People v. Young

• Decision Date: 22 December 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2-04-0222.,2-04-0222.
• Citation: 840 N.E.2d 825
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alvin L. YOUNG, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

840 N.E.2d 825

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Alvin L. YOUNG, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 2-04-0222.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

December 22, 2005.

G. Joseph Weller, Deputy Defender, and Steven E. Wiltgen (Court-appointed), Office of the State Appellate Defender, Elgin, for Alvin L. Young.

Joseph E. Birkett, Du Page County State's Attorney, Wheaton, Martin P. Moltz, Deputy Director, State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor, Elgin, Margaret M. Healy, Woodridge, for the People.

Justice GROMETER delivered the opinion of the court:

Defendant, Alvin L. Young, appeals from his convictions of two counts of domestic battery (720 ILCS 5/12-3.2(a)(1), (a)(2) (West 2002)). He contends that the State failed to prove an element of that offense, that the victim was a "family or household member" (720 ILCS 5/12-3.2(a)(1), (a)(2) (West 2002)) and that the dual convictions violate the one-act-one-crime rule because the State did not try to prove two separate acts of battery. We agree with defendant, and therefore vacate one of the convictions and reduce the remaining conviction to one for the lesser included offense of battery (720 ILCS 5/12-3(a)(1) (West 2002)). Further, defendant contends that he is entitled to a $5-a-day credit against his fines for presentencing incarceration. However, because the fines were not proper, we vacate them, so that no fines exist against which we could credit the $5 a day.

I. BACKGROUND

The State brought a misdemeanor complaint against defendant, charging him with two counts of domestic battery and one count of criminal damage to property (720 ILCS 5/21-1(1)(a) (West 2002)). The first domestic battery count alleged that defendant "[k]nowingly and without legal justification, made physical contact of a provoking nature with Carol S. Henningson, girlfriend of said defendant, in that said defendant grabbed Carol S. Henningson by her hair and pushed her to the ground, bit her bottom lip twice, and back handed her twice across her left cheek." The second domestic battery count alleged that defendant "knowingly and without legal justification, caused bodily harm to Carol S. Henningson, girlfriend of the defendant, in that said defendant grabbed Carol S. Henningson by her hair and pushed her to the ground causing her right knee to get scraped. Defendant also bit Carol S. Henningson's bottom lip causing a mark." The complaint alleged that this incident occurred at 6:55 p.m. on December 7, 2003 (a Sunday).

At defendant's bench trial, Henningson testified that, on December 7, 2003, she was staying in a P.A.D.S.¹ shelter in a church. She had met defendant at the same shelter in mid-October. However, when the State asked her whether she had developed "a dating relationship" with defendant, she said "no." The State asked her if she had "some type of relationship with [defendant] on December 7th, 2003." Henningson replied in a way suggesting that the two had a social relationship, but had been on only one date: "Other than a social, you know, we went out for a beer and watched a football game at the Latern [sic] in downtown Naperville." The State then asked Henningson if she and defendant were both residents of "the PAD [sic] shelter" on December 7, 2003, and Henningson said that they were.

Henningson testified that she and defendant had spent that Saturday night together at a P.A.D.S. site in Clarendon Hills. They left early in the morning in Henningson's car, driving to Naperville so that the two could wash defendant's clothes at a Laundromat. In the early afternoon, the two went to a bar to watch a football game and have beers. When the game was over, they went to a liquor store and defendant bought a six-pack of beer. He also had a pint of a clear liquor. Defendant drove Henningson's car to an area behind a band shell in Naperville. They stayed there until Henningson thought it was time to leave for the shelter.

They parked in a lot across from the shelter. Defendant started being "argumentative." Henningson said they should go in because people were starting to line up and she did not want to arrive after the shelter was full. Defendant told her that he wanted to stay in the car to sleep, but she said that she would not let him. She tried to grab the keys out of the ignition, and they struggled for the keys. He took the keys, then she got out of the car and opened the back door to get both of their possessions out. She grabbed the leftover beers out of the front seat and threw them in some bushes. She walked toward the bushes, and defendant knocked her to the ground, sat on her, and bit her lip while trying to kiss her. The bite left a small bruise. They continued arguing, and defendant slapped Henningson across the face with the back of his hand. The slap left a slight mark. When asked how this made her feel, Henningson reported that it hurt and made her feel like an idiot.

Henningson testified that, after defendant slapped her, she decided to cross to the shelter. While she had her back turned to her car, she heard a sound of breaking glass. She later discovered that one window in her car was broken. She called the police from a cell phone she borrowed from a couple near the shelter, and the police arrived in about three minutes.

Officer Dawn Yorke of the Naperville police testified that she responded to Henningson's call. She observed that Henningson had a scrape on her right forefinger, a scrape on her right knee, and a small abrasion on her lower lip. Henningson told Yorke that the scrape on her finger came from the struggle over the keys, the scrape on her knee was the result of her being pushed to the ground, and the abrasion on her lip was the result of a bite. Shortly after Yorke spoke to Henningson, the police found defendant and placed him under arrest.

Defendant moved for a directed finding, which the court granted as to the criminal damage to property count. The court found insufficient evidence to show that defendant had been the one who broke the car window. The State, while arguing against the motion, asserted that Henningson had testified that she was defendant's "roommate."

Defendant was the sole defense witness. His testimony was essentially consistent with Henningson's regarding the events before the two arrived in the parking lot across from the shelter. He did not specifically testify about the nature of the relationship between himself and Henningson. According to his testimony, the two arrived across from the shelter at about 5:30 p.m., an hour before admitting time. He did not want Henningson to go to the shelter when they arrived because, a month before, P.A.D.S. had denied him admission to all P.A.D.S. shelters for two weeks for the infraction of arriving with a vehicle at a no-vehicle shelter. During his suspension, he stayed in "the car," then P.A.D.S. readmitted him on probation. He believed that coming onto the P.A.D.S. site before 6:30 would break the terms of his probation and cause P.A.D.S. to deny him admission permanently. He told Henningson that they would get into trouble if they went to the shelter too early, but she said she needed to use a bathroom and insisted on going. Defendant commented that "she don't listen when she drinks."

Defendant testified that Henningson got out of the car to enter the shelter, and he put his arms around her to stop her. Henningson struggled to get out of defendant's grip, and both fell to the ground. She butted him in the face, hitting her mouth on him. Under cross-examination, defendant volunteered that the head-butting occurred when he was trying to kiss her—which he said he was doing to calm her down.

The State, in its closing argument, noted that defendant's own testimony was nearly sufficient to prove the State's case:

"Even if you believe only the defendant's testimony, I would submit to you that you must find the defendant guilty because we only have to show that the physical contact of an assaulting [sic] or provoking nature was made. * * * And we've also shown that an injury occurred based on physical confrontation that happened with the biting of the lip which then resulted in the injury on the lip."

The court found defendant guilty on both counts and sentenced him to 90 days in jail, with credit for 66 days served, a $100 domestic violence fine, and a $10 domestic battery fine. Defendant filed a posttrial motion in which he asked for a new trial based on the State's failure to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and two assertedly improper evidentiary rulings by the court. The court denied the motion, and defendant timely appealed.

II. ANALYSIS

On appeal, defendant asserts (1) that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant and Henningson's relationship brought him within the scope of the domestic battery provision; (2) that his convictions of two counts of domestic battery violate the one-act, one-crime rule because the State did not try to prove two separate acts of battery; and (3) that defendant is entitled to a $5-a-day credit against his fines for time he spent in jail before sentencing. We agree with the first two contentions, and, with regard to the third, hold that, because the fines were improper, calculation of a credit is unnecessary. We consider each contention in turn.

A. The Scope of the Phrase "Family or Household Member" in the Domestic Battery Provision

First, we agree with defendant that the State failed to prove that he and Henningson were "family or household members" as required for a domestic battery conviction. We will not reverse a criminal conviction "unless the evidence is so improbable or unsatisfactory that it creates a reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt." People v. Collins, 106 Ill.2d 237, 261, 87 Ill.Dec. 910, 478 N.E.2d 267 (1985). When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, "`the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the...