People v. Zynda

• Decision Date: 17 October 1977
• Docket Number: No. 75-523,75-523
• Citation: 368 N.E.2d 1079,11 Ill.Dec. 471,53 Ill.App.3d 794
• Parties: , 11 Ill.Dec. 471 The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. David L. ZYNDA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

Page 1079

368 N.E.2d 1079

53 Ill.App.3d 794, 11 Ill.Dec. 471

The PEOPLE of the State of Illinois, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. David L. ZYNDA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 75-523.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

Oct. 17, 1977.

Frank Wesolowski, Jr., Public Defender, Robert Heise, Asst. Public Defender, Wheaton, for defendant-appellant.

John J. Bowman, State's Atty., Malcolm F. Smith, Asst. State's Atty., Wheaton, Phyllis J. Perko, Stephen M. Deitsch, Ill. State's Attys. Ass'n, Elgin, for plaintiff-appellee.

BOYLE, Justice:

The defendant, David L. Zynda, was indicted for and convicted in a jury trial in DuPage County, Illinois, of the murder of Irene Brooks in Downers Grove, Illinois. Defendant was sentenced to a minimum term of not less than 25 years nor more than 75 years.

On appeal the defendant assigns as error the following: (1) Whether the admission into evidence of certain items seized from his car at the time of his arrest was improper as the product of an illegal arrest or his involuntary consent? (2) Whether the admission into evidence of defendant's fingerprint card containing a prior arrest notation was improper? (3) Whether the trial court's refusal to give the jury defendant's tendered voluntary and involuntary manslaughter instructions was improper? (4) Whether the evidence is sufficient to establish defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? and (5) Whether the sentence imposed was excessive?

Officer Victor Savannah of the Downers Grove Police testified for the State that he was called to the home of Irene Brooks at approximately 9:45 on the morning of July 5, 1973, to investigate an unknown disturbance. Upon entering the Brooks home, he observed Irene Brooks lying on the bedroom floor, nude, with reddish marks around the victim's neck and blood around her lips and mouth. He testified that there was some butter lying on the floor between the victim's arm and her body. The officer further testified that there appeared to be no signs of forcible entry into the premises.

DuPage County Sheriff Terry Baldowski testified for the State that when he arrived at the deceased's home on the morning of July 5th, the bedroom was in a general state of disarray, and the deceased appeared to have something smeared around her vaginal area.

Two neighbors testified that they heard noises emanating from the deceased's home in the early morning hours of July 5th. Mrs. Eleanor Steininger, who lived across the street from the victim, testified she heard a series of screams in the direction of the deceased's home shortly prior to 3 a.m. on July 5th. Mr. Lewis Zak, whose residence was 30-40 feet from the deceased's, testified for the State that he was awakened on the night in question by noises coming from the victim's residence. Mr. Zak further testified he heard "muffled sighs" as well as a "thumping crunch" coming from the direction of the deceased's home.

Dr. Banglor V. Ramakrishna, a physician and pathologist, performed an autopsy on the victim at approximately 3:30 on the afternoon of July 5, 1973. He testified for the State that it was his opinion that the victim had been dead at least 9-10 hours prior to his autopsy. The doctor testified that the victim had multiple injuries of recent origin over both her forehead and neck and had blood around her mouth, right collarbone, right shoulder and both thighs. He testified that in his opinion the cause of death was asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation. The witness further stated that there was dried fecal matter on the body, specifically on the abdomen, shoulder, and ankle. The witness testified that the hyoid bone in the deceased's larynx was fractured and that the contents of the deceased's stomach were light red in color and were in a semi-digested state. This indicated to the doctor that approximately four to five hours prior to her death, the deceased had ingested food material containing red coloring, capable of producing a red color. The witness also stated that the deceased's internal lining of her rectum and anus were exposed and outside the body, rather than inside. Francis Tham, a medical technologist, testified for the State that 11.4 units of the enzyme, acidphosphatase, was found in the body of the deceased. Acidphosphatase is produced by the male prostate gland.

Donald E. Schmidt, an evidence technician assigned to the fingerprint division of the DuPage County Sheriff's Office, testified for the State that the following latent fingerprints and palm prints were lifted from the deceased's home: (1) a latent fingerprint was removed from the cold-water knob on the sink faucet; (2) two palmprints were lifted from the refrigerator; (3) one fingerprint was taken from the refrigerator; (4) a latent palm impression was removed from the headboard of the deceased's bed next to the deceased's nude body; and (5) another latent print was found on the dresser in the same bedroom. Officer Robert Wilson of the DuPage County Sheriff's Office testified for the State that he compared these fingerprints and palmprints collected with the fingerprint card of the defendant made as a result of a previous, unrelated arrest, and he stated that it was his opinion that the same person made all the fingerprints.

At the trial of the cause, Edward Ritter testified that he gave a party on July 4, 1973, which was attended by, among others, the defendant. Ritter testified that the defendant was drinking beer that afternoon, but that he had had no difficulty understanding the defendant. The witness stated that he purchased some LSD, a powerful street drug, from Rick Neulen, which was contained in a piece of tinfoil. Ritter testified that he gave this tinfoil to the defendant, although he never ascertained that the tinfoil contained "acid." Ritter further testified that the party switched to the defendant's residence early in the evening, whereupon the defendant continued drinking beer and set off some fireworks until approximately midnight.

Mark Guzzoldo testified for the State that he was with the defendant until approximately 11:45 p.m. on July 4, 1973, and that he returned to the defendant's house early the next morning after an evening of work in Downers Grove. The witness at that time commented to the defendant about the police cars across the street from the defendant's house, and the defendant made no response. Later, upon their return from a short errand, the witness testified that the defendant stated, in reference to the police cars across the street, "I think I did something." The defendant then gathered all his belongings in a green garbage bag. Guzzoldo testified that included in these items belonging to the defendant was a woman's purse, which the defendant when asked if it belonged to someone across the street, replied that he did not know and further stated that he did not want to know whose it was. The witness testified that the purse taken from the defendant's trunk in Littleton, Colorado, at the time of his arrest could have been the same purse the defendant showed him on July 5, 1973. Guzzoldo then testified that the defendant left on the morning of July 5th with all his belongings and did not tell the witness where he was going.

Prior to the commencement of the jury trial, the trial court conducted a hearing on the defendant's motion to quash his arrest and to suppress evidence. The trial court, after a lengthy hearing, denied the defendant's motions to quash his arrest and to suppress the evidence seized thereunder.

The first issue presented on appeal concerns the legality of the warrantless arrest of the defendant and the ensuing search of the defendant's automobile carried out with his purported consent, and the admission into evidence of the physical items seized thereunder. Defendant contends that his arrest in Littleton, Colorado, was unlawful because the complaint for the arrest warrant omitted any operative fact or information regarding the circumstances which would support a conclusion that the defendant, in fact, perpetrated the offense. Defendant's contention is premised on two factors: (1) That the complaint on which his arrest was based is conclusionary; and (2) That no information was transmitted from the DuPage County Sheriff's Office to the arresting officers in Colorado which would support the conclusions in the complaint.

Defendant's argument is that since he was illegally arrested, the victim's purse and checkbook, which were obtained from his car after his arrest, were also illegally acquired. (Whiteley v. Warden of Wyoming Penitentiary (1971), 401 U.S. 560, 91 S.Ct. 1031, 28 L.Ed.2d 306; Wong Sun v. United States (1963), 371 U.S. 471, 83 S.Ct. 407, 9 L.Ed.2d 441.) However, defendant's argument fails because the Colorado police had probable cause to properly arrest the defendant because they believed that he had committed a crime based on the information that was furnished to them by the DuPage County authorities.

The test of when a police officer has probable cause to arrest was stated by our supreme court in People v. Macias (1968), 39 Ill.2d 208, 213, 234 N.E.2d 783, 786-87, cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1066, 89 S.Ct. 721, 21 L.Ed.2d 709:

"We have held that the test of probable cause is whether a reasonable and prudent man in possession of the knowledge which has come to the arresting officer would believe the person to be arrested is guilty of the crime; that it is something less than evidence that would result in conviction and may be founded on hearsay evidence; that it is based upon the factual and practical considerations of everyday life upon which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians, act. People v. McCrimmon, 37 Ill.2d 40, 224 N.E.2d 822; People v. Jones, 31 Ill.2d 42, 198 N.E.2d 821."

In the instant case, one of the arresting officers, Sgt. Delbert Campbell of the Littleton police, testified that the following facts were communicated to him at 12:45 p.m. Central Time by Detective ...