People v. Veal

• Citation: 374 N.E.2d 963,58 Ill.App.3d 938,16 Ill.Dec. 188
• Decision Date: 27 March 1978
• Docket Number: No. 58472,58472
• Parties: , 16 Ill.Dec. 188 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Johnny VEAL and George Clifford Knights, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 963

374 N.E.2d 963

58 Ill.App.3d 938, 16 Ill.Dec. 188

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Johnny VEAL and George Clifford Knights, Defendants-Appellants.

No. 58472.

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, First Division.

March 27, 1978.

Theodore M. Becker, Chicago, for defendants-appellants.

J. Samuel Tenenbaum, Chicago, for appellant Knights.

Sam Adam, Chicago, for appellant Veal.

Bernard Carey, State's Atty. Cook County (Laurence J. Bolon, Linda Ann Miller, Michael E. Shabat, Kevin Sweeney and Eugene J. Rudnik, Jr., Asst. State's Attys., Chicago, of counsel), for plaintiff-appellee.

O'CONNOR, Justice:

Defendants Johnny Veal and George Clifford Knights were found guilty by a jury of the July 17, 1970 murders of police officers James Severin and Anthony Rizzato. (Ill.Rev.Stat.1969, ch. 38, par. 9-1.) Defendants' post trial motions were denied. Each defendant was sentenced to the Illinois State Penitentiary for a term of not less than one hundred years nor more than one hundred ninety-nine years for each murder, the sentences to run concurrently.

Defendants appeal, contending that their convictions should be reversed or that they should be granted a new trial because (1) the prosecution suppressed and failed to disclose to the defense the fact that juvenile charges were pending against two key State's witnesses; (2) the prosecution suppressed evidence highly favorable to the defense; (3) defendants were denied their constitutional rights to a trial by a fair and impartial jury and their constitutional due process rights to a fair trial; (4) the trial judge improperly declined to recuse himself from presiding over the hearing on the post trial motions; (5) the trial court improperly excluded defendant Veal's alibi defense; (6) the assistant State's attorneys made prejudicial and uncalled-for remarks during their closing arguments; (7) defendant Veal was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (8) defendant Knights was not proved guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; (9) the trial court improperly inspected documents in camera and released to defense counsel only parts of those documents; and (10) the jury was improperly instructed.

The record discloses:

On July 17, 1970, while on duty as officers assigned to the Chicago Police Department's "Walk and Talk" community relations unit in the Cabrini-Green area, Sergeant James Severin and Patrolman Anthony Rizzato were killed by sniper gunfire. The Cabrini-Green area is a housing project in Chicago, consisting of several high-rise buildings and row houses of approximately 3600 apartment units, with a population of 17,000 or 18,000 people. The high-rise buildings at 1150-1160 North Sedgwick and 1117-1119 North Cleveland overlook an open area which includes a baseball field. The 1150-1160 North Sedgwick building is north and the 1117-1119 North Cleveland building is west of the baseball field. The windows in the apartments numbered 02 on the south end of the 1150 building are in the bathrooms and face south.

William Dyson testified that he belonged to the Black Deuces, a street gang. Defendant Veal, as did Jake Davis, belonged to the Stones, whose full name is Black P. Stones. Dyson was an enemy of Veal in a sense, i. e., both he and Veal are black and in that sense not enemies; otherwise, they were. He testified that about 7 p. m. on July 17, 1970, he was in the breezeway of 1119 North Cleveland and saw the police officers as they were shot. They were south of the 1150 North Sedgwick building. Later, at about 8:00 or 8:30 p. m., he was at the corner of Division and Cleveland Streets with Butch and Scoop Malone. There he saw defendant Veal, who was with Jake Davis. Others were present who were Black Deuces, but he didn't remember their names. Veal said to him, "What's happening? You lucky, I had my scope on you, but you left." "See how the Stones do it, let's see if you all can get three of them." This latter statement was directed to William Dyson's group, the Black Deuces. William Dyson knew what defendant Veal was referring to. Veal didn't say "he" shot the police officers; he said, "we." William Dyson also knew that defendant Veal, when he said, "I had you in my scope" meant that he had Dyson in his gunsights to shoot him.

Roosevelt Moore testified that on July 17, 1970, he was in the parking lot on the east side of 1150 North Sedgwick when the two police officers were shot. He saw them in front of 1117-1119 North Cleveland, walking north toward the high-rise building at 1157 North Cleveland. He heard a blast like a shotgun from the south side of 1150 North Sedgwick, which faced the baseball field. The two officers started east toward the 1150 building. As they reached the side of that building, two shots came from the south side of that building. One officer fell instantly; the other hesitated three or four seconds and then fell. Both were on the south side of the 1150 building. At the time of the shootings he did not see either defendant Knights or Veal, both of whom he knew, although he had seen them in the parking lot during the three or four hours he had been in the parking lot prior to the shootings. There were no adults in the parking lot at the time of the shooting that he could recall.

About 9 or 10 p. m. that evening he saw defendant Knights in front of his (Moore's) apartment at 1157 North Sedgwick. Knights and three others were walking south on the east side of Sedgwick. They were talking and Roosevelt Moore heard Knights say, "I told you I was going to get two of those white mother fuckers."

George Boone testified that in July, 1970, he was employed by Wells-Fargo as a security guard and was assigned to operate the closed circuit television monitoring room at 1160 North Sedgwick and to patrol the stairways and halls there. He knew defendants Veal and Knights. At about 6 p. m. on July 17, 1970, he saw defendant Veal with other boys, including Jerry Davis, in the parking lot at 1150 North Sedgwick. Veal asked him if the south side apartments on the 6th floor were empty. He told Veal that about all the apartments up there were vacant. Veal said, "I guess I'll check it out." Boone saw him enter the 1150 North Sedgwick building. About twenty minutes later he saw Veal on the sidewalk east of the entrance to the 1150 building. Defendant Veal was with defendant Knights. Boone was only one parking space away from defendants, who were talking. Four or five other men were there. Veal was asking the fellows about some .30-.30's. He said, "I need some .30-. 30's." Knights did not say anything. Boone last saw the defendants and the others in front of the 1150 building.

Later, while Boone was playing ball on the baseball field at the south end of the building with a boy and Norman Gibson, he heard a loud sound like a firecracker or cherry bomb. The sound came from the 1150 building. Then he heard a shot and saw a gun barrel sticking out of a window of the 1150 building. Everyone on the ball field ran. Boone and his two companions started back toward that building and stopped at the south end of it. After a second shot was fired, it became quiet. Boone looked up at the 1150 building and toward the building at 1117 North Cleveland. He saw a man in the 11th floor breezeway of the 1117 building looking with binoculars at the 1150 North Sedgwick building. He recognized the man as Ronnie Dykes, the leader of a gang. Dykes then went back into the breezeway. Boone also saw six or seven members of the Deuces gang with Dykes. They had rifles and shotguns. Dykes did not have a gun.

Boone then saw several police on the baseball field. After two police officers cut across the ball field, they started to walk toward the 1150 North Sedgwick building. Boone heard a clicking sound from the 1150 building. It was the sound of a weapon. One of the officers approached the building from the baseball diamond. Boone looked up at that building and saw a gun barrel sticking out of a window six floors up. He was still watching the building and the rifle barrel when it went off. Boone saw the officer fall. Boone then went down toward the entrance of 1150. At the time of the shot, neither defendant Veal nor Knights was in Boone's sight.

Police Officer Thomas Wilczenski testified that he and his partner, Officer Thomas McNally, after receiving a radio distress call after 7 p. m. on July 17, 1970, went to the ball field near the 1150-1160 North Sedgwick building. They saw two police officers lying on the ground and several police cars behind which police officers were crouching. He assisted in placing one of the fallen police officers into a police car as bullets were striking the field. The shots sounded like they were coming from 1150 North Sedgwick and 1119 North Cleveland. After hearing the shots, he ran to the southeast corner of the 1150 building and looking north along the eastern edge of that building saw defendant Knights, whom he knew, come out of the breezeway of that building. Knights was with seven or eight children. Knights was standing in the midst of the children on a little sidewalk just east of that building.

Police Officer Thomas McNally, Wilczenski's partner, testified that while the two officers were lying on the ground and other officers were crouched behind squad cars, dirt was being kicked up by projectiles striking the ground. He directed fire at the south end of 1150 North Sedgwick from approximately the fourth or fifth floor upwards as a cover for the police. He ran to the southeast corner of the 1150 building. He directed his attention to shots from approximately the third floor from the top of the 1117-1119 North Cleveland building. He also directed his attention to the upper floors of 1150 North Sedgwick. He looked along the east side of the latter building and saw defendant Knights, whom he knew, outside of the breezeway with seven or eight youths, four or five of whom were small children. He had...