People v. Thomas
| Decision Date | 13 May 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 1-88-0770,1-88-0770 |
| Citation | 576 N.E.2d 37,215 Ill.App.3d 751 |
| Parties | , 159 Ill.Dec. 368 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Warren THOMAS, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | United States Appellate Court of Illinois |
Rehearing Denied July 16, 1991.
Office of the State Appellate Defender, Barbara Kamm, of counsel, Chicago, for defendant-appellant.
John O'Malley, State's Atty., County of Cook, Renee Goldfarb, Walter P. Hehner, Kevin Hughes, of counsel, Chicago, for plaintiff-appellee.
Defendant Warren Thomas was charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault, kidnapping, criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery and aggravated unlawful restraint and he was tried with his co-defendants Eric Thomas and Edward Bond. After the jury trial, Thomas was convicted of aggravated criminal sexual assault (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-14(a)(1)) and criminal sexual assault (Ill.Rev.Stat.1987, ch. 38, par. 12-13(a)(1)) and sentenced to ten years for aggravated criminal sexual assault. He appeals both the convictions and the sentence.
During the State's case in chief, the complainant testified: On December 8, 1986, at approximately 2 a.m., she was walking outside when a man grabbed her. The man was later identified as Eric Thomas. She struggled with Eric Thomas. Then, a maroon car drove by and she was forced into the maroon car's back seat. Eric Thomas also sat in the back seat. A driver and another passenger sat in the front seat. The front seat passenger was later identified as Edward Bond. Edward Bond hit her in the eye and then she was blindfolded. She saw Edward Bond because he hit her in the eye and she saw the man who grabbed her from the street. The car was traveling for about twenty minutes.
When the car stopped at an apartment building, the blindfold was removed but she was told to keep her eyes shut. The complainant was taken to a second-floor apartment. As she approached the apartment, she heard voices in the apartment. Once inside the apartment, she was ordered to take off her clothes. She thought there were at least five men in the apartment. In the apartment, she was blindfolded and her wrists were tied. Additionally, a rope was tied around her neck and ankles and she was tied to a bed. She was forced to have oral, vaginal and anal sex numerous times with different men.
After about an hour and a half of forced sexual acts, all of the men left except Edward Bond. Edward Bond then untied her, took off the blindfold and told her to put on a top because he wanted to take her next door. He then told the complainant that he "would blow her head off" if she did not do as he said. Edward Bond grabbed his gun, loaded it and pointed the barrel at her head. He walked her across the hallway, knocked on an apartment door and a man answered. The man who answered the door was later identified as the defendant. Edward Bond told the defendant "look what I brought you."
After the complainant was forced into the defendant's apartment, Edward Bond forced the complainant to engage in oral sex with the defendant while the defendant was sitting on his couch. During oral sex, the defendant ejaculated and the complainant spit it out onto the floor. Then, the complainant was forced to engage in vaginal sex with the defendant. Edward Bond was sitting on a chair watching and later forced the complainant to have oral sex with him. Edward Bond, again, threatened to "blow her head off."
While in the defendant's apartment, Edward Bond forced the complainant to phone her mother and tell her that she would not be home for a couple of days. When the complainant called home, her brother answered. Then, Edward Bond told the complainant that he wanted her to pose for the defendant and Eric Thomas.
Subsequently, Edward Bond took the complainant back to his apartment, forced her to engage in anal sex again and tied her to the bed by her neck, wrists and ankles. After a few hours passed, Edward Bond told the complainant that he was going to the store to buy her a red bikini so he could take some pictures of her.
After Edward Bond left the apartment, the complainant tried to untie herself. When the complainant successfully untied herself, she grabbed her jeans and her jacket and ran out of the apartment naked. She flagged down a school bus. There was a man and woman aboard the bus. The woman was later identified as Diane White. The complainant told the man and Diane White what happened and asked them to call the police.
She told the police what happened and described both apartments in detail. The complainant then took the police to the building she had escaped from and led them to the floor where the apartments were located. Then, the complainant left the apartment building and got into a police car. When she was in the car, she saw the defendant walking into the apartment building. Thereafter, the defendant was arrested.
On cross-examination, the complainant denied telling Diane White that she had sex with ten or twelve people and the complainant did not recall telling Diane White that she never saw the people who raped her or that she was taken from one apartment downstairs to another apartment.
Chicago Police Officer James R. Lilly testified: On December 8, 1986, he was working with his partner Officer Stephanie Kimbrough. At approximately 2:35 p.m., he received a call about a rape victim. When he arrived at the scene, the complainant stated that she had been raped. The officer interviewed the complainant and then she took the officers to the apartment where she was held and identified the defendant's apartment as the second apartment. Later, when they all were in the police car, the complainant recognized the defendant as he walked into the apartment building.
Chicago Police Officer Walter Tamberlin's testimony was substantially similar to Officer Lilly's testimony. Officer Tamberlin testified that the complainant told the police that weapons were located in the first apartment's closet. Officer Tamberlin found three shotguns in the closet. He also found several photographs of men and women in various sex acts. The complainant was not in any of the pictures but she identified the man in the photos as a co-defendant. While Officer Tamberlin attempted to set up surveillance of the building, the complainant, who was in a police car, identified the defendant. Subsequently, Officer Tamberlin arrested the defendant. Later that day, Officer Tamberlin entered defendant's apartment and its appearance resembled the complainant's description. Defendant's apartment had blue walls, a couch and a bed separated by a string of beads.
On cross-examination, Officer Tamberlin stated that he did not write down the complainant's description of the apartment. He took mental notes of the description and then wrote in his report that the apartment was as the complainant described. Officer Fortuna actually wrote the report, but Officer Tamberlin read it and signed it. The complainant told Officer Tamberlin that the defendant had oral and vaginal sex with her but never told him the defendant had anal sex with her. Officer Tamberlin did not recognize a supplemental police report, did not know if it was his signature on the report and stated that the report would be wrong if it related that the complainant was called back from being en route to the hospital to identify the defendant.
The defendant testified on his own behalf: On December 8, 1986, he finished work about 2:30 a.m., went to a bar until about 3 a.m. and arrived home around 3:30 a.m. He noticed Edward Bond standing alone outside the apartment building. The defendant went to his apartment and began cleaning it. Then, Edward Bond came to his door and asked for a cup of coffee. After the defendant gave Edward Bond some coffee, the defendant went to sleep. The defendant woke at approximately noon and went to pay his phone bill. When he returned, he saw police cars near his apartment building. Later, he was arrested because a woman said she had been raped in his apartment. The defendant denied having any sort of intercourse with the complainant in his apartment. The defendant showed the jury his chest and indicated that he had a large incision scar from his chest to his groin area.
On cross-examination, the following colloquy was exchanged between the defendant and the Assistant State's Attorney:
Additionally, Diane White testified that she saw the complainant running down the street. She called the police. The complainant told her that she had been raped by ten or eleven people. The complainant also told her that she was taken downstairs and raped by someone else in another apartment.
It was stipulated that if Christine Brown testified, she would state that she is a criminalist and micro analyst working for the Chicago Police Department. She analyzed the smears and swabs taken from the complainant and determined that the swabs and smears were negative for spermatozoa and semen.
It was also stipulated that if Officer Fortuna testified he would say that he wrote a report on December 18, 1986, which stated that the complainant told him she was forced to have oral copulation and anal intercourse with the defendant. He wrote in the report that the reporting officer cleared the area of marked squad cars and set up surveillance of the apartment while the complainant was en route to the hospital. A short time later, the defendant approached the building and was stopped for questioning by the reporting officer. The reporting...
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