People v. Tenney
| Decision Date | 18 April 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. 88208.,88208. |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Appellee, v. Edward TENNEY, Appellant. |
| Court | Illinois Supreme Court |
Charles M. Schiedel, Deputy Defender, and Lawrence Bapst, Assistant Defender, of the Office of the State Appellate Defender, Springfield, for appellant.
James E. Ryan, Attorney General, Springfield, and David R. Akemann, State's Attorney, St. Charles (Joel D. Bertocchi, Solicitor General, and William L. Browers and Colleen M. Griffin, Assistant Attorneys General, Chicago, of counsel), for the People.
Following a jury trial in the circuit court of Kane County, defendant, Edward Tenney, was convicted of the first degree murder of Virginia Johannessen. See 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a) (West 1992). At a separate sentencing hearing, the same jury found defendant eligible for the death penalty and further determined that there were no mitigating circumstances sufficient to preclude imposition of that sentence. Accordingly, the trial court sentenced defendant to death. That sentence has been stayed pending direct review by this court. Ill. Const.1970, art. VI, § 4(b); 134 Ill.2d Rs. 603, 609(a). We reverse defendant's conviction and remand for a new trial.
Defendant was indicted on six counts of first degree murder. Three counts of the indictment charged defendant with the January 2, 1993, murder of Johannessen, and three counts charged defendant with the October 1, 1993, murder of Mary Oberweis. A jury determined that defendant was fit to stand trial for the two murders. Defendant was tried separately for each murder. Prior to his trial for the Johannessen murder, defendant was convicted of the Oberweis murder. Regarding the Johannessen murder, defendant was tried on one count of knowing murder and one count of felony murder based on residential burglary. See 720 ILCS 5/9-1(a)(2), (a)(3) (West 1992). The State entered a nolle prosequi on the remaining count.
Johannessen (hereafter victim) lived at 1301 Felton Road in Aurora. In January 1993, the victim, 74 years old, lived at that address alone and had resided there for approximately 40 years.
The victim's brother, Francis Reines, saw her every few weeks. On January 5, 1993, Reines had a telephone conversation with their sister Regina regarding the victim. That conversation, coupled with the fact that Reines had not been able to contact the victim, prompted him to drive to the victim's house and check on her.
Reines arrived at the victim's house at approximately 10:30 a.m. He unlocked the backdoor with his key and disarmed the electronic burglar alarm. The alarm system included motion detectors. However, according to the victim's daughter, Barbara Johannessen-Bailey, the victim was able to disarm the motion detector in the basement without deactivating the entire system. According to Reines, the victim's house had been burglarized twice prior to her murder. He did not believe that anyone was present during these prior burglaries. He did not remember whether anyone was ever apprehended for them.
Walking through the house, Reines saw the victim sitting in a chair in a corner of the living room. She appeared injured; her head was tilted back, looking up. He immediately telephoned 911.
At 10:51 a.m., Officer Thomas Blincoe of the Kane County sheriff's department was dispatched to the victim's residence to assist an ambulance in a possible death investigation. When he arrived, the ambulance was already at the scene. Reines and the ambulance crew directed Officer Blincoe to the victim, whom the paramedics had pronounced dead. Blincoe saw the victim sprawled in a chair with a large bloodstain on the right side of her head. Officer Blincoe did not find any type of weapon near the victim. He observed that the house was very cluttered with stacks and piles of books, magazines, and other items throughout the entire house, including the basement. These things were arranged somewhat orderly; there were pathways to negotiate through the house.
Checking the exterior of the house, Officer Blincoe saw that a basement window was broken. The window frame was ripped out and lying on the ground. A two-day-old newspaper was in the mailbox. Blincoe and Reines saw that the victim's garage was empty. Blincoe reported the victim's car as stolen.
At 11:28 a.m., evidence technician Kevin Hogle of the Kane County sheriff's department arrived at the crime scene. He photographed the exterior and interior of the victim's house. He found broken glass from the basement window both outside the house and in the basement. On a table next to the victim were several items including a check that was filled out and dated January 2, 1993. In the bedroom was a chest that appeared to have been pried open. He recovered fingerprints inside of the house, but did not find any fingerprints on the broken glass of the basement window or the area surrounding the window. Subsequent laboratory testing did not reveal any fingerprints on the window frame. On the basement floor below the broken window, Hogle saw only dust. He did not remember seeing mud, grass, or any other material from the outside. Hogle believed that the point of entry was the broken basement window.
The victim's daughters, Barbara Johannessen-Bailey and Karen Johannessen, examined the house shortly after the murder. Barbara noted that some of the victim's jewelry was missing.
At approximately 2:30 p.m., Captain Michael Anderson of the Kane County sheriff's department found the victim's car, a 1984 blue Oldsmobile Delta 88, in the parking lot of an Eagle Food Store approximately one mile from the victim's home. A store employee saw the car on January 3, 1993, at 4 a.m. when he arrived for work. The car was towed to the sheriff's department. An evidence technician found in the car a "hatchet/hammer" (hereafter hammer). It did not have any fingerprints.
On May 2, 1995, Donald Lippert, defendant's alleged accomplice, spoke with Captain Anderson. At defendant's trial, Donald was called to testify for the State. Donald understood that in exchange for his truthful testimony, he would receive a prison term totaling 80 years for crimes committed in Kane and Du Page Counties, with the possibility that the trial court might sentence him as guilty but mentally ill. Defendant requested a competency hearing, which was held outside of the presence of the jury. At the close of the hearing, the trial court found that Donald was competent to testify.
Donald testified that Leslie Lippert was his father and that defendant was his cousin. After identifying defendant, Donald further testified as follows. He "vaguely" remembered the events of January 1993. He remembered living at 759 Austin Avenue in Aurora with his father, defendant, and his brother Michael. He remembered committing a burglary at a small white house on Felton Street. When shown photographs of the victim's house, Donald testified that it could have been the house that he burglarized.
On the night in question, Donald and "Chris Nelson," whom Donald knew as defendant, walked to the small white house to burglarize it. Donald believed that defendant had chosen the house. Defendant was armed with a .22-caliber handgun. Donald had never been in that house before or after that date.
Defendant broke a window and pulled the window frame out of the structure. At defendant's direction, Donald entered the house by crawling through the window. Donald, intoxicated from alcohol and drugs, crawled out because he was frightened by the dark and the noise of a washing machine. Donald told defendant that he was not reentering the house and told defendant to do it. Defendant instructed Donald to go to the front of the house and stand guard. Donald then believed that no one was at home.
Donald went to the front of the house and looked in the window. Donald saw defendant approach an old lady facing a table; defendant was pointing a gun at the back of her head. Donald heard a gunshot. He ran back to the broken window, entered the basement, and went into the living room. The woman had been shot in the back of the head, her chin resting on her chest. Donald told defendant that the woman apparently was still alive. Defendant picked up a hammer, tilted the woman's head back, and hit her on the forehead.
Defendant told Donald to look for "jewelry, money, anything valuable." Donald took jewelry from the bedroom and put it into a pillowcase. After they looked through the house, they exited through the broken window. They went to the victim's garage, where they found her car. Defendant gave Donald a car key and they entered the car. Donald drove to the Eagle Food Store and parked in the lot. They walked to the Lippert home and hid the stolen property in the yard. They moved the items later that night or the next day. At trial, Donald acknowledged that the woman was the victim, and that he never received permission from anyone to enter the victim's house. Donald did not know what became of the hammer.
Donald identified several pieces of the victim's property as those that he stole. He testified that the hammer found in the victim's car resembled the hammer with which defendant hit the victim. However, Donald also stated that he had seen the hammer around his house after the crime.
Cross-examination revealed that on the night in question, Donald, who is diabetic, was taking insulin in addition to alcohol and drugs. He did not remember many details regarding the broken window and the basement interior. However, he did remember that the window was small and difficult to pass through and that he had to climb over a "[b]unch of garbage" near the window.
Michael Lippert also testified for the State. According to Michael, he and defendant had a conversation in January 1993 in which defendant made the following inculpatory remarks. Defendant had seen "an old lady living in this white house...
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