneity required for the application of the excited-utterance/spontaneous-declaration exception to the hearsay rule was not present because the length of time between the incident and the statement was unknown and there was no evidence that James believed that the end was at hand, as required for a dying declaration. The State filed timely notices of appeal. We have consolidated the cases on appeal because the issues in each are identical.
The State raises the following issues on appeal, which we have restated as follows: (1) whether James's October 10, 2004, statements to Duich at Duich's home or his October 12, 2004, statements to police during the interview at the hospital are admissible under the dying-declaration exception to the rule against hearsay and (2) whether James's October 10, 2004, statements to Duich are admissible under the spontaneous-declaration/excited-utterance exception to the rule against hearsay.
"The trial court's determination of whether a particular statement constitutes a dying declaration...
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